Naomi Wolf asserts that the end of America is Extremely F**king Nigh

[marmar]

I'm paraphrasing. :) Congrats to anyone who gets the movie reference in the subject line.



from AlterNet's PEEK:


Naomi Wolf Warns That The End of America Is Near

Posted by Adam Howard at 1:41 PM on October 21, 2007.


Adam Howard: Mussolini created the blueprint, Hitler followed suit, Stalin studied Hitler and it all leads to Bush.


Even though her message is frightening, Naomi Wolf wants to assure people that there can be a light at the end of the tunnel. The YouTube video to your right is a terrific speech by Wolf (at Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus) about her provocative new book "The End of America" which talks about the parallels between the Bush Administration's tactics and those of fascist dictatorships of the last century.

The same language, images, manipulation that would-be despots have used in the past to break down existing democracies are being employed now. From Italy in the 1920s, Germany in the 1930s, and on and on, Wolf finds that all these despots do that same things. Mussolini created the blueprint, Hitler followed suit, Stalin studied Hitler and these methods just get passed down to the next generation of dictators throughout the world. Wolf has summarized their method is ten points:

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy

2. Create a gulag

3. Develop a thug caste

4. Set up an internal surveillance system

5. Harass citizens' groups

6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release

7. Target key individuals

8. Control the press

9. Dissent equals treason

10. Suspend the rule of law

Wolf argues that all of these methods are underway in the United States right now. We ran a piece by Wolf just a couple weeks ago where she talked about number three, the thug caste, and Blackwater. In this video she provides ample evidence of all the other ten as well.

She says she wrote this book to inspire young people in particular to combat this trend, and to restore democracy asap. The arguments she marks are compelling, thoroughly researched and impossible to dispute. So what can we do? What is the light at the end of the tunnel? You'll have to skip ahead to about the 5:37 mark to find out.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/65748/

[arendt]

1. Thank god for real writers who are patriots. n/t

[renie408]

2. We get it already. This is only like the 97th time that has been posted.

What I can''t ever figure out is what happens after the elections. Are the Dems in on this too or is it just Bush?

[marmar]

3. Well I didn't see the other 96.....

Sorry to be such an annoyance. :eyes:

[shadowknows69]

5. That's one Wolf and maybe Mussolini might have missed

"Instead of eliminating all opposition, infiltrate it." which goes a lot farther to keeping the sheep in line until the transition is complete.

[Jim__]

8. You get it? And you still have to ask ...

what happens after the elections?

If you read the book or listen to Wolf speak, the answer to that should be clear. In short, the people who wrote the Constitution had a fair understanding of the nature of power. If you take away the constitutional constraints on the exercise of power, then whoever holds power will use it, without restraint. The danger is that all constitutional constraints on the exercise of power are being taken away.

[Evergreen Emerald]

11. The elections were stolen....they just underestimated the amount

they needed to steal in 2006--they will not make that mistake again. The democrats do not get the enormity of the situation, and therefore people like Pelosi are not fighting (and are apologizing when the truth is told.)

[Ezlivin]

14. Or it was a feint

Remember all the cries for election reform and how we were not going to stand for voting without a verifiable paper trail? When the Democrats "won" the last election the wind went out of those sails.

Now the Republicans are pushing hard for voter reform and want to put onerous requirements like photo ids into place.

And since "losing" the election, how have the Republicans fared?

[Donnachaidh]

4. 5th K&R n/t

[BridgeTheGap]

6. The goal of the "order" (skull & bones):

Absolute State Power. It doesn't matter to them whether power is consolidated from the left or right, as long as State power is absolute.

[cali]

7. As Joseph Stiglitz puts it in his review

of The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Wolf doesn't believe in coincidence. And the review is generally good, btw. I'm reading it now, and though I agree with a lot of her central thesis, she's straining to make some of her connections. She makes an excellent case about disaster capitalism, but is less convincing in her sweeping conclusions. I know she's trying to wake people up to a real threat, but she's overstating her case.

[Jim__]

9. I think you have your Naomi's mixed up.

The Shock Doctrine is by Naomi Klein. This thread is about The End of America by Naomi Wolf.

[cali]

10. Oops quite right

And even more inexcusable because I have Klein's book right on my desk and I HAVE had coffee.

[TwilightGardener]

12. And we (or Congress) let it happen, because of fear, and because of

faith that our leaders have good intentions for the country, or at least are benign, and would take care of us. We have been the frogs in the slowly heating pot of water.

[Senator]

13. Good. She's Changed Her Tune (To Impeach Now)

It's almost as if she's been reading DU.

You go girl. (Is that not the term of art?)

---

[redacted]

15. Actually, she goes way beyond impeachment, calling for PROSECUTIONS FOR TREASON

However, you have to watch and listen carefully to the end of her University of Washington speech to catch the reference. That alone deserves a separate thread, but it will be probably be days before I have time to post it. The video is in our DU Videos forum and on YouTube.

[bdamomma]

16. excellent video, and all her points mentioned we are almost there.

[Senator]

20. Well, prosecution for anything is a pipe dream without impeachment

Sure, in an ideal world prosecution for treason and war crimes would naturally follow. But without the initial objection/accusation of impeachment, you can't get around the reasonable doubt standard for a claim that all was "tacitly approved."

Which is why...

Failure to impeach is complicity -- approval -- exoneration for the regime.

We allow it at our peril.

---

[redacted]

22. Having a hard time understanding your post

I'm not at all saying you're not correct. I'm saying I'm having a hard time understanding your writing.

Also, she has come out in favor of impeachment. I don't think she's suggesting anybody skip that step on the way to other actions.

[Senator]

24. Sorry. No, I'm not disagreeing with her.

Certainly prosecutions should follow impeachment (even a failed one). I'm just pointing out that prosecutions won't follow non-impeachment.

Some here rationalize their position that impeachment should be avoided by claiming that criminal prosecutions would be "better," at some later time, by some imagined prosecutors of sufficient political will that DC Dems are currently not displaying. It's a notion even more unrealistic than GOP Senators voting to convict.

This makes the perfect the enemy of the good. Just another rationalization for inaction now.

(Plus, I'm also just kicking the thread.)

==

[redacted]

26. Yes I see Senator. Makes good sense to me. Thanks.

[redacted]

19. VIDEO: NEW Naomi Wolf Interview (1 hour, broadband)

VIDEO: Naomi Wolf, author of "The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot" (1 hour interview)

http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=8653&SectionName=After+Words&PlayMedia=No
rtsp://video.c-span.org/archive/arc_btv/arc_btv102007_4.rm

Naomi Wolf: Finally, Action! Ron Paul Introduces Bill to Defend Constitution!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/finally-action-ron-pau_b_69042.html

[file83]

17. 28 Days Later!!!

WhaddooI win? WhaddooI win?!
:bounce:

[marmar]

18. Very good......You win the MovieGeekKing Crown.

:)

[in_cog_ni_to]

21. I saw her on C-SPAN yesterday. The MAJOR JERK, Viet Dinh (Patriot Act writer), and she was

FANTASTIC. She took none of the crap Dinh kept trying to dish out. She "respectfully" set his ass straight.

One thing she said last night that sent chills down my spine..."If the psycho would round up/arrest and imprison 10-12 journalists tomorrow, under the "Enemy Combatant" ruse, our Democracy would be finished." It would be over because no other journalists are going to take the risk of being arrested. She said SHE would stop speaking out because SHE has a family and wouldn't risk their lives. (paraphrased, but close)

:scared::scared::scared:

Dinh also argued that it was OK for people like Padilla to be arrested and held for 3 years with no legal recourse.....and THIS MAN IS A LAW PROFESSOR!!!! We are so freakin' screwed it's not even funny..:(

[redacted]

23. She kept saying "I don't agree with the premise behind your question" over, and over, and over

At what law school does this fellow teach? Gulag University Law School?

[backscatter712]

25. K&R

I can't K&R Naomi Wolf enough. Yes, this country is in that much danger.