All This Fascism Talk...

Conservatives really piss me off.

They spend 8 years telling us "deficits don't matter", then when the debt increases under Democratic leadership, they throw a hissy fit. As if domestic spending for new construction jobs, extended unemployment benefits, education funding, and health care is somehow not as worthy as cost-plus no-bid contracts for asshole defense contractors to blow up more brown people.

They spend 8 years defending the absolute worst excesses and power-grabs by the Bush Administration, yet claim that Obama is trying to destroy the Constitution by some imagined effort to take away their guns. Its as if the Patriot Act, torture, warrantless wiretapping, warrantless searches and seizure, indefinite detention, GITMO, destruction of Habeus Corpus, bypassing the legislature, encouraging violence against the judiciary, free-speech zones, and, yes, having federal marshalls confiscate guns during Katrina, all of this, never happened.

Now we have insane fuckers like Glen Beck and Michelle Bachmann peddling ridiculous conspiracy HYPOTHESES about National Service Youth and FEMA camps and a whole host of other wacky, unsubstantiated claims. Glen Beck is just the fucking worst too. He constantly has Jonah Goldberg, the author of the incredibly stupid Liberal Fascism, to argue that its LIBERALS that are the fascists. Give me a fucking break.

To address this, first check out David Neiwert's destruction of Goldberg's fact-less hypothesis.

Beyond the Klan, completely missing from the pages of Goldberg's book is any mention of the Silver Shirts, the American Nazi Party, the Posse Comitatus, the Aryan Nations, or the National Alliance -- all of them openly fascist organizations, many of them involved in some of the nation's most horrific historical events. (The Oklahoma City bombing, for instance, was the product of a blueprint drawn up by the National Alliance's William Pierce.) Goldberg sees fit to declare people like Wilson, FDR, LBJ, and Hillary Clinton "American fascists," but he makes no mention of William Dudley Pelley, Gerald L.K. Smith, George Lincoln Rockwell, William Potter Gale, Richard Butler, or David Duke -- all of them bona fide fascists: the real thing.

Additionally, Jonah and Glenn provide absolute proof that fascism is a tool of the left....the Nazi's were the National Socialists!! Gad damn, he got us thur! Actually, not so much. Besides not knowing what populism is (Glenn thinks populism equals popular), he doesn't understand the difference between socialism and fascism. Geebus, there's at least two folks brave enough to post on Hannity's forums to post some basic facts proving that Glenn is full of shit...

Many conservatives accuse Hitler of being a leftist, on the grounds that his party was named "National Socialist." But socialism requires worker ownership and control of the means of production. In Nazi Germany, private capitalist individuals owned the means of production, and they in turn were frequently controlled by the Nazi party and state. True socialism does not advocate such economic dictatorship -- it can only be democratic. The primary basis for this claim is that Hitler was a National Socialist. The word "National" evokes the state, and the word "Socialist" openly identifies itself as such.

Of Course, the rest of the Hannitites peddle the same bullshit, circular illogic that Glenn does. Anyway, it was nice to witness some rationality on an irrational forum (memories of the Heavy Hitters coming back). But beyond what some liberal blogger or some head cases on Hannity's forums think, lets look at it point by point. Fascism, luckly enough, has several points...14 to be exact.

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread

domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Decide for yourself what constitute's fascism. Obama's stimulus plans, or Bush's wars for profiteering. Obama's respect for the Geneva Conventions, or Bush's torture programs. Obama's closing of Gitmo, or Bush's actual structure of black sites and secret prisons. Obama's respect for the separation of church and state, and Bush's....ah, well, you get it.

Nevermind that Bush's granddaddy was a Nazi financier and suspected of being involved in the Business Plot to overthrow FDR and install a fascist government.

The only hope for Republicans is.....

...extreme short term memory for the American public.

The only hope Republicans have for future electoral wins is for everyone to forget everything they said, did, bragged about, rubbed in our faces, and crapped on the living room floor for 8 fucking years. The thing that is so galling is that they are, currently, opposing one, if not the only, thing that can avert a MAJOR DOWNTURN. And they are doing it by saying the exact opposite of the shit they said, oh, not 3 fucking months ago.

Now, they'll bitch about the deficit. But 3 months ago when they had the reins, doubling the thing to 10 trillion, some Republicans were still saying crap like "Reagen proved that deficits don't matter". Had a quite intelligent Republican actually say that load of horseshit not to long ago. If you have a decent memory, for one, you wouldn't be a Republican, but you may be a Demuhcrat or an Induhpendent. Get enough of that variety and you may get above 50%. Or at least to 47 and purge a another few million from the rolls.

Still, there's a glimmer of hope for Republicans who don't want to do the rational thing and, uh, moderate a little fucking bit. They can stay bat shit conservative, not compromising a bit on their proven-to-fail policies, and gain a few of dem women voters w/ Palin and some African Americans w/ Michael Steele.

(As an aside, more proof that the base of the Republican party is missing a few brain cells. Palin proved not to get a single fucking woman more than would have been gotten. Look at the numbers.

2008 from 2004:
% Women Voting for Dem increased 8%
% White Women Voting for Dem increased 2%

Michael Steele, even more ridiculous. Remington Steele is more palatable to blacks than Michael Steele. Look at the same exit poll data referenced above, you see 89% voted for Kerry on 04, and it went up to 95% for Obama in 08. I should say AGAINST Bush in 08, although Bush actually increased polling in all demographic groups (including blacks) in 2004 compared to 2000. So, that 6% increase means, what, that blacks only voted for Obama because he's black??!?! No, only a short-term memory Republican would think that. Most black folks will never vote Republican because they realize that that would be like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders. Remington Steele is not going to get them more than 1.53% African Americans into the Republican column, and that might be streching in. Heh, Remington Steele...that's his name now...I'm a petty petty man.)

Anyway, back to the point. Republicans depend on a short term memory for everyone, not just them. This is where things like graphs and facts come in. Have them prepared. Don't let up. Throw the truth in their faces. Here's one....



See it. The downturn, in terms of job losses, is already WAAAAYYYY fucking worse than the most recent two recessions. The one in the early 90's (at the end of Poppy Bush's tenure) and the one in the early 00's (started in March 2001 shortly after the appointment of Prince George of Crawford....sure....we are TOTALLY a democracy).

Take a look at the drops. 1990 recession, big drop from month 8 to month 12. Gulf war at or following that interval, with funds likely "stimulating" economy. From March 2001, months 9 through 12 steep, that would put that ending around the, at that time, successful "completion" of the war in Afghanistan (the war that never ends). Then another drop around month 24 to month 26. What happened then? Inception of Operation Iraqi Liberation to Mission Accomplished. Damn, don't you love when shit just falls out like that? Causation or correlation or whatever, it is what it is. So, what does that portend for our NEAR future. Is this the "surge" in Afghanistan that was hyped (but recently downplayed)? Or is this a new conflict? Please, for the love of all that which does not suck, tell me otherwise.

Another point(s)...the steepness of the curve and the "month date" we are on. The steepness portends a much longer recovery (we hope), much more difficult work ahead to right this ship, and the very real possibility that we could enter a depression or deflationary period. Inform people of this DATA and it becomes clear that the people who oppose the [stimulus/ recovery/ jobs-program/ watered-down-capitulation-to-the-insane] do not fucking care if more people suffer or that we could suffer the complete loss of our democracy and social safety net. In fact, its becoming increasingly likely that the majority of the opposition to the stimulus is hoping for these negative effects to occur.

The recession, more amusingly, is at fucking month 14. That's December 2007. I know, I know, it takes a quarter or so to figure out, definitively, that you're in a recession. Still, that's month 11 after the required-knowledge-date. All the while, spokesperson after spokesliar in the Bush administration fought and argued and LIED that we were not in a recession. They had access to the data months before WE knew, yet they lied and lied and lied for months that we were not in a recession. WE were brought into the loop in December 2008. You wanna tell me that the election wouldn't, oh, I don't know, been a complete fucking landslide (even more than it was) for Obama??!?! If it was shown that Bush and McCain's beloved ideology was giving us ANOTHER recession and doing things to make it worse, you wanna tell me Republicans would be getting some votes from folks getting foreclosed out of their houses? If you answer the above two questions in the affirmative, you are a Republican and are by now highly offended. I apologize. Now get your butt back to Malkin or some Heavy Drinker site you frequent.

Speaking of said-Chucky-doll. I like when I google something and it links to a Republican site and they're actual numbers and facts and shit. I knew they weren't completely stupid. Good for them.

Stimulus passes cloture vote. Lazy Republicans avoid having to read from the Bible for 24 hours on the Senate floor. Apparently, they were afraid they might learn something antithetical to their ideology. LOOOVE how Malkin refers this as the generational theft bill...how catchy to the non-dipshit!! Got in a tizzy about Cornyn for missing the vote. Wanna make sure the lockstep Republicans stay that way. In favor of Bush, in opposition to Obama, in favor of Plutocracy, in opposition to sanity. Didn't see these fuckers complain about Bush's tax cuts which cost nearly double this stimulus bill. 1.35 trillion for tax cuts, mostly to the rich.

For a laugh, or a scare, look at the comments section of the Malkin blog. Completely like a Heavy Hitters discussion. Thou dost project too much.