I started a response to the Is The US On The Brink of Fascism diary on the rec list and it got overlong, so I’m posting it here. I think that diary is a distinct overreaction and not very different from the far right saying Obama is Hitler. Do I think the far-right mindset is the archetype of fascist ideology? Yes. Do I think that they're capable of violence? Yes.
But just because they are vocal doesn't mean they're powerful. And trust this: as soon as there's a bombing in the name of this movement, there is going to be a mass exodus of support - from the media, and everyone else. It will be seen for what it is: terrorism. Even without violence, a majority don't condone this type of paranoia and anger - see the demographics to those who support the Birther movement.
I think it’s interesting that this week has seen the rise of the protesters calling for violence based on some vague evidence of "union thugs" causing violence – therefore everyone in union is there to incite violence. It’s a convenient way to justify bringing a gun. In the same week, the man who murdered women at L.A. fitness said,
30 million women rejected me – over an 18 or 25-year period. That is how I see it. Thirty million is my rough guesstimate of how many desirable single women there are.
There’s no difference with this kind of psychotic mindset and the way protesters are talking about Acorn or SEIU: if one person does something, then it’s representative of all people. That’s the root of devout paranoia. His type of anger and disenfranchisement is not so different from the sense of disenfranchisement you see at the rallies. And that’s terrifying.
But most people aren’t this paranoid and can recognize overboard when they see it. The overstepping of Glenn Beck saying Obama hates "white culture" or Palin saying that the government is coming to kill her son is flatly ridiculous to the majority.
I could understand this fear if someone else was in power, not our President who represents the opposite of this kind of ideology. I'm not talking about corporatization, but just basic ethnicity - he is multi-cultural and proof that the majority are heading in a different direction.
I'm more paranoid than most. I'll admit it, I've entertained 9-11 tr#th theories because I think Dick Cheney is that kind of evil, but I do not fear the wrath of a bunch of intellectual infants when their mainstream power base is shrinking.
In the linked article in the fascism post it says,
Once they start racking up wins, the country will be doomed to take the whole ugly trip through the last two stages, with no turnoffs or pit stops between now and the end.
Where's the evidence that they're racking up wins? I guess they're having someone impact on how health care is shaking up, time will tell. But elections are another matter.
Honestly, watching the protesters scares me more about human nature than where this country is heading. After Obama, I have a bit more faith in in the country. Even if a Republican becomes president in 2012, I just don't see them taking the country further to the right than the Bush administration. It's of course incredibly important to be vigilant about the Christianist right coming to power. I actually just finished a novel about a right-wing president bent on bringing the Book of Revelation to life (The American Book of the Dead, coming soon!) But the right recently lost a crushing defeat - and I see current events more as a reaction to that defeat than evidence of their growing power.