Bush Collapse May Leave Vacuum For More Competent Dictator by Chris Floyd

Thus, even if the Bush Regime collapses entirely, we will still face an uphill battle against "Bushism" and all the long-term currents it represents. We must also guard against something even worse rising in its place. For the Bush years have shown how fragile American democracy is, how relatively little it takes for a predatory faction to seize the state and manipulate the public, cow the opposition, intimidate the press and use violence in pursuit of loot and power. The template is there now, and it's entirely conceivable, perhaps inevitable, that some new would-be dictator -- more competent, more subtle, more adroit than the ludicrous klutz from Crawford -- will use it to create a more efficient and durable instrument of domination.