America + Bush = neoFASCISM

[angry_chuck]

What are the indicators of a FASCIST government?


http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=britt_23_2
also at: http://www.epaclu.org/library/fascism.asp
with pictures: http://mvp-seattle.com/pages/pageFascism.htm

Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism
"An American flag was unfurled from the top of the building. It undulated in the wind. The crowd rose, clapping, clenching fists, weeping."
http://www.boston.com/news/packages/sept11/anniversary/globe_stories/091202_solemn.htm
"...and there are flags everywhere"
http://girlsgonechild.blogspot.com/2006/09/911-remembering-five-years-ago.html

Disdain for the importance of human rights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights#Violations_of_human_rights

Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause
"The war on terror, you can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror. And so it's a comparison that is -- I can't make because I can't distinguish between the two, because they're both equally as bad, and equally as evil, and equally as destructive."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20020925-1.html

The supremacy of the military/avid militarism
"I have a responsibility to prepare the nation for all that lies ahead,"
"There will be no room for misunderstanding. The most basic commitment of our government will be the security of our country."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1778681.stm

Rampant sexism
" The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy."
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/5_sexism.htm

A controlled mass media
"We are grateful to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications, whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the work is now much more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries."
http://www.wealth4freedom.com/truth/chapter14.htm

Obsession with national security
"It's important for the American people to understand success in Iraq is vital for our own security. If we were to not succeed in Iraq, the enemy -- the extremists, the radicals -- would have safe haven from which to launch further attacks, they would be emboldened; they would be in a position to threaten the United States of America. This is an important part of the war on terror."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/nationalsecurity/index.html

Religion and ruling elite tied together
"Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost. As the vice regents of God, we are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government, our literature and arts, our sports arenas, our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors -- in short, over every aspect and institution of human society."
http://www.theocracywatch.org/
Not all of religious peoples can be included however, only neoFASCISTS:
Reverend Rich Lang of the Trinity United Methodist Church of Seattle gave a sermon titled "George Bush and the Rise of Christian Fascism", in which he said, "I want to flesh out the ideology of the Christian Fascism that Mr. Bush articulates. It is a form of Christianity that is the mirror opposite of what Jesus embodied."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neofascism_and_religion#Christianity_in_the_United_States

Power of corporations protected
"Bush has made this straightforward form of corporate payback the defining trait of his administration. This simple fact has been obscured by the snickering over his frequent and clunky gaffes."
"For Bush, the first US president with an MBA, the election was a straightforward business proposition in which American corporations acted as venture capitalists. They were invited to take a moderate risk and put the bulk of their political funds behind the Republican dauphin in the most expensive campaign in history. The returns, in the form of abandoned lawsuits, relaxed federal regulations and the scrapping of at least one major international treaty, are heavily loaded with short-term profit. Whatever the economic climate in the world outside, for big business it is truly springtime in Washington."
"Naturally, the Democrats have lined up to declare that they are shocked to discover that business wields such influence in politics. The corporate world did not do too badly in the Clinton years, but it was one of many voices echoing around the Oval Office. In the Bush administration, business is the only voice."
http://www.georgewalkerbush.net/bigbusiness.htm

Power of labor suppressed or eliminated
"Despite his high-profile photo-ops and rhetoric, its pretty clear George W. Bush hates unions, and hates working people. That's not surprising, considering he never did a real day's work in his life. For Bush, growing up a wealthy blueblood elitist surely meant looking down on average blue collar workers with disdain."
http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/04/bush-steps-up-his-war-on-workers_04.html

Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts
"well-documented readiness of the Bush administration to manipulate and suppress scientific findings - manifestly to appease industrial interests and religious constituencies."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4172504.stm

Obsession with crime and punishment
"There have been questions all along about the depth and seriousness of George W. Bush. They have been brought into sharp focus now by a surprising issue: the way the death penalty is administered in Texas. In his comments on that subject Governor Bush has defined himself, unforgettably, as shallow and callous."
http://www.commondreams.org/views/061700-102.htm

Rampant cronyism and corruption
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronyism
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/bushco/cronyism.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1215-33.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron

Fraudulent elections
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJOyz7_sk8I
http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/hackingdemocracy/synopsis.html



Does any of this ring alarm bells? Of course not. After all, this is America, officially a democracy with the rule of law, a constitution, a free press, honest elections, and a well-informed public constantly being put on guard against evils. Historical comparisons like these are just exercises in verbal gymnastics. Maybe, maybe not.



good rhyme- The Halliburton Curtain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXIvTACmJUI

[indepat]

1. If it walks like and quack like..., it is a....

[Pavulon]

2. Nope

mid terms prove the system works. Smart guys designed a system that balances power and allows for correction. The congress can effect the course of this government.

By electing them we have spoken. I have visited many shitty 3rd world nations with centralized power. Once you do that you can appreciate what we have a bit more.

[angry_chuck]

3. I am not trying to denigrate our system

just what bush has done and continues to do to it.

[angry_chuck]

4. mid-terms only proove that

we had an election. We have yet to see any change in course from the government. To state that I do not appreciate my liberties is ridiculous. Your having vacationed in many places makes you no more justified in judging my interpretation of things as uninformed than bush is justified in torturing our constitution and our system of checks and balances you admire so favorably.

Just because he has destroyed liberty before, does that make him fit to judge what liberties of mine he shall destroy henceforth?

[Pavulon]

6. I have lived and done business

on several continents. I will not argue your right to your opinion. That is not my intent.

Bush has made decisions that cost lives. Bush will be gone in 08.

The new government has not had a chance to make chances yet. They will not be perfect.

My thoughts are that the system is capable of recovering from one administration.

[angry_chuck]

9. i hope you are right

[Karenina]

10. K&R

:kick:

[H2O Man]

11. Bush will be gone.

But he is only one individual. The OP, no matter if one agrees or disagrees, is about a system, rather than an individual.

[rman]

13. That doesn't mean Bush does not represent an attempt

to install a form of fascism in the US.

If the US were a true democracy the issues listed in the OP would not be the issues that they are.

The fact that it is worse in other places, and has been worse in other times and places, doesn't change anything about it.

[angry_chuck]

18. Right On RMAN!

the methods are the same; regardless of our fascism's infancy as compared to the matured fascism of hitler or mussolini.

Prescott Bush paid and protected the fascists just like GH and GW have done.

http://www.lightwatcher.com/culturejam/nazi_finance.html - great link!

Fine family tradition

[bvar22]

12. I love your optimism, but....

...the US moved closer to Fascism (Corporate Oligarchy) under Bill Clinton and the Democrats.

You are correct, "congress can effect the course of this government".
The question is: "Will they?", or (based on past performance) can we expect a slower creep toward Fascism?


The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[angry_chuck]

19. We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve

the rights of ordinary Americans ..." Bill Clinton (USA TODAY, 11 March 1993, page 2A)

[Octafish]

5. Excellent post. Bush and his cronies are NAZI.

They like the same things: Power. Money. Racialism. War.

Nazis & Bush Family History:
Government Investigated Bush Family's Financing Of Hitler

December 22, 2001 - source: By Carla Binion OnlineJournal.com

This article on Nazis in the Republican party was originally published in Online Journal on 1/28/00. However, the following includes additional information regarding George H. W. Bush's father, Prescott, and his maternal grandfather, George Herbert (Bert) Walker, and the fact that the U. S. government investigated their financing of Adolf Hitler.

One book referenced here, Christopher Simpson's "Blowback," was praised by journalist Seymour Hersh as "the ultimate book about the worst kind of cold war thinking." Nora Levin, Director, Holocaust Archive, Gratz College, said "The full story of this country's shameful, cynical collaboration with Nazi criminals has not been told until now with the publication of Simpson's book." Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman said, 'Blowback' is a must read for anyone who wants to understand postwar policy on Nazi war criminals and the cold war."

In another Simpson book, "The Splendid Blonde Beast," the author wrote about George H. W. Bush's father, Prescott, and his maternal grandfather, George Herbert Walker. Both Bert Walker and Prescott Bush were powerful financial supporters of Adolf Hitler.

Walker was president of Union Banking Corporation, a firm that traded with Germany and helped German industrialists consolidate Hitler's political power. Simpson says Union Banking became a Nazi money-laundering machine.

Walker helped take over North American operations of Hamburg-Amerika Line, a shipping line and cover for I. G. Farben's Nazi espionage unit in the U. S. Hamburg-Amerika smuggled in German agents, and brought in money for bribing American politicians to support Hitler. A 1934 congressional investigation showed Hamburg-Amerika subsidized Nazi propaganda efforts in the U. S.

George H. W. Bush's father, Prescott, was a board member of Union Banking and a senior partner in a Union Banking affiliate,Äîthe investment firm Brown Brothers, Harriman. The U. S. government investigated both Bert Walker and Prescott Bush, and under the Trading with the Enemy Act seized all shares of Union Banking, including shares held by Prescott Bush. The government held that "huge sections of Prescott Bush's empire had been operated on behalf of Nazi Germany and had greatly assisted the German war effort."

Investigative reporter Christopher Simpson says in "Blowback" that after World War II, Nazi ©migr©s were given CIA subsidies to build a far-right-wing power base in the U. S. These Nazis assumed prominent positions in the Republican Party's "ethnic outreach committees." Simpson documents the fact that these Nazis did not come to America as individuals but as part of organized groups with fascist political agendas. The Nazi agenda did not die along with Adolf Hitler. It moved to America (or a part of it did) and joined the far right of the Republican Party.

CONTINUED...

http://www.lightwatcher.com/culturejam/nazi_finance.html

Down with all NAZIs.

[Pavulon]

7. only a few million more dead and a world war for that to be true

they suck. But that comparison is poor. Stalin may have made the grade, khmer rouge..On the order of lives taken these guys are rank amateurs.

6 million people is 360 kilotons of biomass. 1/3 of a megaton of dead human flesh. On that scale the nazi argument fails.

[bvar22]

14. When you add the Death Count in Iraq....

..from Gulf War 1, the oppressive and deadly sanctions under Clinton (500,000 CHILDREN Dead) to bush*s total (650,000), you are getting in the neighborhood.

[rman]

15. The likeness between the Bush gang and fascism is in the methods

(see the issues listed in the OP) - the likeness is not in the number of deaths and the scope of the wars they fight.
Besides, the neocons have promised us perpetual and total war - this business in the Middle East isn't over yet. Will a Dem government in 08 withdraw the military from the Middle East? I'll believe it when i see it.

[angry_chuck]

17. proof is in the pudding

you are so right; believe it when you see it!

[Morgana LaFey]

16. fascism isn't about how many lives are lost

what a naive belief.

And even if it were, you're comparing from the end of that era, not from the beginnings or middle.

[Jcrowley]

8. K&R n/t