"Fascism,
the more it considers and observes the future and the development
of humanity, quite apart from political considerations
of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor
the utility of perpetual peace." Benito Mussolini
HEGEMONY,
SCHMEGEMONY — THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
This
Sunday, the united legions of the Bush grassroots descended
on Washington to stand behind the President and show him
that America supports the war in Iraq. All 400 of them.
Previously, more than 100,000 antiwar protesters had
demonstrated against the idiot-sparked carnage in Iraq. This
was one of the largest demonstrations ever seen in America.
At one point, according to Reuters, the crowd exceeded 300,000.But
lack of bodies didn't subdue the rhetoricat
the meagerly attended answer-back rally: "I would like
to say to Cindy Sheehan and her supporters: don't be a group
of unthinking lemmings. It's not pretty." said Mitzy Kenny.
Kenny's own husband died in Iraq last year. But, valiantly,
she sees the crass waste of her own husband's life as no cause
for protest. God forbid that anybody would use the loss of
a loved one for political reasons like Sheehan unless, of course,
the politics favors Bush.
Morons like Kenny and Jeff
Sessions – the fuckwitted elfin senator for Alabama who also spoke
at the pro war rallyette – are clearly strangers to irony. "The
group who spoke here the other day did not represent the American ideals of
freedom, liberty and spreading that around the world. I frankly don't know
what they represent." Thus spake Sessions. Perhaps, you fucking moron,
300,000 people on the street represents the voice of the people and, if you
don't know what they represent, you should quit the whole 'representative'
game. Thus spake Fried Wire.
But what did F(oxymoron) News have to say? It would be totally redundant to
criticize Fox for right wing bias – kinda like criticizing Republicans
for being pig-greedy, Bush-aggrandizing retards – but how, even in the
name of sham 'fairness', could foxnews.com's story about the 'small counter
rally' (their phrase) merit 502 words while the antiwar protest only got 321?
If fairness and balance were to be gauged by column inches and word counts,
the Bush bots' miniature Nuremburg would have deserved only 1.3 words coverage
for the antiwar rally's 321. Better yet, we could easily shave off that extra
third of a word quite simply by typing the word 'fascism'.
I have seen fascism referred to by Bush bots on various forums and bigot-blogs.
Sometimes they employ the little-used 'facsism' spelling. But they seem to
have little clue what fascism actually is. For these dumb fucks, 'facsism'
is when government audaciously tries to tax rich people, 'facsism' is when
government is seen to slight their bogus creed, and 'facsism' is when some
uppity Dem pushes through a bill to make it harder for lunatics to buy automatic
firearms at Wal-Mart. In short, the morons who bray about Bush's greatness
and damn us all to hell for not worshipping the same God-shaped psychosis as
they, think everything is 'facsism'. Unless, of course, it really is fascism.
I was once berated by an immigrant Bush bot who insisted that we do not live
in a nascent fascist dictatorship, as was my thesis, but that all was good
in the hood. She
told me, self-righteously, that "I don't appreciate our President
referred to as a dictator...Having family that escaped from a country that
was actually run by a dictator, I think I can tell the difference." That
may be well and good, but what would she tell the computer dude I know who
escaped from Czechoslovakia shortly before the fall of the Berlin wall? He
spent months traveling by train, working cargo ships for passage and hitching
lifts to get to California. Now he's started to notice the 'American Dream'
he was chasing is beginning to resemble the police state he left behind. Yes,
America under Bush is really that good.
For the benefit of those who wouldn't recognize fascism if it won two elections
in a row, I have a handy checklist. Do any of these
defining characteristics of a fascist regime ring any bells? (top)
LAST
WEEKEND KARL ROVE SAID I WAS A CLOWN
"Last
weekend, Karl Rove said that I was a clown and the antiwar
movement was "non-existent." I wonder if the
hundreds of thousands of people who showed up today to
protest this war and George's failed policies know that
they don't exist. It is also so incredible to me that Karl
thinks that he can wish us away by saying we aren't real.
Well, Karl and Co., we are real, we do exist and we are
not going away until this illegal and immoral occupation
of Iraq is over and you are sent back to the depths of
whatever slimy, dark, and loathsome place you came from."
The
Fairy Godfather may wave his magic wand and sprinkle the
Bush bots with truth denying bullshit dust, but truth has
an inconvenient knack of hanging around. Perhaps Karl should
take a break from fundraising for the GOP (in his capacity
as disaster relief supremo); divulging state secrets to random
journos (in his capacity as Deputy Chief of Staff); and lying
on a non-stop basis and take a squint at this
MSNBC slideshow. They called him 'Bush's Brain', and
'Boy Genius'. But when, I ask, was lying synomymous with
genius? This turd sucks more than Fred
Barnes at a dockyard glory hole. Truly, if Rove defines
genius, humankind is doomed.
ARE
YOU LIVING IN A FASCIST STATE? TRY THIS SIMPLE TEST
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.
No
Yes
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.
No
Yes
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.
No
Yes
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.
No
Yes
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.
No
Yes
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.
No
Yes
7.
Obsession
with National Security: Fear is used as
a motivational tool
by the government over the masses.
No
Yes
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 act ions.
No
Yes
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.
No
Yes
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.
No
Yes
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.
No
Yes
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
nat ions.
No
Yes
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.
No
Yes
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.
In
a country where the GW death toll just keeps climbing,
it comes as light relief to learn that brother Jeb has
a Nietzschian invisible friend called 'Chang'. How sweet – he's
just a harmless nutter. But then you wonder that the
happy Spam Face beaming with joy over the lid of his
swanky G3 Power Book may well be running for president
in 2008... Oh shit. Who told the RNC that even the non-crazy
Bushes are fit for the job?
Giles
Foden at The Guardian writes:
Here
is Governor Jeb Bush in a speech last week, naming Marco
Rubio as Florida Speaker. "Chang is a mystical warrior.
Chang is somebody who believes in conservative principles,
believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral
values that underpin a free society. I rely on Chang with
great regularity in my public life. He has been by my side
and sometimes I let him down. But Chang, this mystical
warrior, has never let me down." Jeb then unsheathed
a golden sword, which he gave to Rubio.
Of
course, Chang is relatively harmless. It's a pity that the
same cannot be said for Jeb's real-life friends. Take, for
example, Orlando
Bosch. You may not have heard of the hardest working
man in terrorism, but Jeb has. According to Joe Conason in
'Big Lies', "Jeb Bush and Bush family friends in the
Cuban exile community obtained what amounted to a presidential
pardon for Bosch." Of course, Jeb/Chang didn't just
help Bosch out of the goodness of his heart. It was 1998
and he had an election to win in a state teeming with anti-Castro
Cubanos who had traditionally voted Democrat.
So what better way to sway the vote than to suck up to the world's biggest
Castro hater? Why should the fact that he'd been responsible for dozens of
terrorist attacks on targets in the US, resulting in the deaths of US citizens
and others, stand in the way of Jeb/Chang's 'will-to-power'? Here are some
of Bosch's career highlights:
January
1968
Suitcase
bombing in Havana, Cuba; Bombs detonated at various commercial
locations in the US.
February
1968
Mexican
consulate in Miami bombed; Bomb planted at home of British
consul in Miami.
March
1968
Cuban
restaurant bombed in the US; Bomb placed in Chilean Consulate
in the US.
April
1968
Bomb
placed in US pharmaceutical company; Bomb #2 for the
Mexican consulate; Bomb placed at the Spanish tourism
office in the US.
May
1968
British
ship, The Greenwood, bombed at harbor in the US; Japanese
ship, The Aroka Maru, bombed at harbor in the US.
June
1968
Bomb
#2 for the Spanish tourism office in the US; Mexican
consulate bombed in the US (twice).
July
1968
Bomb
placed in Cuban Consulate in Canada; Bombs at the Canadian,
French and Japanese tourism offices in the US; Cuban
UN mission bombed in New York; Bomb placed aboard the
Japanese ship Michagesan Maru in Mexico; Bomb placed
in Mexican Tourism Office in the US (three times); Bomb
discovered in a French government office in the US; Bombs
placed at the British and Mexican US consulates; Bomb
planted at London Shell Oil office; Bomb placed at home
of Cuban diplomat in the US.
August
1968
Bomb
placed in British bank in the US; Bomb placed in offices
of the Communist Party in the US; Bomb placed aboard
the Bahamas ship Caribbean Venture in the US; Mexican
representatives in the United States bombed.
September
1968
Bomb
placed aboard British ship in Mexico; Bomb explodes aboard
the Spanish ship Satrustegui in Puerto Rico; Bazooka
attack on Polish ship in Miami; Bomb placed aboard Mexican
airplane in United States; Bomb #2 for the Mexican consul
in the US.
October
1968
Bomb
placed in Canadian travel agency; Gas bomb planted in
US theater; Attempted assassination of the Cuban ambassador
to the UN.
July
1969
Bomb
placed in Mexican Tourism Office in the United States.
October
1968
Bombs
placed in British-owned Shell Oil and Air France offices
in the US.
1972
Travels
to Chile, puts himself at the disposal of Pinochet’s
fascist junta, participates in a series of attacks on
prominent Chileans in exile.
1974
Creates
terrorist organization 'Cuban Action' with the support
of the Chilean junta and Nicaraguan dictator Somoza’s
secret police; Bombs placed in Cuban diplomatic offices
and embassies in Canada, Argentina, Peru and Mexico;
Bombs placed in Venezuelan-Cuban Friendship Institute
and Panamanian embassy in Venezuela; Bomb placed in US
hotel where Cuban diplomats were staying; General Carlos
Prats, former officer of the Chilean Armed Forces, and
his wife assassinated.
1975
Attempted
assassination of Bernardo Leighton, vice president of
the Chilean Democratic Party in exile; Shots fired on
the residence of a Cuban official in the US; Assassination
attempt on Cuban Ambassador Emilio Aragonés; Bomb
placed in Venezuelan tourism company; Bomb placed in
Soviet commercial office in Mexico.
1976
Attempted
assassination of exiled Chilean leader Andrés
Pascal Allende; Bombs placed at Cuban UN diplomatic mission,
Cuban-Costa Rican cultural center, Cuban mission in Spain,
Cubana de Aviación warehouse in Kingston, Jamaica,
Cubana de Aviación offices in Barbados and Panama,
Air Panama offices, Guyanese embassy in Trinidad and
Tobago; kidnap attempt on Cuban consul in Mexico, resulting
in the death of Cuban fishing technician D’Artagnan
Díaz Díaz, kidnapping of two Cuban diplomats
in Argentina; Orlando Letelier, former Chilean ambassador
to the United States, and his American secretary Ronnie
Moffitt assassinated in New York; Mid-flight explosion
of a Cubana de Aviación passenger plane, causing
the deaths of all 73 persons on board.
1977
Bomb
placed in Venezuelan Consulate in Puerto Rico (twice);
Bomb placed aboard a Venezuelan airplane in Miami; Bomb
placed in Viasa airline office in the US.
1978
Bomb
placed in Mexican Consulate in the US; Mexican ship Azteca
bombed resulting in two deaths and seven injuries; Bombs
placed in Cuban mission at the UN, Madison Square Garden,
offices of Girasol tourism company, Antillana and Varadero
Travel tourism companies in Puerto Rico, offices of La
Prensa newspaper in the US, Cuban mission at the UN,
Lincoln Center, New York; Various bomb threats against
TWA flights in the US.
1979
Bombs
placed in TWA offices at New York’s JFK Airport,
office of Weehawken company of New Jersey; Murders of
Carlos Muñoz Varela, member of the Antonio Maceo
Brigade and director of Varadero Travel in Puerto Rico,
and Eulalio J. Negrín.
1980
Murder
of Félix García Rodríguez, Cuban
diplomat to the United Nations
1983
While
being held in Venezuela for the airline bombing, the
Miami City Commission declared an "Orlando Bosch
Day" in his honor.
1987
Otto
Reich, Head of Reagan's Office of Public Diplomacy and
now Bush's U.S. Special Envoy to the Western Hemisphere,
springs Bosch from prison. Bosch is granted political
asylum in the US.
1990
Efforts
are made to deport Bosch. Joe D. Whitley, Acting Associate
Attorney General, states: "For 30 years Bosch has
been resolute and unwavering in his advocacy of terrorist
violence. He has threatened and undertaken violent terrorist
acts against numerous targets, including nations friendly
toward the United States and their highest officials.
He has repeatedly expressed and demonstrated a willingness
to cause indiscriminate injury and death. His actions
have been those of a terrorist, unfettered by laws or
human decency, threatening and inflicting violence without
regard to the identity of his victims. The United States
cannot tolerate the inherent inhumanity of terrorism
as a way of settling disputes. Appeasement of those who
would use force will only breed more terrorists. We must
look on terrorism as a universal evil, even if it is
directed toward those with whom we have no political
sympathy."
Against the recommendations of the district director of the INS and the
Department of Justice, and after a federal court upheld calls for his deportation,
Bosch was freed after the intervention of Daddy Bush in response to pressure
from Jeb and members of the Cuban American exile community.
1998
Jeb
Bush becomes governor of Florida.
September
11, 2001
George
Bush launches his 'war on terror' and no-one sees the
irony.