Pulling a Barossi

I'm a nerd. Not just a nerd, but a gamer nerd. One of the games I play is made by White Wolf, it's called "Vampire". There a version set in the modern time called "Vampire: The Requiem", and there is a version set in medieval times called "Vampire: Dark Ages". No matter the era, it's a very political game. Being very old, vampires have little better to do then politics, and they've got decades, if not centuries or even millenia of experience.

My gaming group plays both the old and the new vampire. The Dark Ages game has been running for a few years now, the modern-era one is fairly new. In the Dark Ages game, one of the players played a "Prince" called Nicholas Barossi. For vampires, a Prince is the equivalent of a President or King, with the similarities to those positions depending more on the Prince himself then any other factor. Some Princes are elected, others (most) simply rule by being the most powerful. Nicholas Barossi was one of the more firm Princes. Once he took power, he abolished the council of the Primogen (kinda like a Parliament), abolished many of the other positions, and ruled with an iron hand. He was elected by the Primogen, but once he took power, he "pulled a Barossi", and, using the threat of invasion as justification, took all those firm measures and cemented his power for the next few centuries.

Well, while watching Bush on CNN before a game (and commenting on what a hero Bush is to "ride out the hurricaine" in Colorado), Barossi's player, a guy named Matt, said "You know, he's going to pull a Barossi." Out of about a dozen gamers, I don't think any of us disagreed. He's going to try it. When we get closer to 2008, we're going to have a state of national emergency for whatever convenient reason arises, an amendment will get pushed through a Republican Congress and upheld by a Republican Supreme Court, and it's byebye freedom. It all comes down to the 2006 elections, and I think that Bush will be watching it to have it serve as an indication of whether he can pull it off in 2008. I guarantee if the Republicans keep the House and Senate, the country is scrapped. Done. Argue as much as you like, and believe me, I wish it weren't so, but I'm betting we can count on Bush pulling a Barossi. It's not a matter of if we think he can get away with it, because we all know it will lead to revolution. It's not a matter of whether or not he actually can get away with it. It's a matter of whether or not he and his keepers think they can get away with it. And they've been pretty brazen up to now, and justifiably so. They've gotten away with a whole hell of a lot, and when you toss in a complete and total disconnect from reality, you can be sure that in BushCo's fevered mind they think they can pull it off.

What do you think? Will he go for ruler-for-life? Will they find someone who is a BushCo robot clone and make Bush VP? Will the Democrats not be able to put up anyone even halfway capable of beating BushClone? Would it matter, with the voting machine situation and the ardent refusal of vast sections of the public to recognize the problem?

Well, I'm looking into land costs in New Zealand. It'll be a lot easier if things get so bad I can claim asylum or apply for refugee status.

The worst part is that, it doesn't even feel like I'm being pessimistic. Cynical maybe, but more realist then pessimist. Going off the lessons of history, real and fictional, the ways of power don't change a lot. It's not too hard to see the way the wind is blowing.

So, for anyone who asks, that's why a bunch of my friends don't want to go back to the States.