The New Fascism

[WilliamPitt]

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.

- Abraham Lincoln

Say "fascism" to anyone you meet, and you will conjure images of coal-scuttle helmets, of Nazi bootheels clicking in terrible unison down Berlin streets during dark days that only a few remaining among the living remember. Each day, members of the generation which heard those heels for themselves go into the ground, taking with them whispered words of warning. I saw it for myself, they whisper before they pass. See this tattooed number? See this scar? It happened. It was real.

Say "fascism" to anyone you meet, and you will be greeted with the boilerplate response of the blithely overconfident: such a thing cannot happen here. This is the United States of America, land of the free and home of the brave. Ours is a nation of laws, of checks and balances, of righteousness and decency. Our laws and traditions stand as a bulwark against the rise of totalitarian madness. It cannot happen here. Thus we are indoctrinated into the school of our own assumed greatness.

"We must disenthrall ourselves," said Abraham Lincoln, and so we must, because it can happen here. It is already happening. All the parroted recitations of grade school civics cannot erase the fact that a new order is rising. Call it "secret fascism" or "smiley-faced fascism." Call it a quiet dictatorship. Call it what you like, but it is here with us in America today, and it is growing.

To be sure, there are no coal-scuttle helmets lined in ranks down our broad avenues, no Tonton Macoute savaging dissidents, no Khmer Rouge slaughtering intellectuals and herding citizens from cities to die by the millions on roads littered with skulls. The core strength of our new fascism is that it speaks softly. It does not present itself in such an obvious way that those who subsist on the dogmas of our greatness can point and say there, there it is, I see it.

This new fascism is not fed only by lies, though to be sure the lies are there in preposterous abundance. This new fascism is fed by myths, our myths, the myths by which we rock ourselves to sleep. This new fascism is in truth an elemental fascism, reborn today by a confluence of events; the diligent work of the few, in combination with the passivity of the many, have brought forth this new order.

The writer Umberto Eco, in a 1995 essay titled "Ur-Fascism," delineated several core elements that have existed in one form or another in every fascist state in history: "Parliamentary democracy is by definition rotten, because it does not represent the voice of the people, which is that of the sublime leader. Doctrine outstrips reason, and science is always suspect. The national identity is provided by the nation's enemies. Argument is tantamount to treason. Perpetually at war, the state must govern with the instruments of fear. Citizens do not act; they play the supporting role of 'the people' in the grand opera that is the state."

Take these one at a time.

"Parliamentary democracy is by definition rotten, because it does not represent the voice of the people, which is that of the sublime leader."

George W. Bush has all but gelded Congress in recent months, attaching so-called "signing statements" to a variety of laws which state that the president may act beyond the laws whenever he so chooses. The United States, fashioned as a republic, has as its voice the congressional body. This is all but finished. To cement his victory over the parliamentary system, Bush has put forth one Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court, a man who believes in the ultimate power of the one leader over the many. The gelded congress does not appear able to keep this man from the high court, thus rendering the balancing branches of government into a satellite system of the Executive.

"Doctrine outstrips reason, and science is always suspect."

The supremacy of religious fundamentalism within and without government carries this banner before all others. What is reason in the face of the zealot's faith? Science has become a watered-down vessel for Intelligent Design, and the incontrovertible truths of empirical data are slapped aside. Spencer Tracy, in the film "Inherit the Wind," bellows the warning here: "Fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy, and needs feeding. And soon, your Honor, with banners flying and with drums beating we'll be marching backward, backward, through the glorious ages of that sixteenth century, when bigots burned the man who dared to bring enlightenment and intelligence to the human mind."

"The national identity is provided by the nation's enemies."

This has been with us for generations now. Our nation defined ourselves through a comparison to the Nazis, to the Imperial Japanese, and then through decades of comparison to Communism. Terrorism has supplanted all of these, hammered into place on a Tuesday in September by the actions of madmen. We are not them, all is justified in the struggle against them, and so we are defined.

"Argument is tantamount to treason."

All one need do to see this in action is spend some hours with the Fox News channel. Freedom fries. Why do you hate America? You are with us or you are with the terrorists. Watch what you say.

"Perpetually at war, the state must govern with the instruments of fear."

The manipulation of this population by fear has been ham-fisted, to be sure, but has also been cruelly effective. We do not want the evidence to be a mushroom cloud. Weapons of mass destruction and al Qaeda in Iraq. Nuclear designs in Iran. Plastic sheeting and duct tape. Orange alert. Argument becomes tantamount to treason simply because everyone has been made to feel fear at all times. A frightened populace is easily governed, and governs itself; this lesson was well-learned in the duck-and-cover days of the Cold War. Those lessons have been masterfully applied once again. Today, the citizenry polices itself, and the herd moves as one body. Even the surveillance of innocent citizens by the state is brushed off as a necessary evil. Remember: you are being watched.

"Citizens do not act; they play the supporting role of 'the people' in the grand opera that is the state."

Once, we lived by the glorious simplicity of the vote. Casting a ballot was the single most patriotic duty a citizen could perform, an affirmation of all we held dear and true. Today, we live in the nation of the vanishing voter. Power has been so far removed from the people by those with money and influence that most see voting as a waste of time. Add to this the growing control of the implements of voting and vote-counting by partisan corporations, and the rule of We the People is left in ashes.

We must disenthrall ourselves from the idea that our institutions, our traditions, the barriers that protect us from absolute and authoritarian powers, cannot be broken down. They are being dismantled a brick at a time. It is a whispered fascism, not yet marching down your street or pounding upon your door in the dead of night. But it is here, and it is laying deep roots. We must listen beyond the whispered fascism of today to the shouted fascism of tomorrow. We must look beyond the lies and the myths, beyond the dogmas by which we sleep.

[pberq]

1. K&R - excellent

[Swamp Rat]

2. It can happen here.

It is already happening here.

[BlueEyedSon]

16. It did happen. Unfortunately, that will only be clear in hindsight in 2010

[RBHam]

3. Everything old in new again...

Springtime in America.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. Stop it Will!

yer scarin me!

[Marleyb]

5. 'Fascism is the marriage of government and corporations'

we are already there!

Of course for the aware Dems this is not a new concept...but it might be a way to get through to the Republicans with a conscience...and memory


http://benfrank.net/blog/f/notanazi.pdf

[Dunvegan]

6. Ann Coulter and her book "Treason"...

...by defining anyone left of far right as treasonous qualifies herself as a fascist hack and promoter of totalitarianism.

Ann "catapults the reich."

[AuntiBush]

38. You Got It.

At some point, it's no longer funny is it.

[robbedvoter]

7. There's always the other handy checklist:

...
The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism by Dr. Lawrence Britt

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler
(Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and
several Latin American regimes.
Britt found 14-defining characteristics common to each:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make
constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other
paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on
clothing and in public displays. TOP
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of
enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are
persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of
"need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of
torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of
prisoners, etc. TOP
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The
people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to
eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or
religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists,
etc. TOP
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic
problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government
funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military
service are glamorized. TOP
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be
almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional
gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality
are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of
the family institution. TOP
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by
the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled
by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and
executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common. TOP
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational
tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist
nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to
manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common
from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are
diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions. TOP
9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business
aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the
government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial
business/government relationship and power elite. TOP
10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor
is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are
either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed. TOP
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to
promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia.
It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or
even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly
attacked. TOP
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the
police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are
often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties
in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with
virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are
governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to
government positions and use governmental power and authority to
protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in
fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be
appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders. TOP
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a
complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns
against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of
legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries,
and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their
judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
http://www.couplescompany.com/Features/Politics/Structure3.htm

[AuntiBush]

39. Good Grief... It is Here.

Speechless...

[Arkham House]

8. Hear, Hear

Excellent, as always, Will. You've nailed it perfectly...keep on, friend. You're our Tom Paine, and we need you as we fight this monster...

[druidity33]

9. pamphlet...

I have been considering what i can do beyond LTTEs and telephoning reps. I have heard the word pamphlet uttered a few times on TV (once during Gores speech, i think) and am considering creating a mockup (template) than can be PDFd and easily and cheaply reproducible for any others... including resources for the reader. Would you be interested in contributing this essay towards this endeavor? Furthermore do you think this is a good idea and would you be willing to support it by offering advice and or suggestions?

I was thinking of a series of them... this first one titled Fascism? maybe with a frightening pic of * on the cover... this essay by you, a historical comparison, resources at end, and this list (modifiable):

The 14 characteristics of fascism

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
5. Rampant sexism.
6. A controlled mass media.
7. Obsession with national security.
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.
9. Power of corporations protected.
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.
14. Fraudulent elections.


The next one could be titled Election Fraud? Statistical facts (charts), short bits from Fitrakis, Outline of Diebold,ES&S scandal, with links, links always links...

I have some experience with graphics and layout and am working on cover graphic for first one....
let me know what you think.


...little bathroom magnets...

[Citrene]

10. Will, sometimes you just have an amazing way of hitting the ball out of

the park. Thank you.

[DanCa]

11. If Martin Luther were living today

they wouldn't let the man speak.

[dutchdemocrat]

12. Will

Check out http://www.thisiswiretap.com - both Leopold and Floyd are using it as a resource.

[AuntiBush]

40. Thanks

For the link. Worth the click. :thumbsup:

[DinahMoeHum]

13. We as a nation are becoming what we once hated.

n/t

[mcscajun]

14. I'm near to speechless. And Scared.

Yet still somehow hopeful, as long as we have voices like yours speaking out.

Wow! Simply, wow.

Recommmended and Then Some!

[helderheid]

15. excellent as usual, Will.

[leveymg]

17. When democratic institutions fail, others take their place.

That can be good or bad, depending upon the circumstances and the outcomes. Right now, I think we have one chance, and that is that the best people within the uniformed military and the intelligence community are willing to take extraorinary risks in order to uphold their oaths to protect the Constitution.

That is the last, best chance for the survival of humanity, today.

But, if we can see through our worst fears, there is reason for hope, and this is it. Neither the Plame nor the Franklin (OSP-AIPAC) prosecutions would have been allowed to get this far, unless both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the career CIA allowed it, if not demanded it.

Given the common element of both investigations -- the prosecution of those within the Administration who employed espionage and fraud to push the U.S. into an unnecessary war -- I do not believe that another fraudulent, and even more costly, war in the Middle East will be tolerated.

I think we have reason to expect that the officers will do their duty, which is to protect the country from its enemies, both foreign and domestic. That enemy is not us, and they know it.

[WilliamPitt]

18. Link to final

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011706I.shtml

[willing dwarf]

19. Some remaining questions

So if the vote is rigged and our voices are only heard hear on the internet, what do we do after we "disenthrall" ourselves?

Most of us reckon we have never been too enthralled with the current misadministration, but any pointers on where we go from here?

Monster meetings are often an end in itself. how to harness the energy of the people and work for real change?

[milkyway]

20. K&R! Also see David Neiwert's excellent essay "The Rise of Pseudo Fascism"

Available as a pdf, this 71-page essay was wrtitten a year ago. A clear-eyed, chilling look at where our nation is today, and where we might be heading.
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/The%20Rise%20Of%20Pseudo%20Fascism.pdf

Bush is, at heart, a fascist. His every impulse, his every action, is toward fascism rather than democracy. This Eco essay, like Britt's 14 Characteristics of Fascism mentioned upthread, describe Bush to a tee.

And when there's another attack here in the U.S., the turn toward fascism will be severe.

[restorefreedom]

21. chilling n/t

[hunter]

22. Happy Birthday, Benjamin Franklin!

"Make yourself sheep and the wolves will eat you."

[Cleita]

23. Great essay, although I prefer the word nazi. It has more impact and

gets people arguing with you, then you can point out that it's really a euphemism for totalitarianism. It's what we in this country, who are old enough to remember, had to endure the cold war for. Although back then it was called communism, a word people will still throw at you if you talk about national health care.

I still get blank stares with the word facism. I don't think you need to use the word nazi in a piece you will publish but try to make the word facism more visceral. Make them notice.

[TahitiNut]

24. In taking on the mantle of rabid, mindless opposition to Communism ...

... we became the largest fascist nation on earth. We defined ourselves in opposing Soviet Communism, totally discarding the distinctions between a Stalinist State and socialist values, and thereby made creeping fascism within our own nation totally invisible. Only when we withdraw our military from the 180+ countries in which they're based will we we be largely free of the delusion of a global fascist empire that grips us today. We have created a government that is solely allied with ruling regimes and not with the common working people within such nations. We have almost invariably opposed (to the point of overthrowing) populist governments while supporting capitalist hegemonies worldwide.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

25. Well written, Will... kicked/recommended

[K-W]

26. What is new about it exactly? EOM

[AuntiBush]

27. Alito - Part of the Last Plan of Action for GOP

Folks, checkout this site I found. It's very telling and from what I understand, the downloads are free to pass around & use on your blogs.

Get the word out, now.

http://alitosamerica.org/

[mom cat]

34. Oh Auntie! This nails it! We must defeat Alito!

[AuntiBush]

37. You Betcha & I'm Not Kidding.

Research (Google it), whatever - my viewpoint: It's that bad. A HUGE turning-point that does not do our country any justice.

I believe it's that significant.

[mikelewis]

28. Now that we've defined it, how do we kill it?

The much beloved Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger once said in the movie Predator, "If it bleeds, we can kill it." I can see it bleeding so how do we kill it?

[Blue Velvet]

51. If propaganda and distraction help construct the Fright Wing's tournaquet

in these instances (as I believe they do), then the dissemination of well-stated truth is the best way I can think of to bleed this beast dry. With this piece, not to mention the recent eloquent and hard-hitting proclamations of Al, Hillary (?!), Paul Hackett, etc., I feel confident that they are having difficulty stemming the flow right now. I say let's just keep trying to get the "truth out" there (so to speak) in whatever way shape or form.

(and please forgive me for running so far with your metaphor!)

;-)

p.s. "much beloved" - heh!

[AuntiBush]

29. Even Republicans Are Calling it at it's Sad Face Value Now:

FASCISM.

The most filthiest, frightening, dirty word to plague America's soil.

Fasciam defined by Wikipedia:

Merriam-Webster defines fascism as "a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition"<1>. The American Heritage Dictionary instead describes it as "A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism."<2>.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merriam-Webster

[Nikki Stone1]

30. What Republicans?

??

[AuntiBush]

32. Good Greif...

I've met a ton of them. From the Moose Club, to grocery stores, and neighbors.

They tell me as much (i.e.) "And, I'm a Republican." That's the line that generally follows right after they've ranted about *&Co/GOP corruption, and how fed-up they are.

Personally, I can't phanton even dating one and have been fortunate that most love me for the proud manner I display in being a liberal.

[Fiendish Thingy]

31. one of your best, Will K&R n/t

[samhsarah]

33. So true, so true.....

"We must disenthrall ourselves from the idea that our institutions, our traditions, the barriers that protect us from absolute and authoritarian powers, cannot be broken down. They are being dismantled a brick at a time. It is a whispered fascism, not yet marching down your street or pounding upon your door in the dead of night. But it is here, and it is laying deep roots. We must listen beyond the whispered fascism of today to the shouted fascism of tomorrow. We must look beyond the lies and the myths, beyond the dogmas by which we sleep." from OP

K&R
:kick:

[kpete]

35. Right On!!!

[benburch]

36. "Fighting the rise of the New Fascism"

Has been White Rose's motto since 2002.

[KoKo]

41. Good!.............

It's a nice one to pass around to counter our "fundie e-mail Spam."

thanks.

[AuntiBush]

42. Will: Most Significant Article You've Done, By Far

An eye-opener.

"Argument is tantamount to treason."

All one need do to see this in action is spend some hours with the Fox News channel. Freedom fries. Why do you hate America? You are with us or you are with the terrorists. Watch what you say.

"Perpetually at war, the state must govern with the instruments of fear."

[BrklynLiberal]

43. Kicked and recommended

[CrackpotAmerica]

44. I've been saying this for years! | Thank You Mr. Pitt

:nominated:

[CrispyQ]

45. Most excellent!

"smiley-faced fascism" -- that is so perfect.

[proud patriot]

46. My "calvin" is whizzing on "Fascism"

:D

[BeHereNow]

47. You've outdone yourself Will. K&R n/t

BHN

[Poiuyt]

48. Kicky

49. I don't know what kind of curve

is operating with all that is happening with Bush. Would all this be happening if Bush and Cheney were not the leaders? Is this dilemma unavoidable? It can happen though, unchecked power will try to keep that power.

[Blue Velvet]

50. "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of

fighting a foreign enemy" - James Madison

I know most here are probably familiar with that quote, but it's one that always grabs me. And this excellent piece of yours brought it to the fore of my quote-cluttered cranium yet again.

Great stuff, as always.

[Just Me]

52. Beautifully written. Suck-ass title.

x( We are being teased and tricked into a neo-fascism.

I'd focus the title on the trickery rather than the consequence.

"The foolish being fooled into fascism" or something like that.

Just my humble opinion.

[Hidden Stillness]

53. "Corporations" are Bad, but Microsoft, Wal-Mart, etc., are Your "Friends"

Although there are a certain number of constants with fascism/corporatism, there are equally, differences every time, which is why people generally never recognize it and react to it, until it is too late--every time. One feature of the current oppression is that it is no longer really tied to a Nation or nationalism at all anymore, but is now the disconnected global corporate world and the global rich; exclusive.

The current way of oppression, which you referred to as "smiley-faced fascism," or the soft-sell masking the brutal regime beneath, makes me think of an update to the old expression, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Now it is, "If you can't beat them down, make them join you." I think the central feature of the fascist, entirely corporatist propaganda today, is this neverending campaign to get you to identify with the corporation and its goals. They have gone from trying to threaten you and crush you, to a Communist-style "re-education camp" of smiley, happy commercials that make you cling to the corporate cult's metaphysics, and be unable to think from your own perspective anymore. That way, it isn't even necessary to threaten you; you aren't going to do anything.

The point is to get you from a perspective of society, ethics, history, the public non-commercial sphere, to a complete "marketing" perspective, where everything is a pitch or an angle, you want to buy everything, and you identify with the corporation and its products so much that, if someone suggests putting regulatory limits on any of it, you actually believe (they hope) that your own free speech has been violated. This is their main tactic nowadays. This is how you end up with people who will actually fight to keep violent video games or pornography available, and attack anyone who wants to stop its influence, as "spoiling the party," or "being the thought police," or some other learned corporate jargon. They hope to make you serve them and their interests--completely lawless capitalism, right down to slavery, and murder of whistleblowers--by becoming completely selfish and anti-social, and taking on their mindset as if it were your own. Then, when you spend a lifetime fighting for "what I want, and you can't take it away from me," you will probably never realize how you have actually set them up as your masters, paving the road for them every step of the way.

"Rich people should flood political campaigns with money because that is free speech--right?" "Nobody likes taxes, but a corporation should have the right to charge whatever it wants for a product--right?" "Women trying to stop violent pornography are just bitches trying to control me--right?" "I like it when corporations merge because then they'll be bigger and better, and more efficient--right?" "The business world is for winners; government programs are for losers--right?"

With corporate advertising over the media--non-stop, more commercials than ever, more mind-control techniques than ever, thousands, millions of gimme-gimme-gimme ads since the 1980s when they really deregulated advertising content and amount, flashing, quick-cuts, louder and louder sound, gimme-gimme, only fun, no work, no thought--a whole generation has become overly-sensitized and overly-identified with what corporations think, want, and criticize, and what the brand-name of everything is, and on some level believe that these industries, etc., are the source of fun and good, and that if someone tries to implement laws to control them, that that "equals" killing the "fun." This is the theme of corporate/fascist propaganda these days. Divide and conquer. Cover up the fact of cut-throat business practices with an endless, smiley ad campaign.

People have been dangerously identifying with the capitalist enemy for a long time, however. I remember during the early '70s I think it was, when the great Sen. George McGovern proposed a heavy tax on inheritances over $500,000. A wonderful idea that will help the whole Nation with increased revenues, right? Actually, McGovern was perplexed to find opposition to it by ordinary, middle class people, a reaction that made no sense. "They must think they're going to win a lottery," McGovern said. These moderate income people actually opposed a measure to help society by increasing taxes paid by rich people who did not deserve the extra money and would never miss it, and they did it, mindlessly, because they wanted, and therefore believed it possible, to be those rich people, just by wishing--and by killing the very step that would have made income distribution more equitable. They actually believed that taxes on rich people might "hurt" THEIR OWN future prospects...in their dreams. The cheap "dreams" sold to you by the propagandists of every corporate advertising agency, the new-world's fascist mouthpiece.

[mongo]

61. So you want to fight facsism

by imposing your own brand of it on the masses?

if someone suggests putting regulatory limits on any of it, you actually believe (they hope) that your own free speech has been violated. This is their main tactic nowadays. This is how you end up with people who will actually fight to keep violent video games or pornography available, and attack anyone who wants to stop its influence, as "spoiling the party," or "being the thought police," or some other learned corporate jargon.

How about facsist nanny statist? Is that "corporate" jargon? You seem to imply that if one supports the first Amendment they are facsist -- when it is YOU that wishes to control what consenting adults view in the privacy of their own homes.

[The Onyx Key]

54. This "genius" has a response here. Does anyone know

what this mook is talking about?

http://dummiefunnies.blogspot.com

[NMMNG]

55. Just blowing a bunch of hot air out of his arse

Nothing to see there, keep moving. :eyes:

[bvar22]

56. Is IT here yet?

The Republicans have been In Charge of America for 5 years.
Are we beginning to look like a REAL Fascist State?

*Demanding Party Loyalty above National Security (Plame Outing and Coverup)

*Military “PURGED” of commanders loyal to the Country and not the Party

*Whitewashes and Cover Ups masquerading as Governmental Investigations

*Secret Prisons where people are "disappeared"

*Dismantling of Individual Protections from Government

*Torture as a National Policy

*Police State Powers Increasing

*One Party Government (No Effective Opposition Party)

*Absurd (OBSCENE) and expanding Military Budgets

*Dismantling of Humanitarian Programs to pay for Military

*Restricting access to information about government

*Restricting access to information contradicting Republican Party ideals (birth control).

*Rewriting (forging) scientific data to support Republican Party ideals

*State Owned Media

*Persecution of Dissent

*HyperNationalism masquerading as Patriotism

*Emerging SMALL Class of POWERFUL ELITES

*Bogus and unverifiable elections

*Private Police and Security Forces not accountable to the Public.

*Republican Party Secret Police to screen at Bush* appearances

*NO Civilian Control and Oversight of Military

*Highest percentage imprisoned in Western World

*Potemkin Villages for the Press and Red Cross (Iraq and Guantanamo)

*Rampant Historical Revisionism

*Privileges and Access for Republican Party Members Only

*Ruling by Executive Order

*Judiciary controlled by Executive Branch

*Legislative Organs controlled by Executive Branch

*Power Consolidated and Concentrated in One Person

*Government Officials WARNING to be careful what we say

*Controlled and Scripted PUBLIC appearances of Republican Party Officials

*Government encouraging citizens to spy on each other

*Secret files on law abiding citizens

*Manufactured phony State Heroes (Tillman, Lynch)

*State Medals awarded by Cronyism and Republican Party Loyalty, not merit

*Governmental business cloaked I secrecy.

*Government “contracts” awarded in secret to Party Members and Cronies

*Odor of Arrogance and Contempt from Republican Party Officials




I am NOT EQUATING the USA today with Stalinist Russia or other One Party Toltarian States.
I AM saying we are moving in that direction.


Feel free to add to the list or dispute my claims.

[puebloknot]

57. Yes, it can happen here.

A great piece, Will Pitt, and a good complement to Al Gore's speech yesterday.

I remember when I was fourteen, and had my eyes checked for the first time. My new glasses gave me an amazing view of what I had not previously been seeing all around me. Your writing does that, too!

There are two excellent books I've read which illustrate the theme of a population so in thrall to life as usual, and to their own intelligence and self-assurance, that they did not -- could not -- believe their country could fall. I expect you know of them, but some of the good people here might not have discovered them.

Other Septembers, Many Americas, by Ariel Dorfman (In part about the coup that brought down Salvador Allende in Chile)

Defying Hitler, by Sebastian Haffner (Written by a young jurist in 1930's Germany, and not published until very recently, by his son)

I live with half a breath in all my moments now, wondering how to live, how to prepare for what may come. They say that despair is the greatest sin. Mea culpa, some days. But most of them are filled with a resolve to not go quiescently into that damned night that is a' birthin'! Let it be stillborn.

[LibertyorDeath]

58. OH William Oh William it's only taken you 4 years to post the FUCKING

OBVIOUS.

BRAVO!!

Sincerely from all the tin foil wearers.

[Peter Frank]

59. I Hear You - and a Heartfelt Welcome to the DU WilliamPitt...

:hi:

Please watch this video and help even more to get the word out -- http://www.liferepatterning.com/911theroadtotyranny.asf

[Peter Frank]

60. Yes, it's fairly long...

...but truth can't always fit on a bumper sticker.

Please post back after you've viewed it.

http://www.liferepatterning.com/911theroadtotyranny.asf

[druidity33]

62. pamphlet, no?

Have gotten no response to the suggestion of easily reproducible/distributable factgiving pamphlet... should i post this thought in the activist corps group? Should i forget about it? Any suggestion would be appreciated...

[Rocknrule]

63. To quote Revenge of the Sith:

"We have allowed this Dark Lord to twist our minds until now we have become the very thing we swore to destroy"