I hate to risk Godwin's Law, but we've reached the point where it no longer matters. The reason that Hitler and his thugs were as successful as they were in the twenties and thirties, both domestically and internationally, is precisely the same as you delineate here. Reasonable and decent people expected them to play by the rules and act in reasonable and decent ways. They did not. They lied, cheated, smeared their opponents, trashed the constitution, used fear on every level to control the debate. Virtually no one, either inside or outside the country, figured out that they were dealing with lawless thugs until it was too late. Krugman, as you point out, is one of the few people who has a pulpit in the MSM who has recognized their nature.
Posted by Delia at June 12, 2007 05:52 PMKrugman is silly.
Posted by at June 12, 2007 07:13 PMI would mostly agree with you, Paradox and with Delia. Unfortunately, I am not at all convinced that the seemingly clueless Democrats don't grasp the Republican revolutionary reality so much as embrace it quietly, waiting in the wings for their own day in the unitary executive sun, and for the profitable opportunities that present themselves to supporters of central power. Machiavelli would no doubt undertsand, as you say, the cunning cruelty of the system. Could it be that Repubs have simply gotten around to making manifest what was already latent?
Perhaps that is harsh, but I can't ignore the fact that, even now, with more than a half million dead Iraqis and a devastated country in the aftermath of an illegal invasion, Dems don't exactly condemn the war so much as the failure of the current war leaders to achieve "success" (whatever that means). I don't see any open repudiation of USA PATRIOT, either.
One can blame Republicans for their revolutionary transformation of American democracy (such as it is), but Dems surely drink from the same poisoned Plutocratic well. But of course we already knew that, without the greenbacks from that well, none of those politicians of either stripe would/could be where they are now.
Somebody can't count votes very well. This vote shouldn't have happened without knowledge that you had the votes to carry the motion. Foolish, Democrats look foolish.
Posted by peter at June 12, 2007 08:10 PMI don't think it's about shame. I think Gonzalez knows where the bodies are buried. Bush can't dump him, or Alberto's mouth will get him impeached and convicted.
Posted by Kevin Hayden at June 12, 2007 08:23 PMDemocrats in Congress should inform Bush that no more of Bush's nominations to the federal bench will be considered in the U.S. Senate until after Alberto Gonzales is gone.
It's time for Democrats to play hardball. This action would definitely get the attention of the criminals in the worst administration in American history.
Of course, the corrupt Bushites will cry foul, but I seem to remember Republicans holding "hostage" a large number of Bill Clinton's judicial nominations...and after seeing what the "culture of corruption" Republicans have been doing at the DOJ, now we know why. For over ten years, the Republicans have been trying to plant enough of their crony pals in key positions in the federal judiciary to literally subvert our U.S. Constitution and sabotage our democracy, turning our nation into a Republican one-party-rule police state.
So, time for Democrats in Congress to play very, very hardball, to defend our nation from this Republican cancer.
Posted by The Oracle at June 12, 2007 10:46 PMP-Dox,
Thanks for the insight. The MSM has said many of the same things but never in a manner that would keep anyone awake. I guess they got their ass kicked when they were reduced to begging BUSHCO to be imbedded with our troops in Iraq. They have been groveling ever since. They have no shame..!!
As an Independant voter, I'm still upset that any "REAL" Democrat would allow the name AL GORE to cross their lips for any job other than as a receptionist at the EPA. Uh,.....2000?
Bush and his thugs stole the election and VP (Sandman-ZZZZZZzzzz)Gore put America to sleep and then went home as the nation settled down into a comfortable, and willing rape of it's values at the hands of Bushco.
I used to be a Democrat but I was never one to take an ass-kicking at the hands of a schoolyard bully and not kill he and his entire family later, so to speak..(:~)) Nor am I comfortable associating with those who don't mind getting bitch-slapped on national TV by a bunch of thugs.
These folks (Democrats) act like masocists. Thank you sir, may I have another. They are beyond my scope of reasoning. I guess when you get comfortable stealing and living high on the hog...WTF..why step in front of a train.
Someone on the stage at the Tavis Smiley PBS debates later this month better act like they have "a pair" and start yelling and screaming like a mad..uh, person. America has gone to sleep and it's going to take a firebreather to wake us up and face the mess we're in. Any more of these modulated tones and "what he said" retorts and I'm going to scream.
Bush has proved over and over again that overconfidance, even while being dead wrong, beats the hell out of timidity and carefully chosen words. In effect, you don't bring a letter opener to a nuclear war.
Seems to me that the Democrats haven't figured out that they are running for KING OF THE WORLD. Who really wants it? None of these same ol, same ol cliche's and platitudes are going to get anything other than a quick channel change to Law & Order / Special Victims (Democrats, Americans, THE WORLD) Unit. Heil FRED..!!
Just to remind you of who our standard bearers are, just in case you're getting cocky about 08':
Oh wait, because Bushco has run out of colors for another election eve emergency alert, and Bin Ladden has a toothache and won't be able to send a vid, in it's place we present a September 07' Q&A with Gen. Betrayus: Q) Well, General, how things in Iraq? A) GREAT..we got them killing each other at an alarming rate. We should be able to rebuild the country by 08', with imported Mexican labor. I'm afraid there won't be any Iraqi's left, bu, this situation lends itself nicely to a pathway to citizenship.
Now, back to OUR candidates.....
* Sen. Clinton...A walking money-grubbing, back-stabbing trainwreck who happens to wear a skirt and will be a symbolic loser even with 79.5% of the female vote. Even I could beat her with just 2-words...BILL-CLINTON. Make that 1-word...MONARCHY..!!!
With all the recent tell-all books, America really wants to know only 1 thing: "EXACTLY WHO IS SHE HAVING SEX WITH?"
No sex life and nuclear weapons don't mix. Sorry baby, I'm scared of you. You act like your still trying to impress your sorority sisters who didn't vote for you to be chapter president. Your husband has been reduced to running around with BUSHCO. Oh well, opportunity knocks, again.
*Sen. Obama...Quick, spell his entire name?
He's not Malcolm. He's not Martin. He's not even Jessie...He's a very nice "NEW NEGRO" with a great family and vocabulary and hasn't said anything memorable to put the bullies in check. KING OF THE WORLD? Uh..He's not ALI either..!!
* EX-Sen.Edwards...stay home and care for your sick wife, you asshole. Healthcare starts at home. It's called P.R.I.O.R.I.T.I.E.S. Even Bush figured his priorities out. "Rape and Plunder"
*Gov. Richardson....Great resume, but..uh, when did "RICHARDSON" become a Hispanic name? Dude..Seriously? NOT Authentic, Too confusing. This is AMERICA, we don't read..!!
* Sen. Biden...Too many bad Senate votes. AND, Senator (PARTITION?) allowed the "imbeded" BUSHCO MSM lapdogs to turn a "clean" compliment into something racist. Sorry Joe, no bumblers allowed.
* Cong. Dennis......? Sacrifical ant.
I can't remember if we have any other "donation seekers" on the candidates list. If so, my apology for you boaring us to tears and candidate name Alzheimers.
I ask all Democrats to consider this: Who do you want to put on stage in a Presidential Debate against FRED (LAW & ORDER) Thompson? Look at the above list and cringe when you think about Uncle Fred using a few of Uncle Ronnie's down-home, just folks 1-liners to.......win 99.99% of the SOUTH....OK? Oh, just in case you were questioning my math, "all" African-American votes will be nullified...remember? Thank Al Gore for that too.
Whomever the Democratic candidate is better be willing to go to jail for punching the Republican candidate in the face...on national TV. See anyone who fits that description in the above list? Exactly..!!
One World,
Domino49
In our softly fascist American system [...]
Softly, only because the bodies continue to be hidden from popular view: returning caskets, mass graves abroad, those who will contract (suffer and die from) irreversible illness, and people illegitimately disappeared, imprisoned and tortured in fishing expeditions for evidence.
Fascism is only soft until the bodies knock the trumpet and drum cheerleading for endless blood and power off the newsreel.
Posted by Ellie at June 13, 2007 01:21 AM"In our softly fascist American system Bush and the Republicans do respond to pressure and events, but never, ever at the hands of their opponents--unless brute political power forces them to."
Paradox, I completely agree with you. America, under George Walker Bush, has fallen under the heel of 'Soft Fascism.' Eight more years could change that very quickly into a full fledged reign of hardcore Fascism. Couldn't happen? It already has begun. Bush has certainly laid the groundwork for the next president, if that is indeed the intention.
"Kissinger and Krugman have correctly identified modern Republicans as revolutionary powers, radicals who overthrow the government internally, and Machiavelli would have instantly recognized them as such too. Very few in the Democratic Party have."
Herein lies the question I often ask. Are the Democrats really weak and spineless, do they not recognize what Machiavelli would certainly have recognized, or have they joined the ranks of the Regime?
I would suggest reading the whole article at The Guardian, as each point is developed into a reality that is difficult to read, but must be recognized.
Because Americans like me were born in freedom, we have a hard time even considering that it is possible for us to become as unfree - domestically - as many other nations. Because we no longer learn much about our rights or our system of government - the task of being aware of the constitution has been outsourced from citizens' ownership to being the domain of professionals such as lawyers and professors - we scarcely recognise the checks and balances that the founders put in place, even as they are being systematically dismantled. Because we don't learn much about European history, the setting up of a department of "homeland" security - remember who else was keen on the word "homeland" - didn't raise the alarm bells it might have.
Beneath our very noses, George Bush and his administration are using time-tested tactics to close down an open society. It is time for us to be willing to think the unthinkable - as the author and political journalist Joe Conason, has put it, that it can happen here. And that we are further along than we realize.
Conason eloquently warned of the danger of American authoritarianism. I am arguing that we need also to look at the lessons of European and other kinds of fascism to understand the potential seriousness of the events we see unfolding in the US.
1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2. Create a gulag
Create a prison system outside the rule of law (as Bush put it, he wanted the American detention centre at Guantánamo Bay to be situated in legal "outer space") - where torture takes place.
3. Develop a thug caste
Think mercenaries and outsourcing private security guards or contractors and Katrina.
4. Set up an internal surveillance system
5. Harass citizens' groups
Read the American Civil Liberties Union report on this.
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
America's Transportation Security Administration confirmed that it had a list of passengers who were targeted for security searches or worse if they tried to fly.
7. Target key individuals
The administration purged eight US attorneys for what looks like insufficient political loyalty. When Goebbels purged the civil service in April 1933, attorneys were "coordinated" too, a step that eased the way of the increasingly brutal laws to follow.
8. Control the press
9. Dissent equals treason
10. Suspend the rule of law
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2064157,00.html