Bush Admin = Fascist? take a look...

*cut n paste...*

The 14 Defining
Characteristics Of Fascism

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

view the whole page at:
http://www.rense.com/general37/fascism.htm

alot of these fit alot of things bush have done, but some may reqire digging to find specific examples which ill do another time, no time tonight

may be old news but somethin i found interesting
-LK

in spades. From Ashcroft's destruction of our civil rights (vis-s-vis the Patriot Act), to Bush's embrace of the fundies, the BFEE are the perfect definition of "fascist".

an awesome anti-bush ad. thanks

Well, it's time somebody labeled it for what it is. Stan Goff actually diagnosed our current affliction as Fascism. We know what happened to these illegitimate regimes, too. They left chaos and destruction in their wake.

Out of 14, #8 has got to be the strangest of all. Here is a "government", really nothing more than a shell, a mutation of a government, in place only to further the plans and ambitions of those in power. But, to throw religion into the mix!?!?

Also, these corrupt regimes came into being because of sustained hardship and toil by the common man at the time. Germany had been through a terrible depression (right?), and these "leaders" caught people at their most vulnerable, and showed up as fake imitations of the real thing, and inspired hope.

It's appalling that this country, in the midst of the "Roaring 90's", a time of unequalled prosperity and wealth, that Fascism could arrive on our doorstep.

How?

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

...in fact, I'd say you're deranged. But there's no mistaking that you're a Freeper. See ya round the cemetery.

a cemetary is way to good a place for that lot. try the tenth circle of hell.

...unintelligent and narrow minded' (about the entirety of DU) would make it into the "rude" for most people.

Your stupidity in believing one gun for everyone will solve any violence problems is just hopeless (why does the US have the highest murder rate in the world) and your mode of argumentation (the "cold war soviet union of America" bit particularly impressed me) is just daft. Maybe that sums you up: You daft bastard. Cheerio.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Have to be careful when comparing Bush to facists. As popular as it is to equate him with facists, his crimes are nowhere near to those of Hitler and his ilk.

The point is a valid one - that the Bush administration is dangerously statist - but it's not convincing anyone when you get emotional about it and start labelling.

Its more intellectually honest to attack Bush and his cronies for their associate with Nazis, rather than comparing them to Nazis themselves.

Look up what Prescott S. Bush, your presidents grandfather, was up to during the second world war.

You might also want to check out who some of Arnolds good friends were. Not only was his father a Nazi (he may not have commited war crimes, but he wore the same uniform as those who did and that makes him guilty of inaction), but one of his close friends was a war criminal.

Anyway, this is my first post here so Hi :)

:hi:

thinking that fascisim has to come with Nazisim. The nazis were put on trial. The fascist came to the Americas.

I hate to sound like a conservative, but correlation does not prove cause.

i didnt say anything about nazisims or anything else specifically... that was just one of the regimes that was compared, these are the 14 defining characteristics, what all those horrible regimes had in common. the man that wrote this article didnt specifically draw lines from fascisim to bush, i just pulled up the page, looked at it, thought about the misadministration and decided to post it here and let others make thier own decisions. my mind is made up however.

there is no need for correlation between any of these guys and bush to make him fit the mold... take a look for yourself look at the traits and watch the news for a week and tell me that you that you dont hear about the patriot act voilating human rights, or propaganda about the war, or about big buisness getting favors for contributions. the proof is all over the place.

-LK