Monday and Counting

Over at American Thinker, Noel Sheppard tells us to 'Say Goodbye'.

The gist of what Sheppard says is that no matter who wins, this is the End of America As We Know It.

He may be right.

An Obama win coupled with an extension of the Democrat majority in Congress will put us on the downhill slope of the Socialist Soapbox Derby. Our ride will have all the power of a soapbox derby entry. We will be at the mercy of gravity, and our destination will be obvious. The left's subtle fascism will become more blatant as we face an increasing tax burden along with a decreasing ability to pay the bill. We will also face a possible threat to the airing of our grievances as the left attempts to limit the First Amendment to non-offensive (to them) speech.

Should McCain eke out a narrow victory, the election will become the Neverending Story of Litigation. We could see riots, as Sheppard suggests, but these would be likely be more along the lines of typical excuse-to-get-a-plasma-television inner city riots than real political statements.

Even the best case, and least-likely, scenario -- a broad McCain win -- is not without its dangers. The old Rockefeller wing of the Republican party, seeing a win with a centrist candidate, will tend to further dismiss the importance of the religious right. They will almost certainly dismiss Palin as a significant factor in a victory, though she has clearly been the key to bringing out the base. Driving through Republican territory yesterday I saw a McCain-Palin sign with "McCain" cut out -- just an empty space above Palin. That's how a lot of right-wingers see it right now.

On a somewhat related note, I am starting to develop my own semi-conspiracy theory. CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and the rest of the 24-hour new outlets would love nothing better than a fiasco to hype their ratings. Would the news corps be terribly upset if civil war broke out in America? How much of the divisiveness, of the red-blue antagonism is real, and how much is hyped by around-the-clock coverage couched in extreme terms? Why else would MSNBC have such a foaming-at-the-mouth idiots as Ubermaroon? Why would CNN and now Fox put Beck on TV? I love Glen but he does his share of bomb-throwing. It seems more and more like the whole idea is to "stir something up".

It reminds me a little of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". It seems innocent enough at first, but can they control it -- are they willing to control it -- in the end?