Popeye
Well-Known Member
Came across this, for all those who doubt Bush and the conservatives fascist like tendencies. http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm
Came across this, for all those who doubt Bush and the conservatives fascist like tendencies. http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm
Came across this, for all those who doubt Bush and the conservatives fascist like tendencies. http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm
Your points are no more valid here than they were when I tore them down for you on the other thread.
Point 1. Any nationalism on the part of bush or the US in general is the faintest possible reflection of the military parades of lenin, stalin, and mao or hitler. Mile after mile of military hardware and high stepping soldiers punctuated by military marching bands. When a comparison is made of the two, any suggestion of attempted nationalism on the part of the US must logically be dismissed.
Point 2. Confusing the treatment of illegal combattants with the general treatment of all citizens of the leftist regimes is a standard liberal tactic and simply doesn't wash. You are not in danger of having soldiers break down your door and cart you away in the night if you speak out publicly against your government.
Point 3. Isn't it interesting how the left in this country is constantly attempting to make scapegoats out of the right? For every concievable thing.
Point 4. Refer to point 1.
Point 5. One look at the number of women operating within government from the highest appointed position down to the local level puts this sad little nugget to bed. Take a look at the fascist governments, or any of the governments of the great leftist despots and see how many women you find in leadership positions within government, if you can find any at all.
Point 6. The only government funded media that I am aware of in this country are NPR and PBS which lean decidedly to the left. As to government trying to control media via legislation, consider the attack on talk radio by the left via the fairness doctrine.
Point 7. We have an enemy that has attacked us multiple times on our own soil and has been attacking us, and our interests abroad for 3 decades. Our enemy has cells working within our own borders and has promised more and worse attacks in the futurre. Radical islam is not an enemy fabricated from nothing in an attempt to scare the population. When one has a stated and determined enemy, only the most irresponsible government imaginable would not make said enemy a national security issue.
Point 8. Which religion is it that the government supports and uses at the local level to influence and direct the people? Campaign and political speaking in churches is illegal and the only examples of such that I can recall have been democrats. Al gore gave lots of political speeches in church. Which church is it that the government recommends that you attend and how often do they tell you to go?
Point 9. Facism was all about controlling the means of production. Under fascist governments, only "party" men could own and manage business or industry. If they were not party men, they would lose thier business. Those "party" owners and managers were encouraged by the party to only hire and retain "party" workers. So tell me, when was the last time you lost your job or didn't get a job because of the political party you belonged to?
Point 10. Can you name for me a union or two that has been outlawed by government? Union membership has been dwindling for several decades and is presently at its lowest numbers ever, but that is due to poor leadership, involvement in other than labor politics, and general ineffectiveness rather than any direct or overt action by government.
Point 11. So now, professors and teachers can only get jobs if they are "party" men and women and teach the party line? Is the only work artists can find painting huge heroic murals of the fearless leaders?
Point 12. Which national police force are you under the impression is working here? Are you and your family in danger of being picked up if you speak out against the government?
Point 13. You aren't really going to inject cronyism into the conversation after the clintons are you? Two words. Billy Dale.
Point 14. You are aware, aren't you, that if you do any research you will find that democrats have been charged and convicted at a ratio of about 4 to 1 on election fraud related charges when compared to republicans. Stuffed ballot boxes, dead people voting, handing out cigarettes to homeless to get them to vote democrat, puncturing tires of busses slated to pick up retirees who lived in predominantly republican areas, etc., etc., etc.
Though you have put forth a well thought out and well written piece, the website stands up quite well. None the less, I'll try to refute your most glaring inaccuracies. Your first point seems to be that just because other tyrants have reveled in nationalism it's okay for the Bush administration to. Your second point is incorrect because the Patriot Act can and has been applied to U.S. citizens. Your fifth point totally ignores the Republican party's ingrained bigotry against a woman who has the gall to want an abortion. Your seventh point ignores the fact that the Republicans have not just "made" national security an issue, they've "used" national security as an issue. I believe fear-mongering is the term. Your eighth point ignores the fact that the Christian right almost "is" the Republican party in some parts of the country. Indeed, Bush would never have been elected without them. He is one himself and is indebted to such Christian leaders as Pat Robertson or James Dobson. Your ninth point ignores the fact that there can be no doubt that the Republican party is the party of big business. In particularly, big oil and logging as their anti-environmental policies have shown. Can there be any doubt that the Republican party's environment raping policies are but a pay off for campaign donations. Your twelfth point is more of that "If you've got nothing to hide" logic which has been a ploy of all fascist regimes. Other than that, some of your points are well taken but the website still stands up quite well. The similarities are both eerie and troubling.
Though you have put forth a well thought out and well written piece, the website stands up quite well. None the less, I'll try to refute your most glaring inaccuracies. Your first point seems to be that just because other tyrants have reveled in nationalism it's okay for the Bush administration to. Your second point is incorrect because the Patriot Act can and has been applied to U.S. citizens. Your fifth point totally ignores the Republican party's ingrained bigotry against a woman who has the gall to want an abortion. Your seventh point ignores the fact that the Republicans have not just "made" national security an issue, they've "used" national security as an issue. I believe fear-mongering is the term. Your eighth point ignores the fact that the Christian right almost "is" the Republican party in some parts of the country. Indeed, Bush would never have been elected without them. He is one himself and is indebted to such Christian leaders as Pat Robertson or James Dobson. Your ninth point ignores the fact that there can be no doubt that the Republican party is the party of big business. In particularly, big oil and logging as their anti-environmental policies have shown. Can there be any doubt that the Republican party's environment raping policies are but a pay off for campaign donations. Your twelfth point is more of that "If you've got nothing to hide" logic which has been a ploy of all fascist regimes. Other than that, some of your points are well taken but the website still stands up quite well. The similarities are both eerie and troubling.
When you take the Right way out past American standards the end of that scale can easily lead you to either Fascism, theocracy or some combination of the two.
Just stick the word "pseudo" in front of Fascism. It will make it harder for Palerider and others to argue.
Pseudo Fascism in America doesn't have to look exactly like Fascist states of the past. There doesn't have to be a Gulag or direct gov't control of industry, because like it was noted before, the similarities are there.
Actually it doesn't make it more difficult. Sticking pseudo in front of the word if you are trying to associate it with anything conservative only highlights the fact that you don't know anything about fascism either.
Any action that increases the size of government, or makes government more intrusive into one's life is a move to the left. The logical end of the philosophy of the left (including facism and nazism) are the great leftist tyrannies of the 20th century.
Anyone who would suggest that fascism is a product of right wing thinking clearly doesn't know much about either. In order to be considered conservative, a legislative act must reduce the size of government or restrict its possible intrusions into one's life. Conservativism is about small government. The logical end of the conservative philosophy is a small constitutionally accountable federal government that would look very much like the one that existed when this country started. The federal government would do little more than negotiate international treaties, deliver the mail, and see to the protection of the borders. Public welfare programs would be products of, and supported by the states in which they existed.
No rational argument can be made to suggest that a philosophy that is based on small, non intrusive, accountable government is behind any socialist regime whether it is the internationalist socialism of the soviet union and china, or the nationalist socialism of the fascists, or the nationalist racist socialism of the nazis. If the regime includes government intrusion into the lives of its citizens, or a welfare state, it simply is not conservative in nature.
Any action that increases the size of government, or makes government more intrusive into one's life is a move to the left. The logical end of the philosophy of the left (including facism and nazism) are the great leftist tyrannies of the 20th century
I never suggested Fascism was "right wing thinking" or associated it with traditional conservative philosophy.
Many would argue that the Bush administration HAS increased the size of gov't and made the gov't more intrusive into one's life. You will obviously justify this with the "enemy who wants to destroy us" rhetoric.
The premise of this thread is an attempt to link fascism to conservativism. Any suggestion that adding "pseudo" in front of fascism would make it more difficult to argue is a suggestion that fascism is "like" conservativism in some way.
I would argue that the bush adminsitration has increased the size of government as well and that he has increased the intrusion of government into people's lives. I would also argue that bush is not conservative and that the republicans lost the last election, not due to the war, but because of their discernable shift away from conservativism to the left. That shift, however, is hardly substantial enough to suggest kinship with fascism either as political theory or fascism in practice.
Any attempt to draw parallels would (as was the case with popeye's effort) only highlight ones lack of knowledge of what fascism was or how fascist governments operated. Folks like popeye only know fascism in reference to the holocost and the war. The german and italian governments were fascist long before the war started and both were socialist heaven. Wartime actions are hardly a valid indicator for any political philosophy other than how socialst regimes might react when faced with the pressures of war and the bugetary deficits associated with socialist governments. If that were the truth, any number of arguments could be made against democrats since it was a democrat administration that developed and dropped the only atomic bombs ever used against another nation.
By the way, are you arguing that we don't have a stated and determined enemy that has promised to attack us until we capitulate?
Your first point seems to be that just because other tyrants have reveled in nationalism it's okay for the Bush administration to.
Your second point is incorrect because the Patriot Act can and has been applied to U.S. citizens.
The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
Your fifth point totally ignores the Republican party's ingrained bigotry against a woman who has the gall to want an abortion.
Your eighth point ignores the fact that the Christian right almost "is" the Republican party in some parts of the country.
Your ninth point ignores the fact that there can be no doubt that the Republican party is the party of big business.
Point 14. You are aware, aren't you, that if you do any research you will find that democrats have been charged and convicted at a ratio of about 4 to 1 on election fraud related charges when compared to republicans. Stuffed ballot boxes, dead people voting, handing out cigarettes to homeless to get them to vote democrat, puncturing tires of busses slated to pick up retirees who lived in predominantly republican areas, etc., etc., etc.
Point 3. Isn't it interesting how the left in this country is constantly attempting to make scapegoats out of the right? For every concievable thing.