Down the Slippery Slope
by Bill Shein

Do you ever lie awake in bed, stare at the ceiling, and wonder if we live in a "rogue" state? You know, a country with an increasingly dangerous regime that violates human rights and poses a threat to global peace and security?

Sure, it seems unthinkable that the world's leading democracy could, bit by bit, become what is known in polite diplomatic circles as a "country of concern."

But rogue states don't arrive on the scene instantly. It can take "years of small, incremental changes that go unnoticed by the people," according to "Create a Rogue State in Five Easy Years!" (Cheneyland Books, 2001).

Fortunately, when examples of creeping rogue statedom are assembled in one place, it's easy to see if there's been a troubling drift from "beacon of freedom and democracy" to "no longer a beacon of freedom and democracy."

With that in mind, here are 15 signs you live in a rogue state — perhaps without even realizing it.

1. Your president wins election thanks to controversial results in a province where his brother is governor and his campaign co-chair oversees the election apparatus. Those who protest are told, "Get over it, losers!"

2. After the most expensive inauguration in history, paid for by well-heeled corporate interests seeking favors, the new regime withdraws from long-standing international agreements and "unsigns" treaties that it finds inconvenient.

3. Rogue states implement economic policies that reward the wealthy supporters of those in power. Of course, any "economic reform" is framed in populist language to hide the fact that most people will be worse off. Sound familiar?

4. A sure sign of rogue-state slippage is the placement of cronies in key law-related positions. Important judicial jobs — attorney general, Supreme Court justice — are always filled with people sure to rubber-stamp even the most egregious usurpation of power.

5. Rogue state governments use misleading slogans like "Creating Economic Opportunity for All," even when their policies do nothing of the sort.

6. Rogue states have a massive communications (a.k.a. "propaganda") machine that blurs the line between government business and the regime's political activities. For example, you might find the text of the president's partisan campaign speeches posted on his official, taxpayer-funded government Web site, right there in the "News" section (see whitehouse.gov/news).

7. The leader of a rogue state often lives in a reality-free bubble, surrounded by aides who tell him only what he wants to hear. He might even brag that he doesn't read the newspaper!

8. In a rogue state, longtime government bureaucrats who question regime policies quickly fall out of favor, find their decisions overruled by political apparatchiks, and are eventually fired or reassigned to street-sweeping duty on Jupiter's third moon.

9. Rogue regimes establish a permanent martial footing, demonize critics as unpatriotic, and use disasters — natural or man-made — to implement more policies that benefit their wealthy patrons.

10. In some cases, a rogue state may repeatedly warn citizens of imminent danger — even in the absence of a real threat. This keeps people living in fear and more likely to tolerate the regime's expanding power.

11. Rogue states launch foreign invasions under the banner of "self-defense." When foreign adventures go poorly, regime officials head to military bases to deliver partisan speeches blasting war opponents. Chilling!

12. Does your country's leader unilaterally determine the scope of his authority, boasting that he's a "war president" with vast powers? Because that's classic rogue-state behavior, friend.

13. Rogue states always spy on their own citizens. (It's required for membership in the "Rogue Nations of the Earth" trade association.) They also infiltrate groups that oppose regime policies on everything from civil liberties to environmental protection to vegetarianism. Because as history has shown us, angry vegetarians can topple a regime simply by hurling slices of extra-firm tofu at government buildings.

14. Rogue states imprison people indefinitely without charge, access to legal counsel, or judicial review. (Such a policy has long been de rigueur among top-shelf rogue states.)

15. Finally, regimes seeking to cement their rogue status establish secret prisons where people are tortured, and then tell human rights organizations to mind their own damn business. It's what makes a rogue state Gulag-i-rific!

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Bill Shein is enjoying the First Amendment while he still can.

(This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle newspaper on January 22, 2006. Join a discussion about this column in Bill's blog. And read Bill's previous column, "Frontier 'Justice' Goes Global").