This is the main Diaries, with commentary, from this week that relate, in my opinion, to the possibility that this country is becoming a Corporate Nationalistic Anti-Communistic State. Historically the Fascist state which was Italy under Mussolini bears remarkable resemblances to what this country is becoming.
I believe this type of weekly review might be an effective answer to the dilemma of the sheer magnitude of the number of diaries posted here at Dkos. I suggest that if you have a topic you feel strongly about, and believe as I do, that too many excellent diaries which are going by the wayside that you too start a similar review.
Much Much More below the fold. Give them all a read or at least some mojo
This Diary received very little attention earlier this week after receiving rave reviews in it's Initial presentation. I am trying different time frames for presenting this very important information in an a effort to find an Ideal time to present it.
This Diary only covers Sunday thru Tuesday due to the number of listing if you missed the previous versions click my nickname above for the previous editions
1. Powerful and continuing expression of nationalism.
Ivolsky found for us that the White House rational comes as surprise to Iraqis. This is based on a poll performed in Baghdad in October. The Iraqi's do not believe the U.S. is in Iraq to create a free and independent nation. Looks like the Iraqi's believed Presidents Bush's announcement before his first term that he did not believe in nation building. But if you hear the rhetoric from the Government and the "talking heads" on the right you would think the average Iraqi is overjoyed that we are creating a new peaceful county.
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.
The biggest news item out this week is the President may have issued Executive Orders that allowed for torture of detainees and prisoners in the "War on Terror" Descrates brought to our attention the fact that the FBI Email Mentions Executive Order TEN Times. The best is yet to come. Where an Executive Order actually makes torture legal then Bush's statements "that he only authorized techniques that fell under existing US law" were technically correct. This is a definite sign that we have crossed the line to the point that the things we used to condemn others for are now made legal for us just because the President says it is.
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
Nob told us that Inhofe says Clinton's cuts made Iraq mess. What a load of bull! The prime sign of scapegoating is blaming someone else. It does not matter that Cheney, as Bush the first's Secretary of Defense started the Defense in 1991 and Clinton only approved the programmed cuts he scheduled. Now it seems that no democratically leaning spokesman has even came forward to challenge these statements. That is a bigger travesty.
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
Liberation Learning has done another excellent analysis titled PovertyWatch: Racist military, racist war. This piece starts with "The Pentagon has dropped plans to force a severely wounded U.S. soldier to repay his enlistment bonus after injuries had forced him out of the service." Wow that's sounds like good news until you understand that the policies that allowed this outrage are still in place. He also points out a U.N.I.C.E.F. report that states "overspending on military short changes children. If you look at the industries that consistently has the most wasteful spending practices to get the most from the government you will find it is in the Military Industrial Complex. While thousands of our troop's families are living in poverty we are paying $100,000 per year in wages alone plus overhead and guaranteed profit margins for jobs that used to be done by our troops. If you think that interfering in other countries and having the most expensive military of all time is "providing for the common defense" at the expense of "ensuring the general welfare" then you probably believe that a Corporate Nationalistic Falangism is not anywhere near Mussolini's dream of a pure Fascist Government.
5. Rampant Sexism.
Srkp32 brought to my attention the rarity of posts in this section. As a man I confess that I do not see this as apparently as most women do. She said "I do think that there is rampant sexism. The whole metaphor of the "strict father" that organizes the ultra-rightwing world view is a hyperbolic patriarchy that depends on the subjugation of women. All of the efforts to control reproductive rights, and limit women's sexuality are examples of the sexism that it is at the heart of the fundamentalist ideology. The whole "family values" thing also deploys a rhetoric that subtly suggests that much of our "cultural decline" results from women's liberation. I think we are in a time of rising misogyny. Even the "Sex and the City" ethos may be a backlash against women's liberation in hip clothing.
I agree with her with the exception that most of the homophobia does belong under scapegoating.
6. A controlled mass media.
Jam Boi, by way of the Air America's broadcast with Tom Oliphant actually heard from Bush: "I just want to try to condition" your thinking. Bush started to say "...I just want to try to condition you..." and then restarted his sentence. Has anyone heard of a Freudian slip? This was during a press conference of all things. Looks like Bush's handlers are taking lessons from "The Goebbels Diaries" by Youngblood Kaufman. I really feel for Sigmund his most famous legacy will now fall to become "A Bushism.
7. Obsession with national security.
8. Religion and ruling elite are tied together.
Hitler Did Promote Christian Morality & Family Values by larryrant has some excellent links in the first comment from Victor. Do not let anyone deceive you that our "Faith Based" Administration cannot be, or become, a Fascist state. Of course Hitler actually attended Church, Memorials, and Soldiers Funerals to show his faith whereas Bush just "wears his on his sleeve" where it is hard to find. Whenever someone actually studies the history of Fascism and Faith they find the two interlocked. Just because Bush does not push Anti-Semitism the way Hitler did does not mean the efforts against the Gays and Secular Humanists cannot quickly change to active retribution against them.
Okiedemocrat brought us a sorded tale where Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia blames separation of Church and State for the holocaust. I guess they forgot "The Nazi regime in Europe closely allied itself with the Catholic church. When you see this kind of thing and hear terms like FemiNazi's, IslamoFascist's, and other similar terms you must understand they are trying to redefine what is was to be Fascist. Look at Mussolini, Franco, and Hitler and you sure don't see any of the things the feminist's or the Conservative Fundamentalist Muslims are trying to achieve.
J.R. Monsterfodder gave us More on That Racist History Booklet. These revisionist, way out on the wing, repubs "actually argue that southern slavery was not only sanctioned by the Bible but, thanks to the patriarchal kindness of their wise evangelical masters, a positive, happy, and pleasant experience for the majority of southern blacks". This is the kind of thing we need to get some more press than an Idaho local paper. These people sent 800 "educators" and home schooled students to a campus discussion. I guess they felt if they had enough people that believed them the school would endorse their wackiness.
Deecee brought us the tale of Your $$'s [used] to support Christian College in AK. This is an actual story from the Anchorage Daily News that tells how the Federal Government paid $1 Million Dollars to an unaccredited school with only 37 Students that does not even provide any Degree in anything. Most of the federal funds go to teacher salaries, student scholarships and recruitment. A definite sign of a Fascist government is willfully violating its own primary laws. Has anyone ever heard of the Establishment Claus in the First Amendment? It seems our Lawmakers have not.
9. Power of corporations protected.
Magorn really work my job a lot easier by finding that GOP Corporate Donors Cash In on Smut. This is from a N.Y. Times expose on corporate involvement in Adult Businesses. I just love these revelations where The General Motors Corporation, the world's largest company, now sells more graphic sex films every year than does Larry Flynt. There is no way the Repubs will actually take major action to stop their donors from earning money in this industry, but the best suggestions call for us to present these facts and hope the die hard wingers demand their politicians stop taking funds from "smut" peddlers.
Descrates brought to our attention how other China, India, and the The US Sinks to a New Low on Coal Pollution. This is a story about how the three countries will totally wreck what the Kyoto accord is trying to do. They will increase output 176% over what Kyoto is aiming at having the rest of the world reduce emissions by. I guess since Global Warming is just a natural phenomena then what harm will it do to accelerate what nature is doing. Disclaimer! The previous sentence was not based on my true opinion.
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
Fascism as practiced by Hitler and Mussolini were actually responses to the labor movement of Communist Russia. Even though no Diaries this week referred to Labor Suppression does not mean it did not occur. We are fully aware the pro business government of this country is definitely anti-labor and the Ruling party is most fervently anti communistic.
11. Distain for the arts and Intellectuals.
From upstate NY There comes the story that Monsanto is the enemy of Academic Freedom. Everyone needs to understand that Fascism is a form of Government designed to favor Corporations over the people. It is of, for, and by the Corporations. The people in power protect the Corporations above all else and the Corporations ensure those in power stay there. When we allow the Companies to do as they wish, even to the point of silencing academic dissent, we have crossed the line to Corporatism. Actually we crossed that line previously this just proves we are on the wrong side of it.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment.
Does everyone remember the fires in the D.C. area that "eco-terrorists" were accused of setting? Well Maccabee found that the Houses Weren't Burned By Leftists. They Were Burned By Right Wing Bigots. That's right everyone: we need to start a "war on Right Wing Bigots. Now watch the New York Times get accused of taking the Countries attention away from terrorists, even while they are putting our attention where it belongs. Can anybody say "Timothy McVeigh?
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.
There was a great Diary informing us of the Social Security Swindle's Weak Link: Its Spokespeople by Susan G. The Administration has appointed the Chairman of Time Warner to the Presidents Commission to Strenghen Social Security at the same time the firm was facing multiple allegations. The Firm actually just paid $210 million in fines for one item and is offering $300 Million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle another. I have no problem believing this but then again I don't watch much R.W.C.M actually that sounds logical to me (considering Bush's administration).
14. Fraudulent elections.
Marchmoon brought us a story of Clear Voter Disenfranchisement! Ho-hum! When it gets to the point that the courts decide that people who took the effort to actually wrote in the name of a qualified candidate on 5000+ ballots but failed to check the little box that says "write in" do not deserve to have their votes counted then we know we have came to the point where the voters do not matter. What matters is that the party approved candidate wins. This is defiantly proof we have crossed the line of court approved fraudulent elections. Just a reminder I do include 2000 election where 13,000 Gore voters in Florida did not count since the Court said their could not be any more counting..
Whozat told us that Renzi got banned finances during his 2002 Congressional campaign. This is no surprise that a politician used illegal funds. The surprising thing is that the Federal Election Commission accepted the report two weeks before the election and did not release it for six weeks. The F.E.C. is supposed to be our watchdog agency to insure election law is obeyed, but if they fail to report a Congressman who is up for re-election then they are contributing to continuing the fraud.
Wanderindiana asked the question Are We Smarter Than Coshocton Co. OH Election Officials? I rarely get into the Ohio recount affair because I am actually a little chicken around my friends here and don't want to turn anyone off. But I agree with Wander's assessment that how can Blackwell certify 16,242 votes as the total from Coshocton Co. and then the hand recount show 17,329 Votes. That is a 6.7% discrepancy in the total number of votes. I believe that should by itself be grounds for at minimum a state paid for hand recount from what I have heard about Ohio law. There's some more good stuff there.
There is hope! Here are some articles on a way to fight back.
This section is devoted to those who have done something and are sharing their stories, those who have suggestions for ways to be active, and those who cry out for immediate action. I do what little I can. I am becoming active in my local blue county in the biggest red state. They need a party chairman and I volunteered, but there is a school board member who is also interested in the job so I am not campaigning for the job just willing to serve if needed. I plan to do as much as I can when called upon.
Bink wrote an excellent diary about Regaining Confidence in Democratic Party Values. The press, sinking to new lows, is demanding that the Democratic Party give up its support for gay and Lesbian Americans, abortion rights, freedom of expression and other key values that are shared by majorities of Democratic voters. We must define a "Contract for Reinforcing Liberty" Our liberties have been eroded for too long and this must be repaired. We have to do this and do it today!
Derek Larsson agreed with his well thought out discussion: Dems. Problem: It's the U.S. News Media. He explained that "at least 70% of the country would vote for those goals, if they really understood that those were in fact the goals on the table.
Patriots and the Patriot Act by Cold Fusion 04 is another great piece that explains why we even have a "Bill of Rights" and how it's being destroyed day by day. He states that "many of the original Patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence refused to attend the Constitutional Convention, because it failed to contain enough protection of individual liberties." This is what we need to teach every American.
Part II: "Your Mission, Should You Decide To Accept It, Is from the Angel Of Mercy. She has a well presented discussion on why you should contact our Democratic representatives and "Tell them that you have had just about enough of Democratic 'business as usual.' Tell them exactly how you feel about the ineptitude of the current regime and that you don't intend to put up with it. "I'm as mad as Hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
Some Excellent Series'
There is an excellent daily Religious News Roundup by Pastor Dan which deserves mojo even considering how big Dans head must be from all that he recieves.
Don`t miss any of RubDMC`s Iraq War Grief Daily Witness (photo) series if you "can handle the truth" and give mojo too.
Be sure and see Jeffrey Feldman`s Frameshop series. This deserves your attention and mojo.
You must read "The Goebbels Diaries" by Youngblood Kaufman gives us some insight into how Fascism was achieved in the past. See the whole set.
Newsie8200 Does an excellent Week's Best Diaries You Didn't Read. I bet she does more research then I do.
Be sure to read Scott Bateman`s Daily Cartoons, it deserves mojo and a whole lot more.
PsiFighter37 tells us "What I believe in as a Democrat". This an excellent well thought out series that deserves more than 2 comments per edition. We have to gain more cohesion as a party. Take a cue from the repubs and not degrade those democrats who have different views on a particular issue so that we can get the issues that are important to most of us accomplished.
Firedoglake is doing a well thought out series on "Taking Back the South. Go help him with his plans.
The Diaries listed here are not endorsed by this Diarist but are listed to allow you, the reader, to make your own determinations as to the extent in which this country has taken the wrong road toward Fascism. Each week I hope to use your inputs to improve the basic arguments for my contention that this country is going along that road. I also hope that through identifying the path we are on then methods can be found to bring this to the attention of others and change our path before it is too late.