I'm not referring to a dictionary here, so anyone may correct any missteps. Fascism requires the shared belief of an "aggrieved" group that "current" trends are soiling the chaste purity that made the group (nation, tribe, ethnicity, et al) "Great" and lived in a Golden Age at some time in the past. Another way to describe it is "extreme nationalism." Some have argued that Obama is a fascist, which is kinda like saying my puppy is an astronaut since Obama's programs and policy statements have never reminded me of fascism in any shape or form. W-Cheney and his Neo-Cons is another story.
To apply it (loosely) to the 8-year nightmare of Bush-Cheney, W was supposed to represent a return to our (supposed) Christian identity since he was an unapologetic born-again Christian who eschewed "thinkers" since he was a "man of action" who was going to restore America's "honor" lost when 19 terrorists brought us to our knees with 4 jets and a frighteningly simple and well-planned attack.* Hence, the language of "Bring 'em on!" "We're fighting them over there so they won't be fighting us over here" "Wanted: Dead or Alive", etc,.
However, W, despite some excellent work in Africa, nearly bankrupted us in every conceivable manner--financially, legislatively, militarily, ethically, morally, et al. Instead of restoring the Golden Age, he's threatened to return us to the Middle Ages (which, in some religious circles, is not altogether undesirable).
Unfortunately, the "movement" gained renewed momentum when the country, in a spasm of uncontrolled good will and guilt for the distinctly unAmerican acts of the previous 7 1/2 years, elected a non-white in a landslide against a true-blue, lily white war hero and a mouthy, Falknerian-Idiot with a push-up bra and stiletto heels.
This act alone, the election of an ethnic outsider with a Muslim name, infuriated several constituencies at once, all of them with faulty, delusional memory banks, just like all other fascist movements. In Italy, Mussolini and his Right-wing phalanx tried to recapture the grandeur and prestige of Rome; In Japan, the Far-right tried to recapture the militancy and self-reliance of the Shogunates and the special national relationship with the God that destroyed the huge fleet of Mongolian warriors with a "kamikaze" wind, a typhoon special ordered to keep Japan free of foreign, i.e. impure, influences for several centuries.
In our sad, as-yet-to-be-determined case, those with unrequited dreams of turning a hard right back toward elements of the Constitution they found worthy of protection (guns, less federal involvement) and a hard left away from those they don't favor (civil rights, habeas corpus) found personalities and pundits willing to cheer on behavior and language normally reserved for lynchings, whites-only frat house keggers, and Banana Republic revolts. This movement had the appearance, at least initially, of being a true grass roots phenomenom, an angry, over-taxed and overwhelmingly white, middle-class taking umbrage with the policies and programs of...the half-white dude who hadn't even taken office yet!
The loud, proud members of the movement, generously--no, bathed--in money from far-right special interest groups, viz., the billionaire Koch Brothers, seemed to have some legitimate beefs with the new administration, especially after it was able to pass legislation to save the more than 44,000 Americans who die a year as a direct result of the lack of access to regular health care, centered on the idea that our federal spending and its concomitant deficits could not continue unabated. Truthfully, these are worthy ideals; however, my question was, and is, where were these "Tea Partyers" when Bush II promised a "free" war by using Iraqi tax revenues. The truth is that W borrowed so much by selling t-bills that our GREAT-GRAND CHILDREN will be paying the
INTEREST!
My other question about these self-proclaimed patriots is something they never answered directly. Many Americans and one news department in particular had portrayed the people rallying in the streets as "patriotic" American citizens. My question is this: what would those Americans have thought had 10,000 African-Americans, angry at the Republican-controlled Congress like the first 6 years of the "Wightmare", descended on D.C., accosting some of the more strident conservatives, personally confronting them in mob-like fashion after bragging that many had come armed to the Capitol. What do you think the reaction of the DC police would've been? How about that "other" "news" station and its talking heads, many of whom have a track record of making racist statements, what do you think they'd say?
In any event, this story--whether our next government or two will be fascist in its outlook--has yet to be told. Whether Hitler's form of fascism is worse than other examples is hard to tell, because the Japanese used non-Japanese Asians to experiment with various toxins and nerve agents (Unit 731, I believe) and tortured and killed thousands of Western POWs captured in the Philippines. The question a lot of people get wrong is whether "we" could do something as heinous. The answer is simple: we already have.
Most Americans tend to consider the slaughter and enslavement of Africans captured or purchased for purposes of slavery as something that happened "somewhere" else, to "other" people, i.e. "I didn't do that."
Well, perhaps our generation didn't do it, but our ancestors did.
Who wiped out the American Indian tribes? We did.
Who imprisoned American citizens during WWII after confiscating their businesses, land, homes, and farms? We did.
Who allowed German POWs kept in camps in the US South during WWII to access the officers club and movie theaters while simultaneously denying access to black US soldiers
serving their country? We did.
Who was responsible for thousands of vigilante lynchings of young black men throughout the South in the first half of the 20th century? We (whites) were.
Who largely supported the illegal capture and torture of foreign nationals who were suspected of terrorism? We did.
I guess what I'm saying is that Americans are no more immune to savage behavior and mass manipulation than any other group or country. It's silly to think we are more, rather than less, civilized than the German culture that produced arguably the highest form of consistently gorgeous music from Bach and Mozart and Beethoven and Wagner to name a few.
It's not ironic that Wagner is considered a proto-Nazi because his anti-Semitic themes and use of pre-Christian Germanic religious figures were glommed onto by post-WWI nationalists for inspiration in the cause of resurrecting Germany to her rightful place among the greatest of nations, otherwise what became the Third Reich. The Reich that started the world on a path of war that resulted in greater than 90 MILLION civilan deaths in less than 15 years. Nice Reich, huh? What a culture.
Bottom line? If Sarah Palin's Northern Star continues its ineffable ascendancy to national office, there's no telling what the American public will do. I was an early rider on the anti-W bandwagon if only because I had lots of training deciphering propaganda and I was shocked when he was re-elected, which in truth may be due as much to the Democrats inability to produce political leaders worthy of national office as anything else. Nevertheless, the Disinformation Train that rolls its way through the airwaves unimpeded and largely unchallenged favors Tea Party-types and their ilk because more of them believe the president is a practicing Muslim despite the absolute absence of ANY supporting evidence than did on the day he was elected. Now
THAT is scary dumb. Oh yeah, some 20% or more of the American populace believe Obama, a Constitutional scholar, is planning to replace the Constitution with Shari'a Law from the Koran, Islam's Holy Book.
If I were a betting man, I'd have to wager that we're not going to be a fascist state under any Obama Administration, assuming he wins another term; however, that being said, the rise of the far-right hate groups, white Nationalists, the right-wing radio mouths that have accompanied Obama's rise to the White House must be an indication of growing intolerance of "outsiders" (see the 1st paragraph for reference if you're lost), and Mrs. Palin caters to religious and militant groups who, like she, see enemies behind every corner, consider any questioning of the candidate's veracity to be the work of "the devil" or "slime" (I'm not making
this up).
Perhaps a better indication of her character to be Chief Executive of the (for now) world's largest economy and most sophisticated military is this anecdote from the same
article. Sarah Palin was at home in Wasilla, Alaska, and decided to go shopping at the local Target. However, when she entered the store a man saw her and yelled, "Hey, it's Tina Fey! I Love Tina Fey!" When other customers started laughing, the woman who aspires to be the POTUS turned on her heels and fled the store. If that's all it takes to make her flee from confrontation, it shouldn't take much for her abject lack of character to appear. Then again, I said the same thing about W. As for the American voting public, stupid is as stupid does.
XOXO--JR
ps-Best of Luck, Tina! You march thru that Sahara!
*NB-The Taliban had to be destroyed in Afghanistan b/c 9/11 would not have been possible were it not for their protection of and advocacy for al-Qaeda's mission to export their militant, apostate Islamic jihad.
