"Free election of masters does not abolish the masters or the slaves." ? Herbert Marcuse

The FBI is worried: foreign hackers have broken into two state election databases.

The Department of Homeland Security is worried: the nation's voting system needs greater protection against cyberattacks.

I, on the other hand, am not overly worried: after all, the voting booths have already been hacked by a political elite comprised of Republicans and Democrats who are determined to retain power at all costs.

The outcome is a foregone conclusion: the police state will win and "we the people" will lose.

The damage has already been done.

The DHS, which has offered to help "secure" the nation's elections, has already helped to lock down the nation.

Remember, the DHS is the agency that ushered in the domestic use of surveillance drones, expanded the reach of fusion centers, stockpiled an alarming amount of ammunition, urged Americans to become snitches through a "see something, say something" campaign, oversaw the fumbling antics of TSA agents everywhere, militarized the nation's police, spied on activists and veterans, distributed license plate readers and cell phone trackers to law enforcement agencies, contracted to build detention camps, carried out military drills and lockdowns in American cities, conducted virtual strip searches of airline passengers, established Constitution-free border zones, funded city-wide surveillance cameras, and generally turned our republic into a police state.

So, no, I'm not falling for the government's scare tactics about Russian hackers.

I'm not losing a night's sleep over the thought that this election might by any more rigged than it already is.

And I'm not holding my breath in the hopes that the winner of this year's particular popularity contest will save us from government surveillance, weaponized drones, militarized police, endless wars, SWAT team raids, red light cameras, asset forfeiture schemes, overcriminalization, profit-driven private prisons, graft and corruption, or any of the other evils that masquerade as official government business these days.

What I've come to realize is that Americans want to engage in the reassurance ritual of voting.

They want to believe that politics matter.

They want to be persuaded that there's a difference between the Republicans and Democrats (there's not).

They will swear that Barack Obama has been an improvement on George W. Bush (he has not).

They are convinced that Hillary Clinton's values are different from Donald Trump's (with both of them, money talks).

Most of all, they want to buy into the fantasy that when we elect a president, we're getting someone who truly represents "we the people" rather than the corporate state (in fact, in the oligarchy that is the American police state, an elite group of wealthy donors is calling the shots).

The sad truth is that it doesn't matter who wins the White House, because they all work for the same boss: Corporate America. Understanding this, many corporations hedge their bets on who will win the White House by splitting their donations between Democratic and Republican candidates.

Politics is a game, a joke, a hustle, a con, a distraction, a spectacle, a sport, and for many devout Americans, a religion. It is a political illusion aimed at persuading the citizenry that we are free, that our vote counts, and that we actually have some control over the government when in fact, we are prisoners of a police state.

In other words, it's a sophisticated ruse aimed at keeping us divided and fighting over two parties whose priorities are exactly the same so that we don't join forces and do what the Declaration of Independence suggests, which is to throw the whole lot out and start over.

It's no secret that both parties support endless war, engage in out-of-control spending, ignore the citizenry's basic rights, have no respect for the rule of law, are bought and paid for by Big Business, care most about their own power, and have a long record of expanding government and shrinking liberty. Most of all, both parties enjoy an intimate, incestuous history with each other and with the moneyed elite that rule this country.

Despite the jabs the candidates volley at each other for the benefit of the cameras, they're a relatively chummy bunch away from the spotlight. Moreover, despite Congress' so-called political gridlock, our elected officials seem to have no trouble finding common ground when it's time to collectively kowtow to the megacorporations, lobbyists, defense contractors and other special interest groups to whom they have pledged their true allegiance.

So don't be fooled by the smear campaigns and name-calling or drawn into their politics of hate. They're just useful tactics that have been proven to engage voters and increase voter turnout while keeping the citizenry at each other's throats.

We're in trouble, folks.

We are living in a fantasy world carefully crafted to resemble a representative democracy.

It used to be that the cogs, wheels and gear shifts in our government machinery worked to keep our republic running smoothly. However, without our fully realizing it, the mechanism has changed. Its purpose is no longer to keep our republic running smoothly. To the contrary, this particular contraption's purpose is to keep the corporate police state in power. Its various parts are already a corrupt part of the whole.