The Road to Fascism

Overview

Tonight I begin a review of the important and best-selling Naomi Wolf book, The End of America. Because the information it contains is so important, and because the major media are not interested in such a book, I hope to be a part of making known the antecedents to a fascist shift in a country. For to be sure, we have the essential elements of fascism in America now. I am very glad to add that with the new Democratic-led Congress the fascist elements are beginning to be questioned, but we have a very long way to go to un-do the nefarious acts of the former Republican-dominated Congress.

For now, I mention some of the ten steps toward fascism which Wolf mentions in her book:

• Invoke an external and internal threat
• Establish secret prisons
• Spy on ordinary citizens
• Infiltrate citizens' groups
• Detain and release citizens on an arbitrary basis
  
• Restrict the press
• Subvert the rule of law

It may seem on first glance that few if any of these tactics have been adopted by the current government. As Naomi Wolf shows and I hope to relate, however, all ten steps have been taken in essence, although many have not been put fully into practice as of yet. The biggest danger as Wolf describes it is for a society to ignore the danger signals of a fascist shift. This is easy to do in the early stages, when the attributes of a totalitarian regime are not fully visible.

Needless to say, I highly recommend the purchase of this book. And even more, I invite your informed assistance in resisting a fascist take-over in America.

Was John McCain Just Elected by the Supreme Court?

At the article referenced below, respected voting rights activists Harvey Wasserman and Bob Fitrakis present evidence showing the recent Supreme Court decision upholding Indiana's voter I.D. law makes the selection of John McCain as the next President much easier. I do not claim to be a voting expert. However, I have spent over forty-five hours researching the election of 2004, especially in Ohio, and believe the election was indeed stolen for George W. Bush by various means.

While this may seem surprising and implausible to some, what was truly surprising to me at the time was the almost total lack of questioning both by and of the major media. Even the first real Congressional contest of a Presidential selection since the nineteenth century was only marginally covered. Today, there is more questioning of the so-called mainstream media than ever before. This questioning is natural, healthy, and justified.

There are other articles on this subject at the web site referenced below and I invite the reader to make up his or her own mind.


http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2008/3090

Getting a Perspective on History

On this primary election day in Pennsylvania, my mind goes back to the past two Presidential elections and the shenanigans attending them. That there was foul play in both I am quite certain. And my readings tell me that it is unlikely we will have a clean election in 2008 either. Thus, while I very much respect the democratic process in principle, in practice what we have in the U.S. now is not democratic, nor is it much of a process.

And so, while I still believe it is important to vote, it is clear much more needs to be done than simply running candidates and having people show up at the polls. For starters, there must be free air time given to credible candidates. (And, especially early in the process, the meaning of the term "credible" needs to be expansive.) Next, corporations must be barred from participating in any way in the voting process. Third, our voting needs to be brought up to international standards, something which is not now the case.

We are now just beginning to get enough distance from the elections of 2000 and 2004 to begin to put things into perspective. It is important to do so in order to avoid being misled as the "election" of 2008 approaches. For several fine articles with details about the election of 2004 see the hyper-link below.

http://www.legitgov.org/coup_2004.html

Historic Speech of Vice-President Al Gore

Truckers Protest

Truckers across America are rising up in protest against not only high fuel prices but high prices in general as well as government bail-outs of big businesses such as Bear Stearns.

In this video you will see something of the protest in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on March 31. In coming days, I plan to write more about this important protest movement.

Here and There, the Truth

Looking around the Internet I come across mentions of the falsity of the Presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. One is not overwhelmed with such references to be sure. Yet for the inquisitive, the information is there.

I bring this up because of the high election season we are now in. Many people have put a tremendous amount of energy into getting one candidate or another nominated. Yet research shows elections, while important, are essentially used by the corporate structure to offer legitimacy for its own ends. Neither Clinton, nor Obama, nor McCain have eschewed donations from corporations, even if indirectly; so the reports say.

For a good summary I highly recommend Hidden Election by Charles Derber which proclaims the U.S. to now be in its third "corpocracy." The hopefulness of the present moment is the failure of the profit system as some of the stalwarts of American capitalism -- once unassailable giants such as General Motors and CitiBank (now CitiGroup) -- have faced serious problems. While such a failure brings with it great pain, the weakness of our economic system is becoming plainer to people.

So I am glad to end on a note of hope.

More on "American Theocracy"

I have now finished the book "American Theocracy" by Kevin Phillips. This two-year-old book is well-worth reading for its history of economics, religion, and politics in America and beyond. In fact, I would call it a must-read for anyone who cares about America. And, as Phillips makes clear, because America is still so important in world affairs, it really should be read by everyone who is concerned about the state of the world.

New Political Ad of Interest

This evening I watched a clever and useful advertisement shining the light of truth on Senator John McCain. I have known for years that John McCain was quite far to the right, although with less overt and public vitriol than, say, a Tom DeLay. Here is the ad.

Urgent Message from Congressman Robert Wexler

Here you can view an important video statement from Congressman Robert Wexler of Florida, a courageous and responsible member of Congress who not only cares deeply about the rule of law but is actively working to re-establish the authority of Congress as a co-equal branch of government.

Does the Election Matter?

Today, more votes are being tallied in different states around the country as the process of selecting a new President continues. In spite of the excitement I feel myself drawn to a position of saddened, and rather angry neutrality. For I know from much research that Republican voter suppression tactics have rendered any close election a virtual lost cause. (Greg Palast has written that in any national election the Democrats start down by three million votes due to all the dirty tricks of the Republicans.) The one hope is that there will be a Democratic landslide in the Presidential vote.

Jonathan Alter of Newsweek is claiming to have projected Barack Obama as the virtually certain winner in the selection of Democratic delegates based on the primaries and caucuses. He says he has used something called the Slate Delegate Counter. The only way Hillary could win would be for the so-called super-delegates to go against the popular vote results.

So we seem destined at this point for a McCain-Obama contest. The facts clearly favor Obama. But one can only imagine the kind of "Swift-boat campaign" tactics being prepared even now against Senator Obama.

I feel more comfortable with my books, such as American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips. In the section I am now reading, Phillips is detailing something of the history of Christians in America, a history I am already familiar with in outline. His telling of this history is useful in setting the stage for the surging "Christian" vote. (I have seen fit to put "Christian" in quotes as I do not see the activities of many churches as being truly Christian.) Once again, I highly recommend this well-researched and enlightening book.

(In the interest of disclosure, the parents of an Obama staffer have been friends of mine for years.)

The Oil Theocracy

As books go, American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips is above average, to say the least. Its usefulness is in setting forth in concise form the history of oil.

At this point in the book I am reading about the relative importance of the various states whose economies are strongly connected either with oil or the automobile. It is interesting to see the correlation. (Phillips' credulous assumption of the validity of the vote against Kerry in 2004 both nationwide and in Ohio can be partly forgiven due to the circumstances of the times. However, Phillips should know that the election of Bush was challenged in Congress -- the first time such a contest had been lodged since the nineteenth century.)

It is clear from the book that American life and especially its politics are intrinsically bound to the oil industry. Later in the book I hope to read suggestions for an effective divorce in the oil-politics marriage.

"American Theocracy"

The latest book I am reading (along with about twenty others) is "American Theocracy" by Kevin Phillips. This 2006 book which made quite a splash when first published is a very-well-researched tome chronicling the influence of both oil and Christian right-wingers on (primarily) the Republican Party, but all of American life.

As the book is rather dense and I have only started it, I will refrain from presenting much detail now. Suffice it to say this is a very revealing and important look at the history of oil from ancient times to the present day. (The focus is on modern history.)

We see from this book how middle-eastern American foreign policy was essentially conducted by the oil industry for decades! Although hard to believe, it does help explain why little progress is ever made in that woeful region.

So I will keep this short so I can get back to "American Theocracy" and my other books!

Text of Letter to John Edwards

Dear Senator Edwards:

I am so very disappointed you felt compelled to suspend your campaign for the Presidency, as Rep. Kucinich did before you. Your voice certainly added immeasurably to the campaign as you raised economic issues which the two "major" candidates haven't even begun to grapple with.

For me as a voter, I am reminded that it is only February, yet a campaign dominated by "talking heads" has clamored for banishments of candidates, first from the debates, then from the race itself. The pundits always saw this as a race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Their little-disguised prophecy has become reality.

It was stated on public television tonight that had the economy been the issue six months ago that it is today, you would still be in the race. And so I hope there will be a role for you in the future. Should the remaining candidates show themselves to be destructive to the Democratic Party I hope you would be available as a possible alternate choice in order to heal the Party, then to unify this country, north and south, poor and not-so-poor. I believe America can return to the vision of the Founding Fathers -- of a country made up of informed and enlightened citizens capable of governing themselves without an imperial Presidency. This is the America we should all fight for.

And so I wish you well and hope to hear from you again in the coming weeks and months.

Sincerely,

(signed)

The Financing of the President 2008

Just how does one finance a successful run for the White House in 2008? This is a question which remains to be fully answered. But solid information about how to finance a run for the nomination is available now at Open Secrets on the web (see link below).

Already, the amount of money spent on this primary season is higher than any nomination race up to 2004. Just where does all this money come from -- hundreds of millions of dollars of it? More importantly, where does all this money go? We know a substantial portion of it goes to gigantic media conglomerates, who essentially own our media broadcasting system, a system we are supposed to own.

This gets back to an earlier headline here: Impeaching the Media. For it is clear we have a political/media regime in this country with PR flacks operating right in the White House. And, sadly, the same machine operates in the nominating process. Why are so many debates hosted by the media? The media are supposed to "cover" the debates, not sponsor them.

Perhaps this is the deeper meaning of the success of Barack Obama with his mantra of change. People want not only change in the White House. They surely want an end to government by experts, by PR hacks, by spinmeisters, by lying and conniving thieves. And they want an end to self-important pundits who dare to divine the will of the people even before the people have spoken.

So change is possible, but only if we get much more interested in the machinery of politics so wealthy voices are prevented from speaking with an unduly loud voice. Let us put the tiger back in its cage. And if it refuses to go, let us demand an end to "corporate personhood", that legal flim-flammery which grants unto fictitious entities the rights of persons under the Constitution.

A new day can indeed be at hand. But only if we teach one another and learn from one another. And as the old union song has it: "You've got to organize." And organize. And organize.

Have a good time organizing.


http://www.opensecrets.org/

A Renewed Call for Impeachment

Whither America? This timely question has been answered in a renewed call by former House Judiciary Committee member Elizabeth Holtzman. At the link below you will see that G.W. Bush and Cheney have broken the law.

At the second link you will find more about one Congressman's efforts to hold the appropriate hearings for Richard Cheney.

I urge you, dear reader, to become involved in the impeachment effort, if you have not already done so. We must restore the rule of law in the Executive branch!



http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012808R.shtml

http://www.WexlerWantsHearings.com