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Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rumsfeld, Ms. Rice

Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rumsfeld, Ms. Rice

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Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rumsfeld, Ms. Rice:

We are America’s citizens. We are not defeatists. We are not pessimists. We are not appeasers.

I don’t hear anyone arguing that the militant anti-USA movements in the middle east are not a threat.
Not “Dean democrats,” not anyone.

Many of us simply have come to believe that you back-alley players are the last people in America who should be making decisions on how to deal with that threat.

You seem to escalate the problems.

You and a few others have formed a cabal that has taken over much of our government.

If you’re going to invoke Nazis and their appeasers, you might want to be pretty careful where you draw those lines.

It’s not only Arab extremists who hate us now. They spell Bush with a swastika or a dollar sign in South America. Take a look at world polls, and ask yourself how the view of our country can have so changed over the course of just a few years.

Here at home, we don’t appreciate your dishonorable use of the discourse of freedom while you move toward an increasingly fascistic (i.e. totalitarian, corporatist) regime with our own government.

Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rumsfeld – You’ve done well for yourselves since the Nixon days, that’s for sure. Ms. Rice – I had hoped for better when I first heard that a black female academic… well, never mind. None of you lack intelligence.

But your words ring hollow. There is no truth in you.

Don’t stand up and try to tell us about morality and freedom and dreams.
What you’ve actually stood for has nothing to do with anything like that.

You have pursued aggressive actions in the world at large, and done what you could to destroy the benefits of citizenship at home. You have worked quite hard – yes – but only for the interests of big business (yes, especially oil), not for the interests of the American public. You have have rammed through no-bid contracts for your friends. This administration and its rubber-stampers in Congress even allowed insurance and pharmaceutical companies to write legislation.

Hey, we know that we don’t count as human unless we make at least $200,000 a year. You’ve made that clear in so many ways. How about all those accounts in Dubai and the Caymans? Tax giveaways to the rich, and to corporations that appear to have developed a stronger bill of rights than we could ever hope for. The attempted abolition of social security. On and on, and I can’t bear to think this week about Katrina anymore. The little speeches make me physically ill. What hypocrisy.

Take odds on who’ll win after Katrina – the oil industry or the luxury real estate developers. Admit it, you love the smell of crude in the morning.

We know what you stand for.

You’ve broken our trust. You’ve done little to make us safer while you’re manipulating us with fear.

Our ports and monuments and other targets are still quite unprotected.

You’re watching us (in violation of the Constitution) more than you’re “protecting” us.

America stuck our nose into the Middle East with boots on the ground in Saudi Arabia, protecting the tyrannical “royal family” – not democracy and freedom. We’ve propped up dictators and pulled down democratically-elected leaders for years. Are democracy and freedom near the top of America’s list? The evidence suggests we have other, competing, interests. Perhaps we should have a little national pow-wow about what, exactly, those interests really are.

We didn’t stay with the peace process in Israel, although we probably gave the go-ahead for the recent attacks. (Were those our bombs?)

The face of America to the world used to be the Peace Corps. Not anymore.

What is America known for now?
The carnage of Fallujah.
The torture of POWs and “detainees,” many of whom were rounded up randomly for a fee.
Abu Graib. Guantanamo.
The theft of natural resources from other countries.
Diamond-mining pseudochristians rushing toward their apocalypic visions.
Death cults spinning off your lead of hatred, the resurgence of the KKK and others.

Oh, and we do see the camps prisons you’re building in Texas. Who are they for again?

You tried to make us believe that Iraq was an immanent threat. It was not. The “pre-emptive” war was based on lies.

You tried to make us believe that Hussein was tied to 9-11.
Untrue, but you’re still using 9-11 to try to rationalize our invasion of Iraq.

You “sold” us this illegal and unethical invasion of Iraq. Then you banned the media from Fallujah, and after Abu Graib, you banned camera phones from military bases. No more evidence. No more reporting.

Judging from recent events, routine maintenance of the pipelines isn’t a prerequisite for corporate welfare.

Still, I’m wondering why clearly-permanent bases are always built on the oil pipeline?

We are not heroes to the people of Iraq. They want us to leave.

In the name of fighting terrorism, you’ve simply created more reasons for people to become terrorists. Terrorism is a method. We can’t wipe out terrorism. But we can and should look at why and how people become terrorists. Our ethical and strategic failures to legitimately address the issues of our world have contributed to that process. There are many more terrorists now.

In Iraq, we’ve simply jump-started civil war.

You said Iraq would be able to pay for the war. Check our national debt.

Another involuntary call-up for Marines… back-door drafts…

And now you’ve started softening us up for Iran. I’m not defending Iran, but if I were in their shoes, I’d probably want to have some kind of deterrant against US aggression too. Is Syria next? Endless war is the plan, then? When does the draft start, or are we planning to use the nukes again?

How many of our own will you label terrorists? The last time I checked, the ACLU was on the list!

It has become abundantly clear from your actions (and their consequences) that you have no idea what strategic negotiation is, what collaborative work is, what diplomacy is, how to gather actionable intelligence, how to create alliances. The US has become a throwback.

I wonder if you have a sense of what democracy and freedom even mean.

You have hurt the middle class, the blue-collar workers, the poor. The schools. The environment. The economy.

The reversal of FDR’s progress has always been a stated goal. The services of a previously rich nation are already being cut – and our treasury, such as it is now, is being handed to (surprise, surprise) the rich. Should anyone mention this, you accuse us of “class warfare.”

Orwellian language aside (does anyone still believe in the truth-value of “No Child Left Behind” “Clean Air Act” “Patriot Act”?), let’s recall the rallying cry of this administration, the promise of “compassionate conservatism.” That demeanor was dropped – what – three days after the election? Where is the compassion? Where is the conservatism?

This administration is self-centered, hard-hearted, and wasteful with the resources of this land and its people. It has a fundamental disregard for the value (and values) of this country. We will be paying for the destructive policies of this administration for many, many years and in many, many ways.

Given all this, it’s not surprising to see you all default to the usual tactics. You’re backed into a corner now – tight enough to defend Joe Lieberman!

Your reaction to the people who bring some of our disagreements into the public sphere for democratic discussion is predictable:

“Swift-boating,” whisper campaigns, intimidation, blowhard radio liars, the propaganda industry that used to be our free press, and the further corruption and manipulation of our religious communities. All of it.

What’s next? Disappearings, black bags? Americans don’t like intimidation tactics. I’m not afraid of you, despite the fact that you’ve put the guy who used to be in charge of dissident roundups (and death squads!) in charge of surveillance on the American people.

The things you stand for and represent do not strike me as the best America has to offer to its own citizens or to the world.

How small and select does the crowd have to be for you not to get booed these days?

You do have to answer to your boss. I don’t think you particularly believe in God or anything like that. I’m referring to your boss in this world.

In case you’ve somehow forgotten, that’s us, the American people – not that pathetic man in the white house.

America Slouching Toward Fascism

America Slouching Toward Fascism

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Bush’s comment on Islamic “fascists” continues to tickle at my mind, and I’m not alone. Some of the characteristics of some kinds of fascism are there, but fundamental and very essential traits are also missing – the economic, the nationalistic. Our own U.S. of A. is actually closer to an outright fascistic regime. Some say it’s already here.

Classic projection onto the enemy, or at least that’s the reaction they are hoping for? Or is it just names at the playground? You Nazi! You Fascist! You Bully!

Or worse, is the vocabulary a sign of a softening up American prelude to more wars against nations (rather than abstractions like “terrorism”)? More regime changes, say in Iran and/or Syria? Nukes? Who knows – not much would surprise me from this administration. This vocabulary seems to have been tested out by none other than Rick Santorum the Insufferable. Anyone remember why Iran dislikes us?

Even worse, Santorum was patently dishonest when he failed to explain why many in Iran, in 1979, came to view America as its enemy. In fact, it was an American-backed coup in 1953, followed by twenty-five years of repression by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi that sparked the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and much of the suspicion and hostility toward the United States that remains today.

It’s called “blowback.” Moreover, Iran’s rise in the Middle East today is, in large measure, yet more “blowback” — resulting from the lies and exaggerations about Iraq (in preparation for America’s invasion) which despicable neoconservatives and conservatives, like Santorum, foisted upon an unwitting, if not witless, American public nearly four years ago.

Yet, four years ago, serious people were warning that an invasion of Iraq – the illegality and immorality of it aside – might empower Iraq’s Shiites, thus benefiting Iran, might lead to an insurgency and perhaps a civil war, which, in turn, might embroil the entire Middle East.

Now, out of fear that the public might seize upon those prescient warnings and turn out of office the reckless instigators of this Middle East conflagration, obnoxious and desperate conservatives like Rick Santorum speak yet more reckless nonsense in order to save their political skins. Yes, even if it means duping Americans yet again for the sake of another regime change, pouring more fuel on the raging fire and provoking yet more blowback.

Some tidbits for you to ponder:

“fascism – A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.” – American Heritage Dictionary

Granted that the 19th century was the century of socialism, liberalism, democracy, this does not mean that the 20th century must also be the century of socialism, liberalism, democracy. Political doctrines pass; nations remain. We are free to believe that this is the century of authority, a century tending to the “right”, a Fascist century. – Benito Mussolini, Doctrine of Fascism

“There’s basically two principles that define the Bush Administration policies: stuff the pockets of your rich friends with dollars, and increase your control over the world. Almost everything follows from that. If you happen to blow up the world, well, you know, it’s somebody else’s business. Stuff happens, as Rumsfeld said.” – Noam Chomsky, Interview by Geov Parrish, December 23, 2005

Before the rise of fascism, Germany and Italy were, on paper, liberal democracies. Fascism did not swoop down on these nations as if from another planet. To the contrary, fascist dictatorship was the result of political and economic changes these nations underwent while they were still democratic. In both these countries, economic power became so utterly concentrated that the bulk of all economic activity fell under the control of a handful of men. Economic power, when sufficiently vast, becomes by its very nature political power. The political power of big business supported fascism in Italy and Germany.
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Under the sway of neo-liberalism, Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney and George W. Bush have decimated labour and exalted capital. (At present, only 7.8 per cent of workers in the U.S. private sector are unionized — about the same percentage as in the early 1900s.)

Neo-liberals call relentlessly for tax cuts, which, in a previously progressive system, disproportionately favour the wealthy. Regarding the distribution of wealth, the neo-liberals have nothing to say. In the end, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. As in Weimar Germany, the function of the state is being reduced to that of a steward for the interests of the moneyed elite. All that would be required now for a more rapid descent into fascism are a few reasons for the average person to forget he is being ripped off. Hatred of Arabs, fundamentalist Christianity or an illusory sense of perpetual war may well be taking the place of Hitler’s hatred for communists and Jews.
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Ironically, Hitler pandered to the middle class, and they provided some of his most enthusiastically violent supporters. The fact that he did this while simultaneously destroying them was a terrible achievement of Nazi propaganda.
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Mussolini, the one-time socialist, went on to abolish the inheritance tax, a measure that favoured the wealthy. He decreed a series of massive subsidies to Italy’s largest industrial businesses and repeatedly ordered wage reductions. Italy’s poor were forced to subsidize the wealthy. In real terms, wages and living standards for the average Italian dropped precipitously under fascism.

Even this brief historical sketch shows how fascism did the bidding of big business. The fact that Hitler called his party the “National Socialist Party” did not change the reactionary nature of his policies. The connection between the fascist dictatorships and monopoly capital was obvious to the U.S. Department of Justice in 1939. As of 2005, however, it is all but forgotten.

It is always dangerous to forget the lessons of history. It is particularly perilous to forget about the economic origins of fascism in our modern era of deregulation. Most Western liberal democracies are currently in the thrall of what some call market fundamentalism. Few nowadays question the flawed assumption that state intervention in the marketplace is inherently bad.

As in Italy and Germany in the ’20s and ’30s, business associations clamour for more deregulation and deeper tax cuts. The gradual erosion of antitrust legislation, especially in the United States, has encouraged consolidation in many sectors of the economy by way of mergers and acquisitions. The North American economy has become more monopolistic than at any time in the post-WWII period.
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As in pre-fascist Germany and Italy, the laissez-faire businessmen call for the state to do their bidding even as they insist that the state should stay out of the marketplace. Put plainly, neo-liberals advocate the use of the state’s military force for the sake of private gain. Their view of the state’s role in society is identical to that of the businessmen and intellectuals who supported Hitler and Mussolini. There is no fear of the big state here. There is only the desire to wield its power.

— from Paul Bigioni. Toronto Star. Toronto, Ont.: Nov 27, 2005. pg. D.01 Online version

Some interesting articles…

Ur-Fascism can come back under the most innocent of disguises. Our duty is to uncover it and to point our finger at any of its new instances — every day, in every part of the world. Franklin Roosevelt’s words of November 4, 1938, are worth recalling: “If American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, fascism will grow in strength in our land.” Freedom and liberation are an unending task. – Umberto Eco, Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt

Rant on the So-called Marriage Amendment

Rant on the So-called Marriage Amendment

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Tell Congress you oppose the “marriage” amendment to our Constitution. I did….

How dare you try to amend our Constitution to discriminate against any American citizen? How dare you appeal to hate? How dare you use God for this!

This is so low, so hypocritical. You won’t dabate Iraq, but you WILL debate this?

Is this what you have left to say about “compassionate conservatism”? You’ve let pseudo-christian dominionists (otherwise known as supremacists) gain too much power in our process because you think hate will motivate enough votes that the rigged elections can be rationalized.

These people want to bring back stoning! In America! They are wayyy too concerned with how to control other people. It won’t stop with this – gays aren’t the only people they hate. They want to put women “back in the box” as well, and they are training the children just like little Hitler youth with their home-schooling programs. Some even speak of a return to slavery.

But that’s not even what it’s about, is it? Because in addition to payback to the terrorist christian right – remember these are the people who incited to murder, bombed clinics, etc – this is really about something else.

It’s about insurance. You want to nip that “alternative family insurance” movement in the bud. You know, at the behest of the people who wrote the laws for the prescription drug “benefit”? It wouldn’t look good to talk about poor grandma raising her grandchildren, or the single moms or dads doing the best the can. Noooooo….you have to find that bigotry that remains, and work it, baby, work it.

Meanwhile, the dollar seems (to me at least) ready to plummet, Iraq is a disaster, Iran is about to become a disaster, Halliburton and ExxonMobil walk off with our money, and you don’t think there are any monuments in New York so you’re cutting homeland security funds. People are dying, people are hurting. There are parts of America that are as poor as any third-world nation, but you’re in bed with crony corporatists (when you don’t have prostitutes or long-term buddies from college to sleep with and promote).

You want to lecture us about morality? You want to use our own constitution for power, for hate? You have profoundly misunderstood the nature of this country. This country belongs to WE THE PEOPLE.

You’ve handed power to the executive branch. You’ve destroyed our country. You’ve taken our future. Keep going, and you’ll be showing up for photo ops in your hoods or uniforms or whatever.

The Nazis had their scapegoats too.
Shame on you. Shame on you. Shame on you.

You fundamentalists have lost
the thing most fundamental.
Pharasees again, in code
have lost or burned the message.
You fanatics worship manmade creeds
that will undo us all
And YOU, you terrorists of all religions
your gods will make us fall.

Yes I confess this deep deep flaw,
this remnant of rigidity,
scar-tissue of self-righteousness,
torn open yet again.
Yet one must speak from where one stands
and this is what I know,
I have no room left in my heart
for love toward you to grow.

The evil that your “god” incites
in you and o’er the world,
stains for all time our histories,
we all pay for your sins.
I guard compassion jealously
held selfish in reserve
for the ones you hurt so deeply
and whose stories aren’t heard.

I name you and yours false prophets
because you do define the phrase,
you lead the would-be faithful
always far and further astray.
Placing demon masks
on the faces of our kin,
undoing all the fragile good
that lets us breathe again.

Provocative Questions

Provocative Questions

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Dennis Rahkonen (‘The Republican Wile E. Coyote‘, 6-27-05) thinks that Durbin’s apology was unwise. In his view, we should perhaps be making more actual historical comparisions between this administration and that of Hitler’s Germany. Here are some starter questions for eager researchers…

Did German motorists have “Support Our Troops” ribbons on their Volkswagens in 1943?

Did conservatives loyal to Hitler pooh-pooh reports of Jews being abused in concentration camps in the same way neocon Bush backers blithely dismiss documentation by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and even the FBI that Muslims are being routinely abused at U.S. detention centers in Afghanistan, Iraq and Cuba?

Did they actually believe the contrived pretext for the Wehrmacht’s assault on Poland? (Nazi provocateurs dressed in Polish military uniforms “attacked” German border posts and a German radio station.)

Was there a German entertainer like Toby Keith who rallied backing for the official cause with jingoistic, xenophobic phonograph recordings?

When news of Guernica, Lidice and the Warsaw Ghetto reached the German masses, were they any less propagandized about what really happened there then we are about Fallujah?

Was the German press as craven in refusing to criticize Hitler’s purpose as the American media are in failing to seriously challenge George Bush?

Finally, will history and humankind accord his despicable war for oil and hegemony any kinder status than they have for the crimes of the Third Reich?