Ever heard of the "Enabling Law"? You should know about it.

[shance]

Apparently, it was almost an identical law to our Patriot Act passed in Germany on "April Fools Day" of 1937.

From another DU post:

The Enabling Law passed the Reichstag by a vote of 444-94, whereas the PATRIOT Act passed the House by a margin of 357-66, and the Senate by a vote of 98-1. Curiously, the Enabling Law was supposed to sunset in four years: on April Fool's Day, 1937, precisely paralleling the four-year expiration of many of the PATRIOT Act's provisions. Perhaps the eerie similarity reflects the influence of Nazi legal scholar Carl Schmitt on neoconservative lawyers of the Bush administration like David S. Addington, John Yoo, and Viet Dinh.


When combined with the globalist economics of Leo Strauss, what I see is a group of people intent on overthrowing our democratic form of government. As was done in Florida in 2000 and continuing on the same path as the Nazi's in Germany. The core philosophy being identical to the German Nazi's.

For those interested, read about Carl Schmitt. He sounds like that charecter Dr. Strangelove in the movie.

[Greyhound]

1. I do and it is just one of the many, many eerily similar strategies

that we've been subjected to. Get ready, have your survival network in place, and meeting places and procedures for when communications are shut down.

[shance]

3. Yes. While Americans are being gorged with 'sex and sports' on television

and coach potato syndrome, companies like Halliburton/KBR and hammering and welding away.

Wake up America. Your future is being sold off and you're watching Survivor. We better apply that term to our own lives out here.

[melody]

7. That's a stereotype

Frankly, sounds like the cant of the John Birchers back in the '70s -- None Dare Call it Conspiracy, etc.

The situation is more complicated and our response will be complex, imho.

"Survivor" isn't the problem -- the government which has been psychologically isolating us from our own cultures and terrifying us for forty years is the problem.

[shance]

11. Oh Melody, please. There is nothing complex about

right and wrong.

Sure there are complexities but right now you are the one confusing the issues and it seems to be purposeful.

If you want to have an honest discussion, fine.

If you are here solely to marginalize and criticize, then please go visit another thread.

[melody]

13. Not marginalizing, rather it seems to me that you are over-simplifying

If one looks at something simplistically, it's simplistic.

Sounds to me like you have your own hard-edged perspective and agenda. I wish you well with it -- believe what you like, but this will be my last post on this thread.

[Greyhound]

30. Wonder what will she tell herself when it comes to her neighborhood? n/t

[melody]

32. How do you know it hasn't come to *her* neighborhood?

I'm just offering facts to alleviate some of the more distorted extremism that feeds belief systems. As the cynics say, never let a fact stand in the way of a good theory. I've had friends actually come under the fixated, obsessive eye of well-intended conspiracy theorists because they deemed them to be in cahoots with "Nazi forces". An assertion does not equal an argument, and an argument requires proof to have any validity.

There has been a fascist movement abroad since long before Hitler. These people ARE fascists. That doesn't make them Nazis in a real sense.

We need to stop seeing things at a surface level and start looking for deeper links. People tend to stop looking when they reach a level that is emotionally comfortable for them. I genuinely want to know what is going on. I don't need to see the "enemies" as "evil monster Nazis" to do that. These people are as human as we are. That makes them even more frightening to me.

I'm fine with calling them Nazis as an archetype, but they aren't literally Nazis. They're international and thus far less "effective" (thank heavens).

[FreedomAngel82]

21. If you go back

and watch Moore's F911 he talks to Jim McDermott and he makes the statement it was like they had this "Patriot Act" lying around and they knew this was their perfect moment to do this because they wouldn't have other wise. 9/11 happened so they can change our laws.

[FreedomAngel82]

22. Time to read up on

the White Rose Society.

[melody]

2. That's an illusion some are trying to create, imho

When you look at Rumsfeld and Rove, they look like cast from a bad WWII movie.

[shance]

4. Really? Consider this. People laughed and dismissed Hitler as well.

Read some of Ellie Weisels work. You seem to ridicule what you don't know.

If you would rather laugh it off because it scares you too much, consider that knowing the truth and what these individuals are capable of is your greatest power to save yourself and your country.

You bet it is scary. However, what is scarier is denying the abuse that individuals like Donald Rumsfeld are inflicting on others and saying it will never happen to you. That is not only the height of selfishness, it is the most powerless position one can place oneself in.

[melody]

5. Don't assume my opinions please

I've read all of Ellie Weisel's work. I'm also a long-time reader of numerous historical researchers, like Mae Brussell. I know all the Nazi's-are-alive belief systems. Rex-84 and the NeoFascism has been around forever.

Frankly, Nazis would scare me less than some of these global fascists. I'm saying it's far more complicated than it appears.

[shance]

8. Complicated? I disagree Melody. I would say its pretty simple.

Every single one of your rights and my rights as a citizen, as women, and as human beings are being ripped out of our hands by perpetual liars who have bullied their way into the White House and have taken over.

It is a replay from the Third Reich and if you don't believe me, that's certainly your choice. Many of these people are students of Hitler's Third Reich and they actually believe they can get it right this time.

[melody]

10. These people are definitely fascists

But I think it is being done for reasons beyond those you believe.

I think it's a very complex global effort that has happened since Ronald Reagan, to basically destroy the US. That's my own pet conspiracy theory. :) That's my view. Your mileage will vary.

[FreedomAngel82]

27. Or they have some type of connection to Hitler

Remember that Bush's grandfather was a Nazi who gave Hitler money and funded him and was a big supporter. Karl Rove's father was an SS as well and they changed their last name to Rove when they came over to the States. Remember Arnold's speech at the republican convention? He was purely bullshitting because his father was an SS Nazi too who was doing those things he was talking about.

[melody]

29. Some info

Bush's grandfather Prescott Bush also gave money to Stalin. Prescott was as big a sociopath as his son and grandson. He wasn't an ideologue. He was just buying influence.

Karl Rove's father or grandfather wasn't an SS officer so far as anyone can establish. Karl Rove was adopted. His actual ancestry is unknown. Rove is a simple-minded sub-mental sociopath, but he's not a Nazi imho.

Paul Wolfowitz definitely wrote a paper in college outlining a 911 event and how it might trigger a fascist US takeover, but he's a practicing Jew, so I don't know about his qualifications as a Nazi.

I think this is much more complex than just being a Nazi "empire".

[FreedomAngel82]

25. Don't you remember they found

a Nazi a live earlier this year? He was eighty-four I believe.

[FreedomAngel82]

24. Definitley read Weisel

His book "Night" is really good. I always recommend this one. I found it at a local bookstore for $2 so it was like I was supposed to find it. This is an original too and not the updated one. Try to find it if you can. If not you can find it at your local library. That's where I did the first time because I did a report on him in a writing class a few semesters ago in college.

[Greyhound]

6. I must be especially dense today, what part(s) is an illusion? n/t

[melody]

9. Rumsfeld and Rove are dead-ringers, sts, for Nazi officers

http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/usa/karl-rove/


This is one example.

I just find it very interesting that while we have this fascist takeover (complete with "Diebold") by all these curiously WWII-esque personalities, along with far-right backward policies going into place, we have this fresh bloom of liberal policies cropping up in the UK and Canada.

This is one reason I wonder if Bush isn't our enemy in more ways than one.

[shance]

12. ROFL!! Liberal policies? Where are they Melody? By all means, bring them

ON****

Show us these liberal, "complex" policies you are speaking of.

In case you were too busy shopping at the time, the right winged extremists killed liberalism in the sixties when they killed JFK, MLK, RFK, and Malcolm X.

[FreedomAngel82]

28. Something I wonder

Did Hitler steal his election or did he really win it legitmatley?

[Kenergy]

14. Good point shance

<The similarities between Hitler and the Bush regime are too numerous to dismiss as being coincidental imo>



Hitler's Enabling Act

On March 23, 1933, the newly elected members of the German Parliament (the Reichstag) met in the Kroll Opera House in Berlin to consider passing Hitler's Enabling Act. It was officially called the 'Law for Removing the Distress of the People and the Reich.' If passed, it would effectively mean the end of democracy in Germany and establish the legal dictatorship of Adolf Hitler.

The 'distress' had been secretly caused by the Nazis themselves in order to create a crisis atmosphere that would make the law seem necessary to restore order. On February 27, 1933, they had burned the Reichstag building, seat of the German government, causing panic and outrage. The Nazis successfully blamed the fire on the Communists and claimed it marked the beginning of a widespread uprising.

On the day of the vote, Nazi storm troopers gathered in a show of force around the opera house chanting, "Full powers - or else! We want the bill - or fire and murder!!" They also stood inside in the hallways, and even lined the aisles where the vote would take place, glaring menacingly at anyone who might oppose Hitler's will.

Just before the vote, Hitler made a speech to the Reichstag in which he pledged to use restraint.

"The government will make use of these powers only insofar as they are essential for carrying out vitally necessary measures...The number of cases in which an internal necessity exists for having recourse to such a law is in itself a limited one." - Hitler told the Reichstag.

He also promised an end to unemployment and pledged to promote peace with France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. But in order to do all this, Hitler said, he first needed the Enabling Act.

A two thirds majority was needed, since the law would actually alter the German constitution. Hitler needed 31 non-Nazi votes to pass it. He got those votes from the Center Party after making a false promise to restore some basic rights already taken away by decree.

However, one man arose amid the overwhelming might. Otto Wells, leader of the Social Democrats stood up and spoke quietly to Hitler.

"We German Social Democrats pledge ourselves solemnly in this historic hour to the principles of humanity and justice, of freedom and socialism. No enabling act can give you power to destroy ideas which are eternal and indestructible."

This enraged Hitler and he jumped up to respond.

"You are no longer needed! - The star of Germany will rise and yours will sink! Your death knell has sounded!"

The vote was taken - 441 for, only 84, the Social Democrats, against. The Nazis leapt to their feet clapping, stamping and shouting, then broke into the Nazi anthem, the Hörst Wessel song.

They achieved what Hitler had wanted for years - to tear down the German Democratic Republic legally and end democracy, thus paving the way for a complete Nazi takeover of Germany.

From this day on, the Reichstag would be just a sounding board, a cheering section for Hitler's pronouncements.

[shance]

15. Wow. Powerfully similar to our Congress. Thank you Kenergy.

n/t

[Kenergy]

19. You're welcome n/t

[AndyTiedye]

20. The Reichstag Was Meeting in the Opera House Because

Their normal meeting place was no longer available:

[shance]

23. Great picture* Thanks for posting.

n/t

[ThomWV]

16. The "Enabling Act" Clause was actually older than that

It predated Hitler. Basically it was an act that allowed rule by fiat if no majority could be found in parliamentary Germany. I think it was first invoked sometime before the first world war and it actually is the device Hitler used to rise to power in the early 30's. Once he had the power to decree, much as Bush says he has now, everything was lost for Germany. Oh, and if I remember correct it was Clause 49 of the Constitution of the Vi mer (sp?) Republics.

[shance]

18. Thanks Thom. I didn't know that.

Im learning alot about this today.

[liam_laddie]

17. additional background on the subject

Here's an excerpt from a letter I sent to some friends earlier this week.
Maybe it'll add some detail toward understanding our nation's current dilemma...
how to maintain our freedoms. It'll take the oft-quoted "eternal vigilance" and
maybe blood, much as I hate to contemplate that.
===============================================================
The Patriot Act, written under cover, passed without proper consideration, and so
often used by this administration to justify any number of odious, unconstitutional
acts, has as its prototype, certain Articles and Acts instituted by the Weimar Republic
of post-WWI Germany (1919-1933.) Read these, compare to Patriot Act, and weep.
Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, written in August 1919, gave the German
president the option to "to temporarily suspend the fundamental rights..." if public safety
and order are materially disturbed or endangered. Who decides? Go forward to 1933.
and we have The Decree of February 28 and the Enabling Act of March 24, both of which
established the Nazi regime as the only power in the land. These were passed by a
compliant Reichstag (lower house) and Reichsrat (upper house). Selected parts follow.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE 1. In virtue of paragraph 2, article 48,* of the German Constitution, the following
is decreed as a defensive measure against communist acts of violence , endangering the state:
Sections 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153 of the Constitution of the German Reich are
suspended until further notice. Thus, restrictions on personal liberty <114>, on the right of free
expression of opinion, including freedom of the press <118>, on the right of assembly and the
right of association <124>, and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic
communications <117>, and warrants for house-searches <115>, orders for confiscation as well
as restrictions on property <153>, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise
prescribed.

*Article 48 of the German Constitution of August 11, 1919:
If public safety and order in Germany are materially disturbed or endangered, the President may
take the necessary measures to restore public safety and order, and, if necessary, to intervene
with the help of the armed forces. To this end he may temporarily suspend, in whole or in part, the
fundamental rights established in Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153
=======================================================================
The parallels with the Patriot Act are beyond frightening; Karl Rove is known to admire
and read both Machiavelli and Goebbels. Be afraid, be very afraid...of loss of our rights
and freedoms. Patriot Act? As much a deceptive name as No Child Left Behind or Clean
Skies or Healthy Forests or Tax Reform, essentially all the acts proposed by administration
are total head fakes, attempts to hide the true intent of their destructive agenda.

Citizens, if you care about the future of the United States, the future of your children and
grandchildren, the future of our standing in the world community, you have but one choice
this November - vote out the corrupt majorities in the Senate and House and set the ship
of state upright and on a positive course. It is a crucial election.

[Kenergy]

26. Thank you liam and Thom for that input n/t

[sproutster]

31. You only have to read my post the day of the Alito vote.

The simularities are more then uncanny. I believe.