Sunday: Countdown to Fascism in America?

In "A Fascist America: How Close Are We?" written by Justin Raimondo, you may find that some of us aren't just using the word to get attention. It may well be a closer reality than we care to admit. Mr. Raimondo gives a very sober account of how the dominoes line up, awaiting a single event to trigger the irreversible chain reaction that will eradicate what we thought was our democracy.

Mr. Raimondo lists three conditions:

1) The idealization of the State as the embodiment of an all-powerful national will or spirit;

2) The leader principle, which personifies the national will in the holder of a political office (whether democratically elected or otherwise is largely a matter of style), and

3) The doctrine of militarism, which bases an entire legal and economic system on war and preparations for war.

Although numbers 2 and 3 seem to be quite well established in this country, number 1 is the real obstacle, thanks, ironically enough, to the lingering hatred of federal government that sprung from the conservatives' own assault on it when they were out of power. The neocons' program to concentrate more and more power in fewer hands (their own) is alarming libertarians, who have sided with conservatives on economic issues, forming the coalition that battled the old Democratic Party for control since the defeat of Goldwater in 1964. Libertarians must be terribly conflicted at this point, and rightly so, given the ruthless excommunication by the Bushits when anyone even slightly wavers from idolatrous, unquestioning support.

Of course, idolatrous, unquestioning support of Bush, even when he and his minions have been proven repeatedly and disastrously wrong, is one of the common spittle-sprayed demands that spew from the pieholes of your solid Bushite. They are trying to create a cult of personality around Bush, and you have to admire their optimism, because Bush's image is wholly constructed for him. Cut away the PR and there's nothing but sawdust inside. The neocon elite, however, are no slackers, and having trafficked on the Bush name and used the Bush empire to position themselves, are now attempting to move into the final stage of establishing fascism in their own frightening fashion.

If you're not alarmed yet, check out "Wake Up and Smell the Fascism," by Laurence Britt. His 14-point "characteristics of fascism" are supported with lists of links that ought to keep you awake for a long time.