A Word to the Wise

Vice President Henry Wallace
saw this coming back in 1944:

"The American fascist's method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power. The American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact. Their newspapers and propaganda carefully cultivate every fissure of disunity, every crack in the common front against fascism. They use every opportunity to impugn democracy. They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection."

Wallace saw the "incipient traces of fascism along the Potomac" 62 years ago.

Nothing has changed, except for the worse.

Thanks to SOS for the quotation!

http://mvp-seattle.com/pages/pageFascism.htm



Disdain for intellectuals - Fascist society tends to create an environment of extreme hostility to critical thought in general, and to academics in particular.

Ideologically driven "science" is elevated and lavishly funded, while any expression not in line with the state view is at first ignored, then ridiculed, then challenged, and finally stamped out.

It is not uncommon for academics to be pressured to attack the work of their insufficiently patriotic peers. Writings are censored; teachers are fired and arrested. Free artistic expression in new works is openly attacked, and existing works deemed unpatriotic are often publicly destroyed.

but I wish it had sound -- i.e., the voices of the fascists in their own words for example, or people telling stories of their own suppression etc.

I am guilty as anyone, I promise to watch who I attack and why. We here need to hang together, we have a common mission. We are definitely being infiltrated by provocateurs, let's all try to be kind to each other in word & deed, even in these most divisive of times.

(Yes, you've seen this post before. Others may not have. John Dean's new book could well be opening minds to the "unthinkable" -- which is, sadly, current reality.)

Fascism -- authoritarianism -- monarchism -- theocracy -- it's all the same thing.

A belief that some minority has the right to rule the majority. It matters little if it's the true believers, a master race, a family dynasty, the chosen people, a ruling class, or the current DC/Euphemedia Analstocracy.

It's all anti-democratic, thus Anti-American*.

John Dean is tragically wrong when he says this menace is "close." This nation now lives under an appointed ruler (not an elected leader) who rules by signing statement.

This is what the stolen election of 2000 was all about. There was zero attention paid to the Will of the People of Florida and the nation. The result of the vote (not the vote count**) was well known shortly after the election when the uncounted ballots were extrapolated by precinct, and Gore won FL by tens of thousands. Any ethical, moral, real American would have conceded to Gore at that point.

The contract generally known as the US Constitution was put into breach on January 6th, 2001. This is the "original sin" that must be remedied. It is the essence of our ongoing nightmare.

It was this overruling of the will of the (former) American People that left us open to the 9-11 attack, which was a far less important event compared with the election theft. It simply allowed the 21st Century Neo-Fascists to have their "Reichstag fire" to consolitdate control.

The more important part was that the only global force for good in the past several decades -- the public opinion of the American People -- was taken out of the global, moral equation. Which is why prior to the election theft we could stop plane-crashing over the Pacific at the Millenium with help from Jordanian Intelligence, and after... well, not so much. We had lost our moral ascendency, our place as the court of last resort.

Certainly this is a "kinder, gentler" fascism. But did you expect goose-stepping, tanks in the streets and racial hate speech? It's much more efficient to simply scream "Mushroom clouds in 45 minutes!!" through every Euphemedia outlet in order to terrorize a population into compliance (20 guys with boxcutters pales in comparision, doesn't it?).

But make no mistake, it is fascism pure and simple.

It demands active opposition. Unlike their agents in congress, the American People are not impotent. We can still refuse to be complicit with the atrocities committed in our name.

But we must do so loudly -- at every opportunity, in large and small ways -- and in ways that make others uncomfortable. Yes, "Violence" is the answer.

_________
*"After Socialism, Fascism combats the whole complex system of democratic ideology, and repudiates it, whether in its theoretical premises or in its practical application. Fascism denies that the majority, by the simple fact that it is a majority, can direct human society" - Benito Mussolini 1932

**"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decided everything." -- Josef Stalin (echoed by Pol Pot, Bushes, Scalia, Rehnquist, Baker, Harris, Blackwell, etc...)

--
www.january6th.org

Has there ever been a legitimate answer given, (that you know of) as too ware in the hell was all the Democratic Senators in the 2000 coup d'état in which every one violated there oath to defend the Constitution and then again in 2004? I would like to think there was and I just missed it because so many Democrat voters still support and vote to reelect these incumbent so called defenders of liberty sellouts. This has been something I have been giving a great deal of thought and research to. And a subject in which I think so many don’t understand the enormous gravity of the subject, for diverse reasons…

With the exception of course of Senator Boxer. Who admitted her failure in 2001 at the same time she took her historic action to object in 2005. Her expression of regret for not objecting to the unlawful Florida electors may well have been as important as her joining the Ohio objection in that it makes the failure of the rest clearly visible.

The worst of the "responses" (rather rationalizations) were, as the website says, those of Kerry and Biden. Who sat on Meet the Press on Jan. 7th, 2001 and when asked why they didn't join the CBC to object to the known unlawful, racist, truncated "vote count" from Florida actually said in unison "Nobody asked us." Which was both patently false and a direct admission of dereliction of their duty to defend the Constitution.

No other responses I know of were/are substantive and on the record. One anonymously postulated response was that Gore asked them not to object, which is both irrelevant (as they had no right to consider his wishes) and irresponsible (in that it shunts the blame onto someone else). There were also some reports (guesses?) that not objecting was part of some power-sharing deal, which is of course just manifestly corrupt (and therefore easiest to believe I suppose).

On a more positive note, their failure has not been without consequences and continues to be powerful. Though it remains largely unrecognized, reaction to their dereliction was a large factor in producing the (ongoing) Howard Dean phenomenon (insurgency). And it may yet be the determining factor in who gets the nomination in '08. (It's interesting to see how quickly you can put a damper on a discussion touting Gore or Kerry or Hillary as "our savior" when you bring up Jan 6th to rank and file Dems.)

While the DC/Euphemedia Analstocracy may wish to remain blissfully ignorant, the (former) American People never do. And they're getting better and better at getting their own information to act on, rather than simply accepting the approved narrative from their "leaders."

--

Well thought out and well articulated. And right on the money, IMO.

:thumbsup:

My disgust with ranking, incumbent Dems traces back to January 6, 2001 also, and the complete failure of leaders of our party to call the coup by name and give Americans a chance to confirm their agreement with that characterization of the events which put GWB in the WH.

I have long been dismayed and angry about the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" attitude -- it often seems like policy, though it's never spoken about publicly -- that dominates DC politics. I'm referring to the Repugs and Dems who are content to play a wicked and deceitful game where they claim to be from "opposing" parties and do a little dance in public to prove it. All the while they are smiling to themselves, knowing they're boondoggling gullible Americans with their giant con -- purely in order to keep their own cushy jobs in cahoots with members of the "opposing" party. No one should get rich -- or richer -- in political office, but they all do. Government by the monied for the monied, and screw the rest of us.

The coup that took place in 2000 was so blatant and brazen, it's just unfathomable to me that anything other than corrupt self-interest kept Dems from speaking out against the crime of a stolen election! It resulted in an unelected, hand-picked candidate being put in the most powerful office in the world. If that's not an outrage worth fighting to the bitter end against, I don't know what is....

Power-sharing deal, indeed!

I do love the optimistic and not totally unrealistic ideas you presented in your final two paragraphs, btw. I haven't given up hope; but it's just ineffably sad that Americans must be brought so low and suffer so cruelly before they will rouse out of their complacency and demand an end to corruption and power grabs that eliminate their having a voice in their government.

Although some might perceive that bringing up the infamous past would be synonymous with mud slinging and could divide the party. Unfortunately we are not talking about an elected official’s personal infidelity or questionable ethics here. But we are talking about the violation of the most sacred oath an American politician could ever take. “To preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States”. What a disgraceful message to send your electorate; but not as disgraceful as the electorate that accepts this dissolution of honor. Do the perpetrators and the victims have any clue as to what has been done? When we vote for the lesser of two evils only to have the vote overtly negated by corporately owned puppet heads role playing as politicians, is proof evidence that we the people have lost our representation. It is proof evidence of the complacency of the American the people to be informed, at the despair of humanity. Hitler would have been proud of our secret puppet masters still hidden… Proof evidence indeed…

:kick:

We see this everyday in the way the media seems to be run by one party. Fox News on radio & television show us the intent of these people. Top advertising firms will tell you repetition is a good way to promote a product. Do several different runs of the same commercial during different programs to reach the masses. This will ensure you product is sold.

Hitler promoted patriotism throughout his reign as supreme leader in Germany. Everyone else was wrong. The Germans needed to take back what was taken away from them in the 1st war. Hate everyone that is not blonde haired & blue-eyed. The real issue became the fact that people who believed things that they would never say were now allowed to act out those beliefs with no opposition. It was a total break down of society's values. We all know that many people, even people living in our own communities have racist tendencies. This inner hatred needs to be kept in check by laws.

Today we have media & government personalities tending to promote this hatred. If we find a radio talk show host that lets us believe what we have on our minds are good, then progress is being made to wards a fascist state. No one starts out feeling that democracy has to go to allow for this to happen. But when they dig deeper they believe the only way to change things is to undermine freedom. But as long as you are doing it for the good of all mankind you are right in your actions.

It is time to stand up against this system of beliefs. Kids are hearing this through their parents listening to it. They will grow up believing even stronger beliefs that this is the way to go. Lets get the voices of reason back in government & on the airways so that democracy can survive for generations to come.

I think instating (or re-instating) anti-trust laws against the massive corporate media conglomerates would make a huge difference toward removing the propoganda machine that is programming the minds of our more easily influenced population. Hopefully we can re-instate the Fourth Estate in the process (that is-have the media start watch-dogging the government again).
This, along with election reform (transparent and accountable elections) and campaign reform (no more indentured servants in public office) would do a lot to remove the tools by which the new fascist movement (Neo-cons) operate.
Peace

and redo everything accomplished in that period, since BushCo and Reagan have managed to undo everything at least that far back, and maybe even to 1776!

in the business today.

Place the request for mass citizen emailings at DU and other forums.