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let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
Author: TriSec    Date: 06/02/2020 11:25:29

This...is America. 80 years ago now, Edward R. Murrow used to open his broadcasts from wartime London with similar words. I can easily imagine a BBC reporter returning the favor as London, and the rest of the world look on in increasing dismay.


I want us all to go a little bit back in time - to the quaint, early days of the administration of George W. Bush. Horrified, we all were. Bush and his cronies seemed hell-bent on leading the United States down the road to fascism. Remember the 14 points of fascism that made the round in those days? It's worth reading them all again.


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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes the 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.


Call me crazy, but I think we've marched a little closer to the ol' Reichstag in the ensuing years.

Over the weekend, an un-declared war broke out in the United States. Cities around the country have seen demonstrations, clashes, mayhem. Boston burned on Sunday night. I'm awakening this morning to find that Providence had their turn last night. In the wake of these actions, the Hitlerite vermin that passes for leadership has called for the United States army to be deployed. This is just about a declaration of a new Civil War.

Part of our founding was citizens rioting for their rights. The powers in those days ignored them too, and chose instead to deploy the army. You should probably know that this eventually did not turn out too well for the "loyalists", and a full-fledged war was the result

Today - it seems impossible that we should be fighting this battle again. Only today, we're fighting against ourselves. While we cling dearly to the Constitution of the United States, that's not actually our most important document. After the revolutionary war, the US operated under something called the "Articles of Confederation", or "America 1.0" if you will. After a decade or so, the shortcomings became apparent, and a Constitution Convention was convened to fix those problems. 1787 was the year that "America 2.0" was sent to the states for ratification.

But of course the most important document is neither of those - it is the Declaration of Independence. The Articles and The Constitution are the operating manuals for the country. The Declaration...well, that's our masthead. It's WHY we did it. I'll quote the one paragraph that truly matters.


We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,


That was all fine and good - but like today, those actions all took place on the world stage. Thomas Jefferson went on to list all the offences of the old government, and while I won't list all of the "facts submitted to a candid world", cherry-picking a few is enlightening.


He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. [militarized police - ed.]

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.


Some states are pushing back. Once again, it is perhaps Massachusetts taking those first steps, as our governor noted yesterday after the histrionic phone call with King George III:


“I know I should be surprised when I hear incendiary words like this from him — but I’m not,” Baker said during his opening remarks Monday afternoon.

“At so many times during these past several weeks when the country needed compassion and leadership the most, it was simply nowhere to be found,” he continued. “Instead, we got bitterness, combativeness, and self interest. That’s not what we need in Boston. That’s not what we need right now in Massachusetts. And it’s definitely not what we need across this great country of ours either.”


We are on the verge of something big. The country is tearing itself apart, and the leadership is ready to send in the army to quell the protesters and restore their perceived order.

The question now is - are you still a Patriot, or are you what I am going to brand a "New Loyalist"?

 
 

26 comments (Latest Comment: 06/02/2020 19:46:04 by Will in Chicago)
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