We've got an adaptive form of fascism that was installed in 2000

if you agree or disagree sound out in this thread.

A marriage of corporations and government is the definition of fascism.

Privatization rampant.

in the "decider's" extremist administration.

Sheehan's ignorance is truly astounding

6/22/2006

Once again, Cindy Sheehan opens her mouth to remove all doubt as to her ignorance. At Friday's revival meeting, the Rev. Sheehan was preaching to the choir of disaffected refugees from the '60s. No one in the crowd seemed to be aware of the basic contradiction between fact and the statements she made. The most glaring was her declaration that our government is a fascist state.

If you have even the most rudimentary brush with education, it would be patently obvious that by saying what she said in a public forum without being arrested shows that our government cannot possibly be fascist in nature. Sheehan is allowed to travel the world, trade hugs with the most vile of dictators, give speech after speech reviling our country and, rather than suffer consequences, become rich. This is hardly an example of fascism, but a sterling example of ignorance. Truly she is a "rock star of grief."

Jim Sullivan

Amherst

http://buffalonews.com/editorial/20060622/2032018.asp

long live der furher. :sarcasm:

Sheehan has had to wade through a obstacle course of idiot fascists to maintain
her ability to speak freely.

Anyone remember the truck mowing down the crosses? The arrests in NYC?

Sheehan has not been "allowed" to do those things... She's "maintained her right" to
do those things. A right which is slowly being eroded away by the fascists in
charge!

Which this old boy goes on to demonstrate that he clearly does not, nor is he even up on current events.

urging us to kill everyone who doesn't agree with her and trashing widows amonst other vile spewing from her infected mouth.

and has been become more pervasive ever since. :-(

2000 was the formal kick-off.

I won't try to pin it down any more precisely, but it pretty much defines the United States for most of the 20th century.

It has taken a more visible, less subtle form recently, though.

I guess you could say the industrial revolution, although if you want to chart tyranny, you can go back thousands of years. :-)

"fighting" Republicans at the ballot box is no longer enough. There is only one way to fight fascists...

one of the points made by Situationism in the 60's & Punk in mid 70's England was that victory over the Nazis had merely led to Fascism by a different route. Which of these bullet points below is NOT appropos of modern Murka?

The 14 Characteristics of Fascism

Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, wrote an article about fascism which appeared in Free Inquiry magazine, a journal of humanist thought. Dr. Britt studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He found the regimes all had 14 things in common, and he calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The article is "Fascism Anyone?," Lawrence Britt, Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20.

The 14 characteristics are:

1. Powerful & 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. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

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 wartime, 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 is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

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.

Fascism is where the state tells businesses what to do. America's inverted fascism has businesses telling the state what to do.

You characterization is a little off. Fascism is not where the "state tells businesses what to do".

Business and the state become indistinguishable under facism and merge into a single economic unit.

It's not "neofascism", "inverted fascism", "corporate fascicm" or "adaptive fascism". It's just fascism.

We have absolutely fallen into fascism. We have a union of government and corporations, nurturing coruption and arbitrary power in both, with citizens subject to both without any authority or recourse.

Fascism by definition requires certain conditions. By it's nature, it is a conservative ideology and highly resistant to change or variations in those base conditions.

What we have is an "Adapted Fascism", something along the lines of lipstick on a pig.

Purely semantics, I know, but I'm in that sort of mood today.

Yet this is an adaptive form. We've been discussing it for years now as it advanced to the point where we are close to the potential of a totalitarian form imo.

because that's what it is. --Moussolini

Yes we are, in fact, living in the worlds newest fascist state. Some are still in denial. Some still think "this can never happen here".

Well... It's here. And the longer it takes for the average citizen to realize it, is another day wasted in doing something about it.

When the robber barons own the government, the media, the voting machinez, and the churches,
that's fascism all right.

What is adaptive fascism?

It's pure and simple fascism in the United States. I think we'll be better in the long run if we don't confuse a complicated question with unnecessary and meaningless modification.

although it has been gradually building more and more power since the repuke coup that took out Nixon.