But let's remember, folks... we are looking at the distinct possibility of US global empire. The US is planning world domination. This has been obvious for some time -- considering the goal of full-spectrum dominance that has long been the strategic aim of the Bush Administration, and the junior Bush's National Security Strategy. All they are doing at Zmag is pulling out the obvious conclusions. Expect the US to conquer Brazil once Lula is elected Sunday. Expect the US to invade any nation which dares interrupt corporate plutocracy in the least. Expect a lot of liberals to proclaim that they thought this was about "democracy," never mind the historical record echoed in such books as William Blum's Killing Hope and Noam Chomsky's Deterring Democracy, the record of an unblemished US support for corporate plutocracy everywhere. Who these people think they're fooling is beyond me. And expect, should this plan succeed, that capitalism will decline and fall and be replaced by some kind of fascism, which will in its turn be replaced by feudalism, back through agricultural empires to hunter-gatherer existence. No ecosocialism -- humanity failed, the end. But, mind you, that would be the result of humanity sitting idly by while all this is happening, and doing nothing. I don't think one could live in a more pivotal time than today. Do visit your local protest. Please. Educate yourself about alternatives to the present disaster. Please.

More in the line of this reasoning about "the decline and fall of empire" is this notion that there is an insane, drunken Caligula at the helm of power. The Online Journal highlights this article "Dry Drunk which explains W.'s behavior in Alcoholics Anonymous terms. Of course, if there's an insane, drunken Caligula at the helm of power, we can expect a long time to pass before the fall of the present-day Rome -- after all, Caligula ruled Rome from 37 to 41 CE, and the Roman Empire broke up for good starting in 395...

Of course all of the big news is about Iraq... as the news constantly reveals Bush Administration lies, and Blair's dossier heightens our Nation's shame, the quiet news is of global corporate vultures circling a half-dead prey. John Cobb was right: capitalism's god is Mammon. And I'm afraid we're in this one for the duration of the Bush regime, since (after all) it's personal.