An unfathomable series of well-orchestrated explosions had been mysteriously planned to go off simultaneously across the entire United States. How could such an event be executed with such military precision? Who could do such vile things...and why?
The Cheney-Bush administration had planted fears for years...we had to be vigilant and aware of the "evil empire". Those radical madmen Muslims were out to destroy America, Bush had warned everytime he needed more money to fight the war in Iraq, or needed more funding for Homeland Security. Yes, he'd been wrong about weapons of mass destruction....Saddam had none. Yes, Bush humbly confessed that the Iraq war might have been a mistake (but only after the popularity for his little skirmish-in-the-sand waned). While Bush criticized the radical Muslims who were willing to die for what they believed in, and for what their God was telling them to do, the President of the United States (POTUS) staunchly defended what his God was telling him to do: send American troops to Iraq for what he believed in: guns and ammo will keep America strong! Unwilling to personally die for what he believed in, Bush was more than willing to send soldiers to that hellish battlefield to die for what he believed in. By mid-2006, more than 2,500 soldiers had died for Bush's folly. More than 18,000 came home maimed or wounded. Tens of thousands of Iraq citizens, including women and children, had been murdered.
By now, most Americans were dumbed-down enough to believe anything the federal government said. Most Americans were distracted with maxxed-out credit cards; $5.00-a-gallon gasoline being guzzled up by their thirsty gas-hog SUVs; the latest reality show that let some lucky contestants conduct their own version of the Iraq war in the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico; and an unquenching thirst for anything WalMart sold at "low prices, everyday". All most Americans cared about was sex (more as a voyeuristic pursuit other than an emotional commitment), sports, and the sensual, temporal materialism of the petty, individual circles in which they existed. It was okay to boast about being able to piss away eighty bucks on a good meal at a great five-star restaurant; just don't bitch about the billions of dollars being wasted on an illegal, unconstitutional war in Iraq.
Television sporadically reported another "Fleecing of America" that would create temporary uproars lasting until the next commercial break. Americans knew the country's political system had been out of control for more than half-a-century, but no one seemed to care that we were now trillions of dollars in debt and political corruption within the hallowed halls of Congress, and within the Bush adminsitration, had now taken on epic proportions. Everyone accepted it as "business as usual" within the beltway. Elected officials looked the other way, fearful that if they caused any kind of stir, their own conduct might be subjected to scrutiny. Unless you were in the top 1% of America's wealthiest individuals, taxes continued to increase at alarming rates to pay for the war. Politicians seemed to have a brusque attitude toward that: if we need more money, raise taxes and we'll get more. In June, 2006, they gave themselves a $3,300.00 pay increase with hardly a whimper from the citizenry (in the past, middle-of-the-night Congressional pay raises were met with, at least, vocal opposition). Now, the dwindling "middle-class" was drowning in debt, shockingly overburdened with taxes on top of taxes. It made rich fodder for late-night TV comedians, but only seemed to dull the senses of the 'common' American citizen, so disdained by the wealthy elite. America was slowly becoming a two-class society, similar to those in Haiti and the Dominican Republic: the very, very rich, and the rest of us, the very, very poor.
Chief Executive Officers didn't even flinch when it was discovered that they earned 600 times what their average employee earned. Credit card companies made no apologies for charging interest rates that made mafia loan sharks break into a cold, clamy sweat. Banks made irresponsible billion-dollar loans to failed construction projects, but refused to loan $1,500.00 to someone who had been thrown out of work and couldn't make his mortgage payment. Leaders of Congress from both sides of the aisle were appropriately appalled when a "investigation" uncovered reckless mismanagement on the part of some hapless sub-contractor who overcharged FEMA during a hurricane clean-up program, but demonstrated audacious impudence when a member of their own party was caught in any kind of outrageous misconduct. Obtuse laws were passed every day with a kind of laissez-faire attitude that only highlighted Congressional incompetence and idiocy. In fact, everything the federal government did was reactive instead of proactive. Members of Congress, and the administration, effectively insulated themselves from the "common" man among the general populace, and chose only to cuddle up to those lobbyists, special interest groups, rich corporation, and wealthy individuals who could get them re-elected.
Now, even months after all the carnage had killed most of America's wealthy and influential individuals, people wandered around wondering aloud: how could this happen...and why?
As the answers slowly unfolded, Americans would be shocked to discover who was behind this massacre. And yet, when one really thought about it, it made perfect sense....