NeoCon Fascism

So Much In Common

     
The Rovian Tactic of trying to label the enemy with a descriptor that more aptly describes themselves is the new attack mode of choice for the Bushji's.   How many times have they tried to rebrand the "War on Terror"   Too numerous to count but evidently a tactic they like to use.



With the term "Fascism" flying about the blogosphere uncontrollably I thought it timely to hunt down the information below concerning the topic.   From Olberman to the Huffington Post to just about every wingnut site in existance, the term is surely getting a new airing.   I present Laurence Britt and you decide...   - fc

Fascism Anyone?



Fascism's principles are wafting in the air today, surreptitiously masquerading as something else, challenging everything we stand for.


By Laurence W. Britt

The clichê that people and nations learn from history is not only overused, but also overestimated: often we fail to learn from history, or draw the wrong conclusions. Sadly, historical amnesia is the norm.



We are two-and-a-half generations removed from the horrors of Nazi Germany, although constant reminders jog the consciousness. German and Italian fascism form the historical models that define this twisted political worldview. Although they no longer exist, this worldview and the characteristics of these models have been imitated by protofascist1 regimes at various times in the twentieth century. Both the original German and Italian models and the later protofascist regimes show remarkably similar characteristics. Although many scholars question any direct connection among these regimes, few can dispute their visual similarities.



Beyond the visual, even a cursory study of these fascist and protofascist regimes reveals the absolutely striking convergence of their modus operandi. This, of course, is not a revelation to the informed political observer, but it is sometimes useful in the interests of perspective to restate obvious facts and in so doing shed needed light on current circumstances.



For the purpose of this perspective, I will consider the following regimes: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Franco's Spain, Salazar's Portugal, Papadopoulos's Greece, Pinochet's Chile, and Suharto's Indonesia. To be sure, they constitute a mixed bag of national identities, cultures, developmental levels, and history. But they all followed the fascist or protofascist model in obtaining, expanding, and maintaining power. Further, all these regimes have been overthrown, so a more or less complete picture of their basic characteristics and abuses is possible.



Analysis of these seven regimes reveals fourteen common threads that link them in recognizable patterns of national behavior and abuse of power. These basic characteristics are more prevalent and intense in some regimes than in others, but they all share at least some level of similarity.

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism. From the prominent displays of flags and bunting to the ubiquitous lapel pins, the fervor to show patriotic nationalism, both on the part of the regime itself and of citizens caught up in its frenzy, was always obvious. Catchy slogans, pride in the military, and demands for unity were common themes in expressing this nationalism. It was usually coupled with a suspicion of things foreign that often bordered on xenophobia.



2. Disdain for the importance of human rights. The regimes themselves viewed human rights as of little value and a hindrance to realizing the objectives of the ruling elite. Through clever use of propaganda, the population was brought to accept these human rights abuses by marginalizing, even demonizing, those being targeted. When abuse was egregious, the tactic was to use secrecy, denial, and disinformation.



3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause. The most significant common thread among these regimes was the use of scapegoating as a means to divert the people's attention from other problems, to shift blame forfailures, and to channel frustration in controlled directions. The methods of choice-relentless propaganda and disinformation—were usually effective. Often the regimes would incite "spontaneous" acts against the target scapegoats, usually communists, socialists, liberals, Jews, ethnic and racial minorities, traditional national enemies, members of other religions, secularists, homosexuals, and "terrorists." Active opponents of these regimes were inevitably labeled as terrorists and dealt with accordingly.



4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism. Ruling elites always identified closely with the military and the industrial infrastructure that supported it. A disproportionate share of national resources was allocated to the military, even when domestic needs were acute. The military was seen as an expression of nationalism, and was used whenever possible to assert national goals, intimidate other nations, and increase the power and prestige of the ruling elite.



5. Rampant sexism. Beyond the simple fact that the political elite and the national culture were male-dominated, these regimes inevitably viewed women as second-class citizens. They were adamantly anti-abortion and also homophobic. These attitudes were usually codified in Draconian laws that enjoyed strong support by the orthodox religion of the country, thus lending the regime cover for its abuses.



6. A controlled mass media. Under some of the regimes, the mass media were under strict direct control and could be relied upon never to stray from the party line. Other regimes exercised more subtle power to ensure media orthodoxy. Methods included the control of licensing and access to resources, economic pressure, appeals to patriotism, and implied threats. The leaders of the mass media were often politically compatible with the power elite. The result was usually success in keeping the general public unaware of the regimes’ excesses.



7. Obsession with national security. Inevitably, a national security apparatus was under direct control of the ruling elite. It was usually an instrument of oppression, operating in secret and beyond any constraints. Its actions were justified under the rubric of protecting "national security," and questioning its activities was portrayed as unpatriotic or even treasonous.



8. Religion and ruling elite tied together. Unlike communist regimes, the fascist and protofascist regimes were never proclaimed as godless by their opponents. In fact, most of the regimes attached themselves to the predominant religion of the country and chose to portray themselves as militant defenders of that religion. The fact that the ruling elite's behavior was incompatible with the precepts of the religion was generally swept under the rug. Propaganda kept up the illusion that the ruling elites were defenders of the faith and opponents of the "godless." A perception was manufactured that opposing the power elite was tantamount to an attack on religion.



9. Power of corporations protected. Although the personal life of ordinary citizens was under strict control, the ability of large corporations to operate in relative freedom was not compromised. The ruling elite saw the corporate structure as a way to not only ensure military production (in developed states), but also as an additional means of social control. Members of the economic elite were often pampered by the political elite to ensure a continued mutuality of interests, especially in the repression of "have-not" citizens.



10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated. Since organized labor was seen as the one power center that could challenge the political hegemony of the ruling elite and its corporate allies, it was inevitably crushed or made powerless. The poor formed an underclass, viewed with suspicion or outright contempt. Under some regimes, being poor was considered akin to a vice.



11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts. Intellectuals and the inherent freedom of ideas and expression associated with them were anathema to these regimes. Intellectual and academic freedom were considered subversive to national security and the patriotic ideal. Universities were tightly controlled; politically unreliable faculty harassed or eliminated. Unorthodox ideas or expressions of dissent were strongly attacked, silenced, or crushed. To these regimes, art and literature should serve the national interest or they had no right to exist.



12. Obsession with crime and punishment. Most of these regimes maintained Draconian systems of criminal justice with huge prison populations. The police were often glorified and had almost unchecked power, leading to rampant abuse. "Normal" and political crime were often merged into trumped-up criminal charges and sometimes used against political opponents of the regime. Fear, and hatred, of criminals or "traitors" was often promoted among the population as an excuse for more police power.



13. Rampant cronyism and corruption. Those in business circles and close to the power elite often used their position to enrich themselves. This corruption worked both ways; the power elite would receive financial gifts and property from the economic elite, who in turn would gain the benefit of government favoritism. Members of the power elite were in a position to obtain vast wealth from other sources as well: for example, by stealing national resources. With the national security apparatus under control and the media muzzled, this corruption was largely unconstrained and not well understood by the general population.



14. Fraudulent elections. Elections in the form of plebiscites or public opinion polls were usually bogus. When actual elections with candidates were held, they would usually be perverted by the power elite to get the desired result. Common methods included maintaining control of the election machinery, intimidating an disenfranchising opposition voters, destroying or disallowing legal votes, and, as a last resort, turning to a judiciary beholden to the power elite.



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New State Department Travel Warning

The State Department has issued a new Travel Warning today for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, among other things warning of the possibility of terrorist bombings. I have to say that I continue to wonder why there are Travel Warnings issued on Israel (which among other things, can make it very difficult for colleges to permit students to travel there to study), while not at the same time having travel warnings on, for example, Turkey, where there have just been 5 terrorist bombings that have killed several tourists.

The State Department Consular Information Sheet on Turkey goes into considerable detail about various terrorist bombings that have been carried out there in recent years, including the Al-Qaeda bombings in November 2003, when the British Consulate, the HSBC bank, and two synagogues were struck by suicide truck bombs.

Yet the State Department does not warn American citizens against travel to Turkey by issuing a Travel Warning.

New York Times biases

I have always very steadfastly defended the New York Times against charges that it is biased against Israel, but the current New York Times bureau chief in Israel, Steven Erlanger, has just confirmed his own partial point of view in a panel recently organized in Israel about the international media's coverage of this summer's war: Journalists blame Israel for war coverage. I'm really quite astonished at the things that Erlanger admitted in public:

The New York Time's Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Steven Erlanger, expressed surprise that Israel's view of the war was different to that of its critics, and said that Israelis didn't "quite grasp how the war was perceived outside of Israel." He lamented the lack of "proportionality" in the war, adding: "This is a charge that came against Israel from the United Nations… the French, the Italians." The New York Times bureau chief also said that Israelis "were not interested in whether 1,000 Lebanese civilians needed to die," adding that the question of "whether Israel fought a proportional war is not much of interest here (in Israel)."

It sounds to me like Erlanger is complaining that Israelis don't have the same view of the war that he does - rather than trying to report both what happened and what Israelis thought about it. Is it his job to express his own editorial opinion? I don't think so!

Another thing that Erlanger said also astonished me, and in my opinion really confirms his own biases:

"While other panelists said Hizbullah placed dictatorial control over colleagues reporting from Lebanon, Ernlanger maintained that the only threat faced by his own colleague in Lebanon was posed by "Israeli missiles."

Isn't Erlanger aware of the Hizbollah-led guided tours of south Beirut, reported on by Anderson Cooper of CNN as well as others? Why is he deliberately ignoring evidence that other mainstream journalists have uncovered? It's not as if this point has only been made by the right-wing blogs like LGF. If the New York Times wishes to be seen as an impartial news source, the editors should really be questioning Erlanger quite harshly right now!

UPDATE, Tuesday, 10:53 PM: LGF also posted on this article - and I totally agree with Charles Johnson in this case. Whatever else one might say about LGF, he has done yeoman work exposing faked photographs and biased journalism during the war this summer.

NeoCon - The Definition :: Revisited

NeoCon :: The Definition

Over a year ago I wrote this when things started looking really bad for Bush.   The Downing Street Memo had come to the light of day and John Conyers Jr. had taken steps to get it into the public record.   Other indicators were that things in Iraq really were going from bad to worse.



This was all just before Katrina which in my opinion was the beginning of the end for Bush. Everybody in the world could see what there was to him and his cronies and few liked it...



We are now approaching the first election with people coming to their senses.   We will see how they feel now when they vote.

A pale surrealistic glow accents the detail of cold black lines, delineating the black hearted egotism and absolute power sought with no respect or remorse for those that stand in their way.


The pervasive dynamic of attack mode divisiveness permeates the spirits of the NeoCon.   Battles not fought head on but with character assassination of the opponent with little more than hypocritical lip service to issues.


Hidden agenda's that are as cold, imperial and deceitful as their name projects.   Lies and deception disbursed on the winds of politically loaded keywords are framed in ways to keep the naive and gullable, captured and enthralled in false pretense, ignorant of the true intentions and dire consequences of their surrender of power to the forces of the 21st Century's American Axis of Evil.


The cold black elephant is symbolic of the republican sacrifice that was made to the rise of the NeoCon.   Within a few short years we have found ourselves an ignorant, arrogant child of history, repeating mistakes made in the past, with subsequently as great or greater loss of integrity, and yet again the ultimate sacrifice of the blood of valiant American warriors fighting a faceless enemy in yet another contrived war based on lies.


The prostitution of morals and ethics for nationalistic knee-jerk reactionaries has promulgated through the rank and file apologists and excusers.   The vilified hate for those who see the damage being done will yet again be the undoing of their agenda.


As the American public awakens to facts concerning this corrupt administration which has never before been equaled in our nations's history, the agenda has been derailed.   As the blinders come off, their propaganda will carry less and less weight while their transparency will intensify.


As the smoke and mirrors fade, the true path will once again be forged by those of us who are willing to stand up and let them know that we will not tolerate their excuses or the actions of those they have enabled.   History will repeat itself, much to the chagrin of the NeoCons.


- fc :: July 28, 2005

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Why They Are Scared

Republican Panties in a Wad...

     
The list below is just a few of the reasons the Republicans are so worried about the November Elections.   If I were them, I would be worried too...   - fc

Rep. Nancy Pelosi - Speaker of The House of Representatives


Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) Ways and Means Committee


Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) the House Judiciary Committee


Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) the Homeland Security Committee


Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.) the Administration Committee


Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) Intelligence Committee


The wingnuts like things spelled out for them so...   I'll do them the favor...


I   M   P   E   A   C   H   M   E   N   T

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Election 2006

Let's Make Some Changes

     
This page will serve as a mainpage for the Elections of 2006.   I am including my own watchlist as well as the Kos/Act Blue Netroots Campaign list of candidates.   Where I find or you suggest other progressive candidates, they will be added to this page.   Your suggestions are welcome...   - fc

Updated :: Nov 7, 2006 - PM

TPM Election Central Scoreboard ::TalkingPointsMemo

Politics :: Decision 2006 ::MSNBC

Politics :: Decision 2006 :: Ohio ::MSNBC

These pages were all created to highlight specific aspects of the mid-term Elections of 2006.   This page was updated Nov. 7, 2006 :: PM

Update :: 8.24.06 :: MYDD Congressional Activism page added...   fc

Daily Kos WatchList	Act Blue Watchlist
Candidate District Ned Lamont CT-Sen Jon Tester MT-Sen Jim Webb VA-Sen Eric Massa NY-29 Joe Sestak PA-07 Patrick Murphy PA-08 Jerry McNerney CA-11	Candidate District Darcy Burner WA-08 Linda Stender NJ-07 Paul Hodes NH-02 Larry Kissell NC-08 John Courage TX-21 Dan Seals - Kos IL-10 Jay Fawcett CO-05
Note :: All Candidates' Names are hotlinks to their individual websites...   Act Blue has details about the candidates and info on how to donate to their campaigns...   - fc

MYDD WatchList	Act Blue - Blue America
Candidate District Sheldon Whitehouse RI-Sen Harold Ford MT-Sen Jim Pederson AZ-Sen Amy Klobuchar MN-Sen.	Candidate District Claire McCaskill MO-Sen. Jack Carter Nv-Sen. Maria Cantwell WA-Sen. Debbie Stabenow MI-Sen.
Note :: Duplicates removed...   - The MYDD page also has more info on primaries...   Each candidate is linked to opensecrets.org pages about them and also polls that are relevant to each of the candidates...   - fc

My WatchList
Candidate District Nick Lampson TX-22 Bob Menendez NJ-Sen Bob Casey PA-Sen Carl Sheeler RI-Sen	Candidate District Zack Space OH-18 Ted Strickland OH-Gov Sherrod Brown OH-Sen
Note :: My sidebar list also included Lamont, Tester and Webb...   • Also note the candidates with the small icon after their name.   The popup links you to the Sunlight Labs Political website as well as these current lawmaker's own personal webpage   I am just trying this feature out so let me know what you think...   - fc

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Lieberman Forced To Be A Democrat

Concession to Lamont

The forced change in Lieberman this weekend was a direct result of his loss to Lamont.   The dems are dodging a bullet here by Lieberman criticizing Rumsfeld.   It supposedly is meant to regain support from the moderates who displayed their voting displeasure with Lieberman in the primary.


Somebody in the liberal - progressive Lieberman camp must have gotten HolyJoe's attention.   Those same voters are ready to elect a Dem majority in november.   A congress that will stop this War in Iraq and reign in the Miserable Failure in the White House.


There should be a lot of politicos who should be taking that same advise.   As Brad DeLong notes below, this turn of events is a win-win situation for the Democrats and the American People.   - fc

Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal


Time to Declare Victory and Go Home?

August 20, 2006



Now--no matter who wins the Connecticut senate race in November--we will have a shrill critic of George W. Bush and his Iraq policy:

Lieberman calls for Rumsfeld to quit - Yahoo! News: "With all respect to Don Rumsfeld... we would benefit from new leadership to work with our military in Iraq," [Lieberman] said on CBS's "Face the Nation." Lieberman said the Bush administration should have sent more troops into Iraq "to secure the country."

That is a big victory.



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Lakoff at 'the talking dog'

Framing - Deep Frames - Surface Frames

I like the way George Lakoff breaks things down in easy to understand ways.   Very conplicated things are most times not easily dissected.   Lakoff is a master with a very sharp blade.   - fc

the talking dog
TD Blog Interview with George Lakoff

Thu Aug 19, 2006



George Lakoff is Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, a senior fellow at the progressive think-tank Rockridge Institute, and is the author of "Whose Freedom: The Battle Over America's Most Important Idea" and a number of other books including a multitude of articles in major scholarly journals and edited volumes, as well as books such as Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think, and Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values, Frame the Debate. Dr. Lakoff's current work discusses the concept of "framing", both deep frames representing an underlying value structure; for conservatives, the deep frames revolve around strict father morality, and for progressives, the deep frames revolve around a nurturant family morality, and "surface frames", which, in Dr. Lakoff's analysis, are the ideas associated with individual words and expressions and which make political sense only given the deep frames. The concept of freedom is one such case.



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