Islamic Fascism

A few days ago President Bush said "we are at war with Islamic fascists". Normally when the President says something stupid while not reading from a script (printed in large block letters and careful to not use words with more than three syllables) they just ignore it and continue to blame everything on Clinton and Al Gore's book "An inconvenient Truth". But this time it is different. They are continuing to repeat that statement. And people on the streets, and in bars, are doing the same.

But what the hell is "fascism" anyway, and can that term be applied to the Islamic extremists? And if the term can be applied to one group of religious extremists - then what about Christian extremists? Are they fascist as well? So I did a google search to find out!

Here is the Wikipedia definition of Fascism. The VAST majority of sites I could find agree with this definition.

Fascism is a radical totalitarian political philosophy that combines elements of corporatism, authoritarianism, extreme nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism and anti-liberalism.

So there we go! Now lets THINK ABOUT THIS for a moment. Yea, I know. A good patriotic American is not supposed to think - they are just supposed to watch Fox News and buy all the books Ann Coulter writes.

Extreme nationalism? Militarism? Corporatism? Anti-liberalism? Does this sound like Osama to you? Does it? Terrorist leaders spew their fair share (and then some) of pure crap - but I do not hear any nationalism or corporatism crap from them.

But what do I know? Probably nothing. I mean, I did not study political "science" in college. So lets see what a real life political scientist has to say! Dr. Laurence Britt studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile) - finding 14 things they all had in common. Here they are.

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. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

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 is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

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.

Now does ANY of the stuff above sound like something you may have been exposed to? Lets go through this point by point. If you are a Fox News viewer you better stop reading now. You will not like where this is about to go. Go watch NASCAR or something.

1. Powerful Nationalism.


2. Disdain for Human Rights.
Secret jails. Torture. Rejection of international law. Refusal to abide by The Geneva Convention. All these things happened with Bush in office - with his full approval.

3. Identification of scapegoats as a unifying cause.
Lets see where to start with this one! Who is more at fault for all the problems going on in America now - liberals or terrorists? People who voted for Kerry or people who worship Islam? Should we allow arabs to fly on commercial airplanes? And so on. Just watch Fox News for 10 minutes and something will be blamed on "clueless liberals".

4. Military Supremacy.
We can not find the money to buy updated textbooks for public schools - but if the USAF needs a billion dollar bomber they get 10 of them. I am not saying that military spending should be cut back to zero. Nobody is. But under Bush military spending has become this huge, massive thing - but we can not afford any form of a national health care plan.

5. Rampant sexism.
Constitutional ban on gay marriage. Who wanted this? While the majority of Americans had other things to worry about (like how to pay for their kids braces for example) what did congress do recently? Push for a Constitutional ban on same sex marriage (point 5) and a ban on flag burning (point 1)

6. Controlled Mass Media.
Remember when the New York Times released that the government was watching bank records? What did some law makers (and loyalists on Fox News) want to do? Arrest the journalists. Shut down the papers. But yet Robert Novak, who leaked the identity of a CIA agent is still a great man. Wow.

7. Obsession with national security.
What alert level are we at now? Yellow? Orange? Pink with purple polka dots? Toothpaste is now a dangerous thing to bring on an airplane? Should I still buy plastic film and duct tape to seal up my home? Tom Ridge, the former head of Homeland Security once suggested people do this. Oh yea, the Department of Homeland Security itself!

8. Religion and politics become one.
How to even begin here! Maybe we can talk about Congressman Walter Jones (R) NC who suggested that the law be changed to allow politics to be preached from the pulpit. And so on. I could make a whole post just on this point. And just to remind everyone - Jesus would be a politician if he were alive today right? NO!?!??! You are just saying this because there is nowhere in the Bible where it says "and then Jesus ran for Congress".

9. Corporate power is protected.
Remember the energy policy meeting Cheney held when he first took office? You know, the one where Enron and all the oil companies were invited to - but no pesky reporters? How much money are all these companies making now - except of course for Enron. And did ANYONE in the Bush administration want "Kenny Boy" Lay to face any charges? Hell no. How many Wal-Marts do we need in small towns?

10. Labor power suppressed.
The republican version of ALL campaign finance reform laws include the same thing. A ban on labor unions from giving money to anyone. I worked for TSA, and took heat because I DARED to join AFGE (government employees union). TSA screeners were told that if we joined a union, we would be fired on the spot. You see, back in these days ALL screeners were on probation because TSA was new. My rights under FEDERAL LABOR LAWS? HA! What rights? Besides, we all know that unions only protect lazy workers.

11. Disdain for intellectuals and the arts.
Maybe I could talk about how funding for the arts has taken a serious dive. Or how various artists from all over the world are being refused entry into the USA for "security reasons". Dangerous people like Cat Stevens.

12. Obsession with crime and punishment.
Once again, secret jails. The idea that police can hold people for as long as they want without releasing a charge by uttering the word "terror related". Wanted, dead or alive. And so forth.

13. Rampant cronyism.
Is ANYONE in the Bush cabinet NOT connected, DIRECTLY, to big oil? And how about that Jack Abramoff guy! Who was a past CEO of Halliburton, the company just chosen to rebuild Iraq in a no-bid deal? "Brownie" doing a heck of a job as the top dog of FEMA? Should we continue here?

14. Fixed elections.
I have nothing for this. There are no fixed elections. Voter records were never "purged" - excluding people who WERE eligible to vote from doing so.

So now - after all this, the question remains. Which "Islamic Fascists" was Bush talking about? And can the NASCAR voting block see what is going on right here in America before it is too late? I suspect no. When the work is finished, they will be on the good side of the fascists in power right here. People like me will be in jail or in Canada.