Found this on the web about the defining characteristics of fascism. My comments note the current republican party positions, and the positions of the Romney Ryan campaign:
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each: 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. Just look at the Romney Ryan rhetoric. 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. The republican platform does call for increases in arrests and criminal incarcerations. As well as arbitrary arrests for undocumented immigrants 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. It seems the scapegoats du jour are Muslims, Liberals and OWS. 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. What can I say with R-R proposals to massively increase military spending. 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. Sounds like the current Republican platform and the R-R proposals (the reaction to Sandra Fluke statements for instance, or the current hatred of Planned Parenthood). 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. Aside from corporate control and Faux Snooze, not quite yet. 7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. That could have been written by the current republican party. 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. Just look at what the Christian right is supporting. And the pandering the current republican nominees to the fundamentalist Christians. 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. Super Pacs, again the republican platform calls for massive tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. Then there's Mitt Romney. 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. Look at Wisconsin recently and the continuous attacks on unions by the republicans. 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. Given the attacks by the right wing on "Hollywood" NPR and PBS, as well as on evolution, and global warming... 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. Sounds like Romney's latest speech on crime. 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. They're not in office yet, but if the last republican regime is any indication (remember KBR and Haliburton no bit contracts anyone?) its a matter of time. 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 use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections. Um just look at the current attempts to suppress voter turnout by various republican state legislatures. >From Liberty Forum (comments mine) http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_constitution&Number=642 109&page=&vi On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 11:49 AM, GMoney <[email protected]> wrote: > > I thought the whole spectacle was awful. I'm politically engaged, for the > most part, but I HATE debates. Hate them. I tried to watch Obama/Romney, > but couldn't. I tried to watch Ryan/Biden, and made it about 3 minutes. > Just awful. > > On the flip side, another awesome, AWESOME night of post season baseball! > Go A's/Nats/Orioles! > > On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 10:46 AM, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> To be fair, Sam did not say he thought Ryan won, but that Biden lost. >> Splitting hairs? Maybe. But I think I can understand what he means >> (even though I am not sure I could say either won or lost) >> >> On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 11:43 AM, GMoney <[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> > Was his comment more or less valuable than a conservative commenting that >> > he thought the conservative candidate won the debate? >> > >> > On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 10:38 AM, Sam <[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> >> >> >> Thanks for your valued input. >> >> >> >> . >> >> >> >> On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 11:36 AM, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> > >> >> > Wow...imagine that. Sam thinks Biden lost the debate. Who would have >> >> guessed? >> >> > >> >> >> >> >> > >> > >> >> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:356032 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
