I finished reading Naomi Wolf’s The End of America: Letters of Warning to a Young Patriot. After reading the book I began to wonder what fascism would look like in America.
In this short, concisely presented book Wolf outlines ten steps that are the signs of a society in the process of closing. Her writing has been diaried here by DebtorsPrison and byVyan. Here is a longer article from AlterNet.
Wolf writes that it is important to consider that the subversion of Germany by the Nazis, did not begin with Kristallnacht and people being packed into trains and sent to the death camps. Those events were only able to happen after a series of incremental changes that took place in the preceeding years Those incremental steps set the stage for the final takeover, which then occurred quite rapidly, with events spiraling out of control. What will the culminating events look like in America? Care to follow my musings? Meet me below the fold.
What it won’t look like:
It will not look like Musharraf: Bush donning a uniform, declaring martial law, dissolving congress, firing judges and lawyers on a massive scale and staging mass arrests of dissenters. It will not look like the final days of Hitler’s total takeover. There will be no violent attacks by brownshirts, smashing and looting , and beating up liberals, atheists and gays. The ACLU headquarters will not be attacked and burned.
All of these actions are too blatant and obvious. Americans, even the most politically ignorant of us, know exactly what jack-booted thugs marching through civilian neighborhoods means. We know what sudden mass arrests of dissenters means. We’ve all seen the movies, and that looks like fascism. That would not be effective here, because it would cause Americans to mobilize against it, and it would alienate the military from the regime.
The American brand will be a new improved fascism, expertly designed for the dawn of the new millennium, and I believe, packaged as security and freedom. Yes, we will be under a fascist dicatatorship. But America will not call it that, and without the words to describe what has happened to us, there will be doubt, confusion, panic and fear. Americans will distrust their own instincts, and thus open opposition will not be able to be mobilized.
The Coup:
It is November 2008. Let’s say for argument that the nominees for the presidency are Clinton and Guiliani. The polls show Clinton ahead by a margin of at least 10 points, and the talking heads are predicting a landslide for the Democrats across the board.
But this is where Diebold and the Rove playbook come in. There will be voter machine fraud on a much larger scale than before, in several key electoral states. Individual news agencies will not be conducting their own exit-polling. When the votes come in, it is a total reversal. Guiliani has won by a large margin, taking a number of states by a margin of 2 or 3 points, and the Republicans have been swept back into power across the board.
Because of the extreme nature of this electoral fraud, there will be a great deal of confusion, a demand of recounts, and protesting. The "two sides to the story" meme will be played to the hilt. While statisticians will categorically state that it is impossible for there to be such a huge discrepancy between the exit polls and the vote tallies, the other side will, with bogus statistical nonsense jargon that lay people do not understand, make it sound like it is one statistician’s claim against another equally valid claim. Experts statisticians, the reports will say, are still debating.
Recounts will be tied up in courts by the Bush loyalists appointed to key positions. Although the public is alarmed and uneasy, the media will down-play this and say that this is but a replay of the 2000 elections. The Values Voter meme will be trotted out. There will be assertions that people lied in the exit polls. False apsersions will be cast on Gallup and other polls, claiming that they were bribed to falsify the poll outcomes. This will be quickly refuted, but the doubt will have been cast, to add to the uncertainty. Clinton will be cast as vindictive, spiteful and out to get revenge.
Ultimately it will be dragged out to January. The courts will make a decision to not continue persuing a recount, stressing that to postpone President-elect Guiliani from taking his office as Commander-in-Chief would be a threat to National Security in a time of war. The pundits will agree.
The Brown-shirts:
Consider the fact that for almost two decades, Liberals have been viciously smeared by right-wing "entertainers" such as Coulter, Limbaugh, and O’Reilly. Their vitriol has also been spewed at the poor, blacks, Mexicans, Muslims, immigrants, intellectuals, Atheists and artists. We have been attacked on an equally venomous level by the leaders of the Christian right. Liberals have been painted as traitors, hedonists, America-haters, and cowards too afraid to take up arms and fight. We are communists who want to destroy the free-market. We are responsible for the "breakdown" of the family. We want to take religion away from children and expose them to all kinds of sexual perversities. Feminists tell women to abandon their families and kill their children, and become lesbians. Homosexuals rape little boys.and try to coerce young men into depravity. Liberal professors brainwash impressionable young adults and encourage Atheism. We shun Christianity and practice witchcraft and earth-worshipping paganism.
America’s brown-shirts are out there. They believe these things about us. And I believe they could be mobilized quite easily. They will be a diverse group, no uniforms and tall black boots to give away the nature of what they are. The Christian fundamentalist youth will be a part of it. I imagine Neo-nazi groups, right-wing militia groups, and of course the Brooks-Brothers rioters we remember from Florida 2000, will also be primed for this.
The Protest:
There will be a huge demonstration on inauguration day. It will be massive, numbers reaching a million. We will believe this is our last chance to save America. Police presence around DC will be immense. Blackwater security will be part of that presence.
The protest will turn violent. The Brown-shirts will be incited to violence, from both the inflammatory rhetoric of their leaders and by agent provacatuers strategically placed in the crowd. Blackwater Security will use strong arm tactics, and there will be beatings, tear-gas, and mass arrests. At some point, a lone Blackwater operative will fire into the crowd and a number of people will be killed and wounded. At least one of those killed will be a journalist or a photographer.
The Emergency:
Due to this horrible riot on the very doorstep of our Capitol, emergency rules will be enacted. These may include curfews and police check-points, of the kind that occurred in many cities after Martin was assassinated. After a week or so, these restrictions will be lifted.
Shock and Denial
Denial is always the common first reaction to any great shock, and one that will prove deadly to us. As in the aftermath of 9/11, the administration will have already written new laws to address the current unrest, and like USA PATRIOT, they will be passed quickly without enough review. Buried in the 200 page act will be a provision allowing the "Executive Branch" authority to dismiss and appoint judges and prosecutors without congressional oversight. It will also grant the executive branch expansive powers to eavesdrop on Americans, intercept mail, and monitor internet communication. It will relax a number restrictions on search and seizure.
The Lull:
This will be the chance for the public to recover from the shock of recent events. I give it about a month. This will give us enough time to return to the routine of our lives. We will look around and see that everything is the same, no marching black boots, no sinister swastika flags, just our lives as we know them. Work, grocery store, kids at school, cleaning house, watching our favorite shows. It all looks the same. We know what fascism looks like, we’ve seen it in the movies. Our world won’t look like that. It looks like "back to normal."
The List:
Homeland Security will have already put in place rules that require travelers to apply for "expedited clearance" when they travel. (If you haven’t heard about this proposed rule change here is an excellent diary by Blue Patriot Woman.)In other words, we will need a pass from HSA to travel outside the country. Those unable or unwilling to get passes will find themselves on the List, which will have doubled in size by this time. Harrassment of people on the List will be stepped up. More black-listed people will find themselves detained in a security cell for several hours. More people will also find re-entry into the U.S. denied.
The expanded black-list will be sent to police. There will be no information given to the public about the size of the list, who is on it, or what criteria was used in forming it. No official will acknowledge any connection between this Terrorist watch list and the No-Fly list.
Officials will explain that this will aid our "first-responders" in the "front-line on Terror." The police black-list will include not only names, but also license plate numbers and driver’s licenses. Black-listed people will increasingly find themselves pulled-over by traffic police and highway patrol and subject to a search of their belongings. MSM news coverage on this will be brief.
The Blogosphere:
The companies that are pushing against internet neutrality will get their wishes granted.
Next Steps:
A new round of protests will begin. That’s us. Marches on Washington will have been "temporarily" restricted after the unfortunate inaugural riots. But demonstrations will be planned in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles and other cities
Enter the Brown-shirts. These demonstations will turn ugly quickly, possibly becoming full-scale riots. Because Posse Comitatus is no longer the law of the land, the government will be able to send military troops to these cities to quell the riots. As our brave boys are still entangled in Iraq (or Pakistan or Iran) Blackwater troops will be called in to restore order. More protesters will be shot and wounded. Journalists will also be among the targets. There will be massive arrests. Those arrested may be held for several weeks, during which time they will have no access to a lawyer and no communication with family.
Universities:
Protests from the brown-shirts will also be engineered on campuses, and violence will be directed at professors deemed "too liberal." There will be destruction of property, and a few professors will be murdered. Blackwater security will again be called to the scene.
New Edicts:
The "Freedom of Protest Protection Act" will be passed, purportedly to protect protesters from violence. In actuality it is a blueprint to quell dissent. Protesters will be required to register with the government and wear an ID. They will be herded into Blackwater-guarded protest pens. Part of the FPPA act will be a "temporary" injunction against inflammatory speech. This injunction will be so loosely worded as to include almost anything, from letters to the editor, to bumper-stickers on your car. Fines will be levied on newspapers, television networks and magazines. Radio and internet broadcast will face fewer restrictions (after all they still need to keep the Brown-shirts revved-up), and of course Churches will be exempt. However, with net neutrality gone, web sites that can’t pay for premium access will reach a smaller audience, and may not be able to afford to stay on-line at all. Oddly, Redstate, Michelle Malkin, Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter will find plenty of financial support to be top-tiered. Universities will also pass strict rules about student organizations and protests. Liberal professors not sufficiently intimidated by the rash of violence against them will be cautioned by University officials to avoid controversial subjects in their lectures and stay away from discussion of current events.
The Borders Close:
The no-fly blacklist steps up, and more people who have engaged in dissent or protest will find themselves listed. Instead of facing a few hours delay at the airports, blacklisted passengers may face incarceration for several days. No one will be allowed to leave the country without papers from HSA. No one will be allowed to enter without same. Plane travel within the US will now be subject to the same restrictions. No pass from HSA, no flying. HSA will not reveal, for security reasons, why HSA passes are denied. Naturally persons may seek redress (it’s a free country, after all) but the process is slow, loaded with paperwork, and time consuming, and expensive.
The message: dissent gets you black-listed. Play nice, and you can move freely.
Dissent is effectively Quelled
The previous operations will have quelled dissent. Editorials in newspapers, if they still exist, will be quiet, tame and uncritical. People will be afraid to express opinions on political websites, because HSA will have made it quite clear that this behavior is likely to get you on the Blacklist. There will be some high-profile arrests of reporters, such as Seymour Hersh and Greg Palast. They will be accused of being in possession of classified documents. No one will be able to find out where they are incarcerated and they will not be allowed contact with family members or lawyers. They may be held for a month or more. They will eventually be released, but the message again will have been broadcast loud and clear.
Now Lets Have Some Fun!
Without dissent, for fear of being black-listed and imprisoned, our new leaders will have carte blanche. Bye-bye environmental laws. Bye-bye worker protection, OSHA, safety regulations. Social Security is privatized. Roe vs. Wade is overturned. Affirmative action is deemed unconstitutional. Civil rights protections for women and minorities are gutted. Welfare and Medicaid are either gutted or dropped entirely. The wildest dreams of the Corporations are realized. The prison system becomes privatized, and increasingly houses prisoners in isolated cells, without contact from other prisoners and minimal contact with family. Guards will be able to abuse prisoners freely, with no witnesses. Utilities are privatized across the board, including water. Oh yes, and war with whoever we want to attack, without any whining from Congress or the peace-nicks. Think about that: an America armed with the largest nuclear arsenal in the world under the dictatorial control of a group of Neo-Con madmen.
That is my scenario. Fascism called Freedom and security. A populace confused, scared, and jumping at shadows. Oh yes, we will want to rebel. But how? Against who? And what if we are imprisoned? Is any of it even real? Couldn’t it be just temporary, until things calm down? Are we just paranoid?
That is the EndGame.
So, if you have followed me this far, what do you think it will look like?