At the height of the Cold War, there was something called the Emergency Broadcast System. It was the mid-century version of high tech emergency preparedness and it was designed to disseminate rescue and relief information to that portion of the American population that was not incinerated by a Soviet nuclear attack.

There were Emergency Broadcast channels on the radio and this nation’s television stations were geared up to calm a suddenly radioactive countryside.

Every now and then there would be a “test” of the EBS and high pitched tones amidst the static gave jittery citizens assurance that radio and television stations that survived a series of thermonuclear blasts would be beacons of hope as the nuclear winter approached.

After the “test”, listeners and viewers would be told that this was a test and that, if this was a real emergency life saving instructions would be dispensed. Thankfully the EBS was never used. Thankfully the United States and the Soviet Union stepped back from the nuclear precipice. Thankfully sanity had a momentary reign.

And now, there is another disaster looming, and this is not a test. The rising tide of the G.O.Tea Party activists abetted by millions of anonymous dollars from even more anonymous corporate sources have set the stage for a legal coup d’etat. The inevitability of serial electoral victories by the right wing of the right wing are broadcast hourly by Fox News and CNN and MSNBC and every other electronic media outlet with an audience of more than a dozen.

We have been assured that the accuracy of modern polling is so exact that there is no possibility of the equivalent of “Dewey Defeats Truman” headlines on November 3rd.

Perhaps it is this contrived inevitability that has dampened the enthusiasm and dulled the wits of the progressive and moderate factions of the American electorate. These same absolutist polls also assure us that these progressives and moderates lack the “enthusiasm” to come out to vote on November 2nd, while the G.O.Tea Party adherents, pitchforks and torches in hand, are set to appear at the polls in record numbers and will bring about a new and unprecedented era in political lunacy in this country.
The wonderment is not that this country has brought forth full-grown personas out of nowhere, like a team of Aphrodites walking from the brow of Zeus.

This country has a history of supernovas coming from nowhere and blazing across the sky of the public’s perception. President Obama comes to mind in this regard, but obviously his star came from a very different point on the horizon.

It may be amazing that Sarah Palin endorsed candidates like Joe Miller, Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, Christine O’Donnell and Linda McMahon may soon be in the United States Senate, but we shouldn’t be amazed if it happens.

Countless millions of dollars in cash and free air time donated by Fox News have combined to make political stars out of individuals that aren’t ready for prime time by any stretch of the imagination.

It is amazing that progressives and moderates are not motivated to vote on November 2nd. Whatever the dissatisfaction may exist because of various legislative initiatives that have not come to pass, it is very clear (because the G.O.Tea Party candidates are very clear and articulate in this regard) that there is an intent to dismantle as much of the governmental apparatus as possible.

The fact that this governmental apparatus has allowed Americans (including all of the G.O.Tea Party candidates) to enjoy a quality of life unequaled in world history is clearly irrelevant. Taking back America means taking this country back to a time when racial segregation is a state matter, corporations can make unlimited anonymous contributions to skew political campaigns and when Social Security was debatable and Medicare was part of a communist conspiracy that should be opposed at all costs.

THIS IS NOT A TEST and the G.O.Tea Party is no joke. Despite the fractured syntax and ignorance of basic items like world events and the United States Constitution and American history, these men and women mean to remake this country in their own benighted vision and we will all be truly worse off for their victory.

For men and women who are eligible to vote to suggest that they are not sufficiently inspired by President Obama would be laughable if the stakes weren’t so high. If the changes advocated by the G.O.Tea Party are implemented it will take more than another set of elections in 2012 to right the wrongs and repair the damage.

Consider how difficult it has been to redress the damage done by 8 years of George W. Bush – and he is considered a suspicious moderate by the G.O.Tea Party faithful!

During the next few weeks every Point of View column will focus on the importance of voting as well as the importance of understanding the G.O.Tea Party agenda. How you vote is up to you.

But remember—-THIS IS NOT A TEST!