- To hear the pundits of the far right say it, one gets
the distinct impression that anyone left-of-center is not only immoral,
unpatriotic and un-American, but worse, guilty by association with terrorist
groups and sympathizers of known terrorists. Whether its the oft painted
picture of protesters being something just short of communist insurrectionists,
or the perpetual drone of rightist views as if everyone on the left secretly
knows they are wrong and are deliberately working for "evil,"
the ultra-conservative right has never more villainized and demonized free-thinkers
outside the status quo than right now.
-
- Media is working overtime to cram pack everyone under
increasingly defamatory labels which will either sanctify them or pronounce
them anathema against the almighty Bush/Rightist/NeoCon regime and its
unfolding "plan", sold to the people as the last bastion of truth,
justice and the American way; a glory somehow lost during the Clinton administration
and now miraculously revived by mighty St. Bush. Anything that falls outside
of it is, frankly, regarded as diabolically evil. Anyone who questions
it MUST be working for anti-American, godless commie forces and Lord forbid
you actually protest what they propose or enact.
-
- The general view of many on the right is certain that
those of the left, though not personally involving themselves in seditious
or criminal activity, quietly, secretly look the other way and approve
of it when other groups do. It's this kind of unprecedented paranoia that
is fueling the polarization in this country. It's just as rank as when
one hears someone suggest that those who are not personally involved in
radical pro-life movements probably secretly enjoy the bombing of abortion
clinics and if someone gets hurt, oh well, it's just "collateral damage"
in the war for the unborn. We've all heard such things suggested, commented,
noted. But do we realize this subtle brainwashing?
-
- Suspect Thy Neighbor! It's the American Way.
-
- The goal of the greater Conspiracy is to bring about
nothing short of a psychic and intellectual civil war here. They want us
so busy attacking one another and at each other's throats, suspicious of
one another's "true" motives, that the great evils they commit
throughout the world go almost unnoticed.
-
- And every faction is working overtime to label and assail
another group. The Jews are to blame for everything, according to one faction.
The Christian-right, from another. The Republicans, or the Democrats, leftists,
rightists, papists, escapists, drug culture, counter-culture, etc, etc.
It's always someone and only that someone, some group or mindset or race
or people who are the core problem and if only there was a way to rid ourselves
of them everything would be peachy.
-
- Bullshit. Plenty of cogs in the machine being blamed
and no one looking at the machine itself.
-
- The new breed of ultra-right conservatives act as if
questioning the government is a great offense against America itself, an
act so unpatriotic even Jesus (who is a devout Republican and Bush supporter,
doncha know!) is wounded. I always thought it would take someone completely
off the psychological map of human reason like a Pat Robertson as President
before we'd see this kind of insanity take serious root, but the endless
straw man tactics and polarization techniques so widely used by the soul-sold
rightists evidence that it takes far less than a lunatic like Robertson
to sway the masses. What began with the Reagan revolution ( the very author
of contemporary 'symbolism over substance', ironically, to quote Limbaugh,
the great Reagan booster) has resulted in just that under the direction
of a somewhat dim, plodding oil-man from Texas who can't get enough of
red, white and blue splattered glory, to the extent that a shockingly self-righteous
nationalism has developed which truly looks like the birth pangs of a Nazi-like
Reich. Many people automatically tune out when they hear such a comparison,
but that is because media and educators have spent the last 50 years building
Hitler and the Nazi regime into an inimitable demonic monster never to
be repeated again, when in reality there are dozens of Hitler's all over
the planet, from Mugabe to the recently deposed Saddam Hussein. The comparison
of power and influence, not exact acts, is what is being overlooked and
brushed aside, and these comparisons are quite legitimate.
-
- Bush strikes me as the kind of automatized devotee who
would let friends or loved ones suffer or die if the present peril meant
sparing a flag or Bible from a fire (ie, see Gene Wilder as the misguided
Rabbi in "The Cisco Kid"). Instead of understanding and actualizing
what America means and is supposed to be/become, it suffices for the NeoCons
and their rightist drones to be symbolically and externally patriotized,
painted superficially with red, white and blue, and never mind the true
need for justice much less Constitutional fidelity. While the Patriot Act
threatens to carve away at our liberties in the name of 'homeland defense',
people are being decoyed and distracted to pay attention to petty political
squabbles of the right and left. And more horrifying are those who are
fully aware of what is happening, and boldly declare that they don't mind
giving up certain Constitutional and civil liberties in order to safeguard
our nationalistic interests (defined usually with terms like "our
freedom," which stands as a complete oxymoron). It's like saying one
is willing to lose all ones teeth to cavities, a little here and a little
there, in order to preserve the heritage of chewing.
-
- Polarizing the people into slotted political demarcations
of "left" or "right" and adding the spin that the left
represents everything un-American and evil, while the right represents
divine virtues and traditional American values, becomes meaningless (and
irritating) when it is the present administration -- which happens to be
of the extreme right -- stroke by stroke lays an axe to the root of our
Constitution, and with a shocking, sickening approval rating by the people.
Though the left is generally equally guilty of despising our founding principles
and seeking to remold society according to what it would claim to be intrinsically
'humanistic' values (ie, the mania of gun control, for one example, or
the ridiculous 'PC virtues' imposition, in grand Orwellian style, sweeping
textbooks clean of any references to traditional definitions and terms
for fear of offending any one of a hundred thousand newly acknowledged
"victim" groups), it remains that it is the right wing extreme
which presently holds power, in congress, in the executive branch and even
on the Supreme Court. And it remains that it is this faction of power which
is manipulating the minds of Americans, using terrorism and openly fascist
activities, to generate a type of nationalism which could very easily tumble
over into something atrociously evil, while laying claim to true virtue
and uprightness. It is not the mere label of right or left which brings
about the polarization, but the actual pulpit of power, on either side,
which charges the political and social atmosphere with an "us vs them"
dichotomy.
-
- The present power in the political pulpit is seeking
to make opposition to its views and decisions an illegal and traitorous
act of sedition! When protesters are classified as terrorists or terrorist
sympathizers, when fear of federal retribution or criminal proceedings
unprotected by Constitutional rights and safeguards force books to cease
printing, websites to shutdown, voices to be silenced... we have a fascist
state. The intimidation alone of a government no longer bridled by Constitutional
standards protecting the peoples rights is all it takes to lay the foundation
stone of fascism. And this has already taken place. When a man can be imprisoned
for making a biblical reference to the 'burning BUSH' in public as though
he were a menace to society, when a person can find himself dragged from
a library computer terminal by federal agents for having typed 'Bush is
out of control' in a private chat channel, when a man can be shoved behind
bars for the mere suspicion of a crime classified/labeled as "terrorist"
and have no address of grievance, no access to due process and no Constitutional
protection/rights whatsoever... fascism is firmly here. It's not coming.
It's not around the corner. It's already a tree in full bloom with fruit
to bear. And self-satisfied, self-righteous nationalists are feeding on
that fruit, feeling comfortable and protected from an utterly invented
evil.
(At the 2003 BookExpo in Los Angeles today aired by CSPAN, Fox's Bill O'Reilly
(The Factor) appeared on a panel with writers Molly Ivins and Al Franken,
moderated by former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder. O'Reilly continually refered
to Ms. Ivins on his right as "a liberal" and "you liberals"
until she finally put a freeze on his polarization tactic saying, "Mr.
O'Reilly, I'm not a liberal, I'm a person, I have a name. My name is Molly
Ivins!" The audience cheered. O'Reilly rolled his eyes in the typically
sanctimonious manner he always does when pelted with truth and then made
Al Franken the target of any further assaults for the rest of the short
panel discussion. Ivins de-polarization tactic worked! Bill was utterly
disarmed. The illusion he was attempting to create was shattered, powerless.
O'Reilly was quite disturbed to see his photo depicted on a tv monitor
in the background behind Franken on the new dust jacket of Al's latest
book, "Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them.")
-
- note: the above article has been amended as a quotation
from MSNBC's Scarborough Country was inaccurate and was removed.
-
-
- Comment
-
- From Sheryl Jackson
- moonfyre1@earthlink.net
- 6-2-3
-
- Dear James, that was just about the most powerful condemnation
of tyranny and fascism that I have ever read. And in the past 40 years,
I have read alot that has been written on the subject.
-
- Bravo, bravo, bravo.
-
- I have nothing to add but Write on, dude, write on.
-
- Sheryl Jackson
-
Comment
- From: Zodiacwks@aol.com
6-2-03
-
-
-
- I was wondering if it was
just me, or if the intensity of the right's attack on "liberals"
and other "evil doers" really had been ramped up to a troubling
new level. It's been a while, I'll admit, but I used to laugh
along with Rush at the antics of the Clintonistas, what's left of the Kennedys,
and the radical PC crowd.
-
- Lately, however, every
time that I have turned on a radio show featuring a "conservative"
commentator, I've noticed that the old-style method of poking gentle fun
at the foibles of misguided liberals and their fellow travelers at NPR
has been replaced by a vicious, no holds barred attack on anyone who dares
to differ with the revealed gospel of George W. Bush & Co. Maybe
it's me, but lately there seems to be such a concerted level of vitriol
coming from this direction that I can't bear to listen to it. Liberals
(and their odd penchant for creating bizarre government programs for every
known and imagined human problem) aren't funny anymore, apparently, but
-- as you say -- have become the very embodiment of sedition, sabotage,
and evil. [Caring about any legitimate concerns of human beings,
it appears, is now decidedly unpatriotic...]
-
- Further, this demonization
of the left has become an incessant drone, from which there seems no respite
or escape however many times you change the channel or talk show host. Only
Michael Savage, out of the entire dreary, partisan lot, seems to have retained
some vestige of humanity and perspective.
-
- I, for one, thought that
Bill Clinton's attempts (with the expert help of Dick Morris, et al.) to
get reelected through the deliberate creation and cultivation of deliberately
polarizing "wedge issues" were -- from a long term perspective
-- exceedingly ill conceived, if not reckless. To deliberately
attempt to drive as many Americans as possible into mutually antagonistic,
deeply distrustful factions merely for temporary political advantage is
to play with social dynamite.
-
- The current level of demonization
coming from the right, however, appears to be even more polarizing (and
increasingly more vicious) than anything that the Clintonistas might have
wished for -- or would have dared to use. The real message from
both sides, I'd venture to say, is "the long term welfare of the United
States of America be damned. We will happily DESTROY America
if that is what it takes for us to gain political power." If
there is indeed "treason" in the land, it involves this (apparently)
well-orchestrated campaign to force ordinary Americans into unrealistic,
unrepresentative ideological pigeonholes from which they can be blasted
at will by the committed totalitarians amongst us.
-
- Divide -- and conquer. That's
about it.
-
- Milt
Hi Milt,
-
- It has indeed ramped up, and with the backdrop of
incredible military might and clearly a willingness to use and abuse it,
which makes it all the more frightening. As a moderate-to-conservative
thinker, I used to feel the occasional sting of leftist jabs and high-minded
snorts against things traditional or conservative as being ignorant and
took it with a grain of salt. But that's about all there was to it, there
was still room for debate and plenty of room for a meeting of minds, even
if to agree to disagree. This is no more. The established right is attempting
to banish anything and anyone even moderately left of center, without any
consideration whatsoever, and a quick demonization of those involved as
unamerican swine. They have fully embraced fascism as the natural outgrowth
of the de-Clintonization of DC and seem to want to carry that in every
other direction. I thought Al Franken made an interesting point the other
day at the 2003 BookExpo. He said it is well understood that every president
inherits the economy and military of his predecessor. In this case, Bush
has Bill Clinton to thank for the supposedly "run down" and "ill
prepared" armed forces that performed such stunning feats in Iraq!
Anyone who knows me knows a word of praise has never left my lips for Bill
Clinton, having suffered him as both governor for twelve long years AND
President... but facts are facts. Whatever damage Clinton did to the military,
as touted by the Bush regime, sure doesn't show. I think we're all just
sick and tied of being conned. Tired of the liars, tired of the lies. --
Neff
-
-
- Comment
- From: Joseph Fasciani
- 6-2-03
- Defining "conservative" as per your essay "Polarization"
-
- Dear James Neff:
-
- While I've been aware of your name for some
time, it as the artist who created those great lead-in graphics at rense.com.
I also read another essay of yours a few months ago, but can't recall if
I wrote then.
-
- A true conservative is defined by the
extent to which s/he partakes of the tradition of such thinking and writing.
I find very little of this taking place, but instead an extraordinary
amount of reactionary writing, speaking (when not shouting!), and political
manipulations.
-
- The single best modern introduction to conservatism
(IMO) is the brilliantly incisive, lucid, and profound Ideas Have Consequences, by
Dr Richard Weaver, Professor of Rhetoric, Univ. of Chicago, 1948, which
has never gone out of print since, in spite of his tragically early death.
-
- But much the same can be said for the use
of the word "liberal," as it is equally poorly defined or understood.
In short, the populace mostly sees two ignorants vying with one another
in viciousness, errancy, and vituperation. Hardly a useful basis
for polity, national or local, is it?
-
- Henry Mencken, a well-known conservative
of eighty years ago, said that "No one ever lost money underestimating
the stupidity of the American boobocracy," but I think what he meant
was the profound depth of general ignorance among the citizenry.
And I feel the situation has worsened since his day, for our contemporaries
confuse data with learning, and a treadmill life for meaningful activity.
-
- I'm 60, the first born son of Italian immigrants.
My father, a pacifist anarchist, fled only two hours ahead of the local
band of Black Shirts, who were going house to house in his village, pulling
out any males known to be left of center, and shooting them for thought
crimes. We're nearly there now in the USSA, for that's what it's
become.
-
- The generation before me often spoke of
what their life was in the early days of Fascism; we're there
now, Italian style. I suppose the German style will set in after
the Resident's next seizure of the White House.
-
- As for myself, I rarely try to elucidate
the subtleties of the philosophy of conservatism to the confused about
me, as I only have so much time, and I'd rather address your intelligence
than their stubborn refusal to learn. If I'm to do that, I'll do
it when I teach or write on the subject. I've come to appreciate
Goethe's isolating himself from his adoring public, to have time for research
and writing.
-
- With every best wish, Joseph E Fasciani,
a conservative christian anarchist (That government is best which governs
least.)
-
- jefasciani@earthlink.net
Joseph
I find it necessary to make use of terms like "conservative"
and "liberal" by their most media-ravaged, dumbed-down versions
simply in order to communicate, these days. That is not to say I think
the Rense.com visitor is ignorant, but if we defined liberals and conservatives
by Mencken, we might so scramble the issue as it is understood by most
to the point of complete hopelessness. - Neff
Comment
Carol McNatt
6-5-02
Dear Mr. Neff,
-
- Surely you know that the selling of America began along
time ago??? It is not just Bush, but the most and worst of its kind
was monopolized by the Clinton Administration. What is your big beef
with Bush when he is no different than the last 9 years. In fact
he is at least doing what he knows needs to be done. But again, I
reiterate, it will soon be proven just how big of a crook, liar, and thief
the Clinton Administration was and still is.
-
- Stop your pounding about Bush being like Hitler.
The AGENDA is like Hitler, and it has been manifesting for some time!!!
-
- Sincerely,
-
- Carol Mc Natt
Carol
Though you are correct in saying the selling of America has been on going
for a long time, you clearly are not looking at the facts when it comes
to comparing Clinton's administration with that of G.W. Bush! Yes, Clinton
was a liar, a phony, a slime, a complete immoral sleazebag and yes his
administration was corrupt and just as much involved in turning our nation
over to the NWO as the Bush administration. But there's one big difference.
Clinton did NOT unravel our Constitutional rights with a pen stroke, and
G.W. Bush DID! There was no bogus "homeland security" excuse
for evaporating Constitutional liberties and protections like there is
now. This site has taken great pains to document the travesty of the Clinton
administration, and I doubt there is another site that has the level of
material we do about it. But we're also doing the same regarding Bush,
who clearly is using 911 and terrorism to his advantage to ease us into
a police state. The Clinton administration "is no more" Carol...
so your statement that it was corrupt and "still is" doesn't
make much sense.
-
- As a moderate-to-conservative person, I would much
rather be under Clinton/Reno with all the lies and shady dealings and corruption
and personal moral failings than under Bush/Ashcroft which is trampling
our Constitution into the dirt deliberately, methodically and with an obvious
desire to radically eliminate our liberties for control. Liberal Mr. Clinton
didn't try to dissolve my Constitutional rights, Carol. It took, to my
surprise, a right wing conservative to do that! Suffice it to say, I am
horribly disappointed. I was happy to see Clinton go, but I was not very
hopeful about who was replacing him. Even Bush's election itself is questionable.
Evil is evil, bad is bad, corruption is corruption, but by golly when they
try to burn the Constitution, Carol, you're looking at a kind of fascism
that usually takes deep root and doesn't let go until there is a lot of
bloodshed. Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. - Neff
-
-
- Comment
- From Kristina
6-6-03
-
-
- Regarding your article, The Polarization..., I read it
and its great and I'm glad that comments from other readers were included
at the bottom. After reading your article and the comments, and after reading
Beyond Fiction (because I was there, at ground zero, that day), I feel
like I have been sucked into believing what the media is telling me.
-
- And I have fallen victim to the point that when someone
who disagrees with the war or current policy, I get angry at them. In
fact, I don't even want to give them a chance to speak and I want them
punished for what they think and believe. For example, the actors
like Susan Surandon, I was actually going to boycott her films just like
wine with the French because of how they feel...
-
- The protesters in Union Square, I believed them to be
ignorant and got to the point where I wanted their right to protest taken
away because I simply did not want to hear it, I actually thought them
to be un-American and to support the "terrorists".
-
- This really scares me. Never in my life have
I been so intolerant, it is truly not my personality. I feel
like I have been brainwashed and now that things have been pieced together
more... I am very concerned. I don't want the gvmnt to have
the right to spy on its own people and do whatever else they wish.
-
- That wasn't why I wrote you. I wrote you to
comment about the people of the opposition, liberals and the like... I
have found that rather than make excellent points like you and other writers
featured on rense.com do, instead they just argue. Many of the
ones I'm thinking of come across as very negative and people don't want
to hear that, especially if there is nothing backing up what they are saying. They
disagree with policy but offer no solution... rather they continually disagree
over and over.
-
- For example, a democratic senator was talking about the
war and the presidents' tax package and just kept criticizing, rather than
offering solutions. Don't keep telling me what the problem absent
some solution!
-
- Maybe I would have woken up and smelled the coffee a
little sooner if "the opposition" was not made to look absurd
and radical by the media, and if they didn't make themselves out to be
so negative.
-
- -Kristina
Kristina
Thank you for you courageous comments, it takes a big person to say what
you've said. And I agree, I'm not all that thrilled or inspired by the
"oppositions" lack of answers and solutions either. It's one
of the irritating factors of politics, that character assassination and
the politics of personal destruction are the easy way out of a tough situation,
and both sides abuse this principle to astronomical proportions, leaving
the PEOPLE in the middle... polarized.. angry... abandoned... feeling hopeless
and used. I love my country and everything its founders desired and intended
it to be, and that includes our day to day stumbling along trying to forge
that vision for everyone (at least those who do!). I have found the comments
of Alan Colmes (Fox/Hannity & Colmes) throughout the war to be the
most level-headed from the left, and he even offered solutions. Unfortunately,
the system is designed to keep the brightest minds in the darkest of places,
unseen, unheard, ineffective, so the "game" can go on and on.
-
- It's like the idea that a cure for the common cold
would never be released, even if discovered, because the impact on the
economy, putting millions of people out of work and bankrupting the pharmaceutical
industry, would be too devastating. We've gotten ourselves into a real
pickle, and Eisenhower warned us about the perils of the military industrial
complex. We're a nation addicted to so many external necessities, rooting
into our economy, that to make a sudden move one way or the other could
spell disaster. It's very likely we invaded Iraq not only for oil, and
a foothold in the mideast, but because we are seriously threatened by the
Euro in that region. It could so devalue the American dollar, presently
the world standard, that we could literally collapse. These harsh realities
are likely driving the NeoCons as much as other factors. Some believe that
because this is the status quo, we merely need to sit back and accept it.
I think there is an alternate route, and that is strong moral dissent.
If nothing else we can say we saw what was happening and we spoke out against
it, powerless though we may be. - Neff
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