I've seen this before

[Timbuk3]

My son had just married so I went to spend some time with him, his new wife, and her grandparents just before Christmas. Her grandparents had met in WWII. He was "over there" fighting the forces of a man who blamed Germany's problems on Jews, Gays, and Gypsies. She was a German citizen who fell in love with the young man from America, and was none too fond of the sort of mentality that led the German people to hold garden parties and enjoy their newfound peace and prosperity while young men were sent to fight and die in wars of aggression (blitzkriegs) against other countries.

After the war ended they married and moved back to the states and they went about living their lives in the liberal United States of America, where FDR had just led the country and the world to victory over the Nazis and had just instituted social security.

I'll come back to those two nice old people in a minute, but first let me give you some FDR quotes, as inscribed in granite at the FDR memorial in Washington, DC:

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"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provided enough for those who have too little."

"I never forget that I live in a house owned by all the American people and that I have been given their trust."

"We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."

"I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded...I have seen the dead in the mud, I have seen cities destroyed...I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war."

"They (who) seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers...call this a new order. It is not new and it is not order."

"Unless the peace that follows recognizes that the whole world is one neighborhood and does justice to the whole human race, the germs of another world war will remain as a constant threat to mankind."

"The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or one party, or one nation...it must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world."

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Now, there is a large and vocal right wing echo chamber (with a stunning concentration at "Fair and Balanced" Fox News) that tells us we should move away from being a nation that "provide(s) enough for those who have too little", we need to cut taxes on corporations and the wealthy. These haters of the America our parents left us want us to move away from being a nation that "guard(s) the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens", and to instead fear "the terrorists" (Emmanuel Goldstein) so much that we will gladly rephrase Patrick Henry's famous words: "Give me a false sense of security and I'll gladly help you shred the Bill of Rights." These "experts" who dominate a corporate media that's been enriched by war still want to blame all of our problems on muslims (jews), gays (gays), and "lazy welfare queens" (gypsies), and practice bigotry and hatred of our fellow Americans, instead. I have hope that reality has shocked us back into being a nation that has seen and hates waging unprovoked wars of aggression against nations that can't defend themselves from invasion, but like any nation that's been invaded are determined to drive out the aggressors. While the UN is still demonized along with "old Europe" the public relations battle continues to be waged by the White House and many Americans still seem to believe that there is a "victory" to be won in the midst of the Iraqi civil war that didn't exist before we "democratized" that country.

So what did this woman who had lived in nazi Germany, and this man who had fought the nazis in WWII, think of our current government? They both saw shocking parallels between the hatred, fear, paranoia, and persecution complexes that the people in power have put upon vast numbers of voters in the US today, and the means that the nazis used to rise to power in Germany in the period between the two world wars.

The folks who fought those wars are all either dead, or too old to fight any more. The lessons that they learned have been lost, along with the lessons of Viet Nam. What we're left with as a "national discourse" is years of studying how to market to that angry portion of America who blame "the liberals" for losing the war in Viet Nam, the so-called "christians" who are being misled by the pastors of megachurches and the Southern Baptists to believe that an evil America is persecuting them, and a ton of money from self-serving corporate interests who have gained control of the flow of information in America to the point that cries of "liberal media" are believable, even though they're demonstrably false. Which media outlet suggested that continuing inspections might be an effective way to determine whether or not those WMD existed without losing 10's of thousands of lives?

There is very little courage left in America, any more, but never underestimate the power of a small but determined number of concerned citizens to effect change when the country goes seriously off-track. It's the only thing that's worked in the past.

There is still hope. You might want to read this, too. http://www.timbuk3.com/battle.htm

(I blogged this, too. http://www.timbuk3.com/archive.htm#010706 It may be too "basic" or maybe even too "inflammatory", but I wanted to share it.)

[babylonsister]

1. Thanks for sharing; it's beyond discouraging. nt

[Timbuk3]

2. Discouraging?

"...never underestimate the power of a small but determined number of concerned citizens to effect change when the country goes seriously off-track."

Live to fight the good fight, and don't be afraid to call your enemy by name.

Read this. I didn't write it, but it's good. http://www.timbuk3.com/battle.htm

Here's the last bit:

The history of America has been written by us. It does not belong to demagogues, the fear-mongers, the war-profiteers, the rich, the greedy, the theocrats, and the mullahs.

They twist the constitution, but we make it straight.

They wrap themselves in the flag, but we fight for the freedoms, not the fabric.

They shout out their pledges of allegiance but we do the dirty work of democracy.

They claim to represent the real America, but we are the keepers of the tree of Liberty.

It ain't over yet, folks. Not by a long shot.

So cry a few tears. Bang against the walls. Scream into the wind.

Then collect yourself and get back to work.

It's time to punch the clock.

The battle for America has begun.

[Evergreen Emerald]

3. We need to fight back...but how?

We met in WA DC to no avail. It was under-reported and minimzied and ignored.

We send letters and make phone calls and stand at the street corner with signs. And we are dehumanized as the radical left.

We wait for our leaders to do something, but it is as if they are as powerless as we are.

We are starting to connect the dots and see this web of American distruction that has infiltrated every aspect of our culture and government.

What do we do?

[Timbuk3]

4. How do we fight back?

The answer to that is as unique as you are.

I send money to http://www.giveemhellharry.com/ and http://www.democracyforamerica.com/

I went to the anti-war rally in DC.

I write and call my Senators.

I tell anyone who's loudly denegrating and deriding "Democrats and Libruhls" to shut the hell up, and I don't let a right wing lie go unanswered.

I point out to actual Christians that their religion has been hijacked by fanatics as dangerous as any terrorist, and I give them the quotes from Robertson (we need to kill Chavez and Sharon deserved to die), Dobson (beat your kids like you beat your dog), and Falwell (America deserved to be attacked on 911) to prove it.

I snicker at anyone who quotes Ann "is my Adam's apple getting BIGGER?" Coulter or Bill "where's my loofah" O'Lielly and refuse to cede the high ground to such scum.

Do what you do best. If you're really "daring", hang an "IMPEACH" sign from the local freeway overpass. http://www.freewayblogger.com/

You know what you do best. Do it.

[electropop]

11. Spread the meme: "George Bush is spying on YOU."

Even RW crazies are starting to pause when confronted with that thought. It's powerful and it spells the end of the Regime.

[mikelewis]

5. We're doing it right now...

Staying informed and speaking out is a very big step. Fascism arises through ignorance and fear. So learn the truth and ignore the fear. Believe in Democracy and then if you truly want to help, spread it in your own community. Print up a few copies of the Bill of Rights and pass it out to your neighbors. Let them know someone else remembers, help them shed thier fears. Americans need to be reminded who we are supposed to be but don't try to change the nation, try to help your neighbor and the nation will benefit from it.

[Timbuk3]

6. Hear hear!

I wish there was a way to recommend your post so that everyone reads it.

We had ceded the high ground, and now we're retaking it. It doesn't matter if it's one city or one city block at a time, as long as we keep working at it.

[MissWaverly]

8. You were not ignored

Bush knows to the last person how many were there, YOU are the reason that Iran has not been
bombed, YOU are living proof that America will not go gently into war without a just
cause. YOU are one of a small army of patriots that is holding this country together.
When they write the history of these dark days, you will be remembered. Nixon said that
the sole reason that he did not NUKE Vietnam was the antiwar movement. If you think
that you have no impact, YOU are mistaken. During Vietnam I was one of the protestors
that stood in front of the White House. If my actions helped to prevent a nuclear
holocaust in Vietnam, I am proud.

[Timbuk3]

10. Sweet!

Nice comments. You *should* be proud!

[MissWaverly]

12. thanks

we have to do it again, we have to take our power back away from those who don't know
the meaning of democracy, of freedom, of justice, of what the UN stands for.

[FloridaPat]

7. I don't think the lessons learned were lost. I think * and his pals

know the lessons and are trying to avoid repeating the obvious mistakes. But so far, thanks to God, evil ends up in the trash can eventually. I just wish it didn't cost so much in money and lives to fight it. Why can't people see the obvious before it gets too big.

[Timbuk3]

9. The lessons of Watergate?

No, Dick "dick" Cheney was there. He hasn't forgotten what happened the last time a President claimed superiority over the other branches of government. He's determined not to make the same mistakes, again.

They've over-reached.

I'm dying to see what Congress will do when they return. If they don't stand up to these monsters, now, we should throw them ALL out.

(Slightly off-topic, I wrote and called both of my "D" senators and suggested that the Alito hearings should be postponed until this domestic spying thing is settled, once and for all. The congress shouldn't be letting the President appoint judges who support unfettered Presidential power, right now.)