- George W. Bush is not Adolph Hitler. Although we've seen
the sentiment in so many different places and in many different ways, the
fact still remains that Bush II has not yet achieved Nazi Germany's horror
at its apex, but it is like waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's
sincerely
hard to believe that Bush II's "Final Solution" includes the
elimination of an entire race. Although we still have reportedly over one
thousand people of Arab decent being held without charge or access to legal
counsel, these are not the real enemies of Bush's America. Ever since
December
of 2000 and especially since September 2001, George W. Bush and his
administration
have made it more and more apparent just who they consider the real enemy.
The enemy is anyone who does not agree with or follow Conservative Far
Right dogma. He refers to these Americans as "the fringe."
-
- One of the main differences between Bush and Hitler as
leaders is that the later built a nation out of rubble. Germany post WWI
was left virtually castrated after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
The people of Germany were ostracized on an international level and needed
a scapegoat. Hitler initially selected Jews and Communists to fill that
slot. Hitler helped to create and then triumphed over the political unrest
that plagued post war Germany. During the early years under his leadership,
Germany experienced a period of rebirth and pride in the Fatherland. The
economy improved greatly and, as witnessed during the 1936 Olympics, the
world was introduced to a new Deutschland. The world saw a proud and
thriving
country rise out of a once devastated enemy
-
- George W. Bush, on the other hand, has taken a country
that enjoyed peace and prosperity for almost a decade and trashed it
completely.
But when we look at the similarities, however, between post September 11th,
2001 and post February 27th, 1933 (The Reichstag Fire) is where the rise
of the Third Reich and today's Bush II administration look remarkably
alike.
The attacks of September are Bush's "Reichstag Fire."
-
- On February 28th, 1933 President Hindenburg and
Chancellor
Hitler invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which allowed the
suspension of civil liberties in time of national emergency. This Decree
of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State abrogated
the following constitutional protections:
-
- 1. Free expression of opinion 2. Freedom of the press
3. Right of assembly and association 4. Right to privacy of postal and
electronic communications 5. Protection against unlawful searches and
seizures
6. Individual property rights 7. States' right of self-government
-
- A supplemental decree was also added to create the SA
and SS federal police agencies. Sounds vaguely familiar, doesn't it?
-
- Although Bush has not yet proposed the elimination of
these rights formally, in the wake of "Election 2000" and
especially
after 9/11, they have all been placed on the "endangered species"
list to the point where many people are finally starting to wake up and
ask questions. Just last week, Attorney General John Ashcroft placed #3
and #4 in the crosshairs with his proclamation of new powers to be given
the FBI. The rest of these rights have been tested and tainted ever since
Bush slipped through the back door of the White House. Like Hitler, Bush
has surrounded himself with experienced thugs or just plain thugs with
a perverted sense of what it right for the country. Yet both leaders were
blessed by a common mindset of the people they lead. A mindset that allowed
both leaders to inflict their tunnel view of the world and its people on
their own countrymen in order to achieve their personal goals. The mindset
of apathy.
-
- 21st century America and 1930's Germany share a form
of apathy even though its root is of different sources. Germany's apathy
stemmed from the population so content with its new found prosperity that
it trusted its leaders overall in their endeavors. Today's American apathy
is based upon their being manipulated by their leaders and the media in
a time of national grief and xenophobia. Both populations were and are
being played like marionettes and their apathy and paranoia allowed and
allows them to be blind to the blatant evil of their leaders. Two weeks
ago in the wake of the "What did they know" reports, Cheney,
Mueller and Rumsfeld took a chapter from Hermann Goering book of mass
manipulation.
They use this rule of Hitler's Third Reich every time things get a little
too warm for them.
-
- "Why, of course the people don't want war ... But
after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and
it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a
democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist
dictatorship...Voice
or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the
leaders.
That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked,
and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country
to danger." This is the rule now. In less than a century, things have
come full circle. The only difference is that it's not happening "over
there." It's happening right here. In America. What used to be the
Land of the Free.
-
- No, Bush is not Hitler. The current administration is
not the Third Reich. It's subtler and yet, it's just as dangerous. It's
just as threatening.
-
- And worse yet.....it's here...right now.
-
- The Propaganda Machine
-
- Propaganda isn't really a dirty word. Basically, it's
nothing more than information from one group to sway another to the
source's
way of thinking. Campaign promises, political messages, heck, even
deodorant
commercials fall under the true definition of propaganda. The old adage
"Everybody does it" is true. Democrats and Republicans utilize
propaganda to do their best to influence the masses to help them pass
legislation
or kill a bill. Propaganda is nothing more than a tool and a very powerful
one. And like all powerful tools in politics and the media, it's fair game
for abuse against those of us on the receiving end.
-
- In the early days of Bush II's appointed reign, both
members of his administration and their media supporters used the word
"elected" every chance they had when in front of the TV cameras.
There's an old rule that if you tell the same lie over and over that people
will eventually believe it. Bush was heard to say repeatedly, "I was
elected because" or I'm doing this because that's what the American
people "elected me to do." Ari Fleischer continues to remark
about the will of the American people in reference to Bush II's latest
attack on us without pausing to think that the majority of the American
people wish Ari was nothing more than an occasional right wing blow-hard
guest on MSNBC and his boss was still governor of Texas trying to figure
out why his Daddy's plan didn't work. Their claim to speak for the American
people is a clear example of the abuse of propaganda. But it doesn't stop
there. There is also this little problem with the mainstream media. Like
pigs at the trough, they line up to feed on whatever garbage Bush II throws
their way with an enthusiasm that would make Goebbels envious.
-
- Democracy is not simply a matter of being able to vote,
it is a matter of being sufficiently informed about crucial issues to
participate
in decision-making processes. Why are mainline news sources denying the
American public such information? In regards to Nazi Germany the entire
world agrees that the German people were misled by an organized propaganda
campaign. Is this currently happening in the United States? Why is there
such a disparity between what is reported in the European and American
press? Why, with each new revelation from the coup d'etat in Venezuela
to the new information on what the Bush administration knew about a
potential
al Qaeda strike prior to 9/11, do American citizens trust the word of the
American media? What seems to be the need to hide what's actually
happening?
What is so wrong with the truth other than the fact that it threatens the
only court appointed president in history?
-
- We are not referring to the press revealing state
secrets,
military intelligence or sensitive negotiations with foreign powers. We
are talking about information that is basic to understanding what goes
on in the current administration and our government. In other words,
information
that is crucial for American citizens to be informed voters and part of
the democratic process. How has the esteemed American press fallen to such
depths that we can no longer trust its journalists as bearers of truth?
Even a cursory glance at major newspapers and the way that they covered
the recent coup d'etat in Venezuela by misnaming it a
"transition"
as the White House released their spin to a welcoming and uncritical press.
For days almost all newspapers originating in the United States used almost
identical words to describe Chavez, Venezuela's legally elected president:
"Socialist," "dictatorial," "unpopular" and
"resignation". The Washington Post's editorial stated "the
violation of democracy that led to the ouster of President Hugo Chavez
Thursday night was initiated not by the army by Mr. Chavez himself."
The Washington Post accepted Condoleeza Rice's version and words without
question.
-
- What sort of nonsense is this? The United States of
America's
media, as representatives of a free and unfettered press, supporting a
coup d'etat without a single question asked about the official White House
version? Had this been Germany 1934 with the threats of armed SS and SA
thugs beating down doors and crashing windows of newspapers, it might be
comprehensible. But in the United States, 2002 with no evidence of armed
thugs beating publishers and closing them down, one has to wonder who is
calling the shots? Could it be the same financial sources that put Mr.
Bush into the office of president? Who put Adolf Hitler's playbook into
action? And there is ample evidence that the playbook of the Third Reich
is now in effect.
-
- A propagandized media has to have a director and
sub-directors.
In 1930 Germany it was Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Is this the
role that Karl Rove holds? Are there others now that Karen Hughes is slated
to leave the White House? Is Michael Powell's role as Chair of the Federal
Communications Commission to facilitate mergers so that a single-voiced
media is fully operational by 2004? It is hard to come by accurate news
in this administration, but certain facts are indisputable. Secrecy is
the tool of the day. "Secrecy is a tool the leadership uses to
maintain
power and control over issues of controversy" (Sr. Nancy Sylvester,
5/2/02). The good sister was not speaking about either Nazi Germany's
leadership
in 1933 or Mr. Bush's administration in 2002. She refers to the way the
Catholic Church is handling it's current controversy of pedophilia amongst
its priests. The quote is striking though because it reflects the way that
both Hitler and Bush II seized and used power.
-
- The cast of characters in place for Mr. Bush's Propaganda
machine:
-
- The most likely key players in the Bush propaganda
machine
include Karl Rove and Karen Hughes, but who else is involved? What official
roles do former Iran-Contra operatives, Otto Reich and John Poindexter
play? How does the U.S. Army's 4th PSYOPS fit? This was the military unit
assigned to carry out policies of the Office of Strategic Influence (OSI)
that planted stories in the U.S. media supporting the Reagan
Administration's
Central American policies in the 1980s. This is also the group that staffed
the National Security Council's Office of Public Diplomacy (OPD) of the
Reagan-Bush (the elected) administration. And while both the OSI and the
OPD are officially disbanded, two players are back in the current Bush
administration, Otto Reich (Assistant Secretary of State for Western
Hemisphere
Affairs) and John M. Poindexter as head of a new agency, Information
Awareness
Office. These are interesting appointments if an administration is choosing
to set up a propaganda network, and both bring considerable propaganda
skills to their new jobs.
-
- One of the striking similarities between the Third Reich
and the Bush Reich is the list of euphemistic names given to agencies
responsible
for propaganda. Mr. Bush created a new agency called the Information
Awareness
Office in 2002 and named John M. Poindexter as its head. Hitler created
the Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda and named Joseph
Goebbels
as director. It is more likely that Karl Rove is the power behind the Bush
propaganda machine, but he holds the official title of Director, Office
of Political Affairs. Mr. Rove's increasing circle of influence may be
a factor in pushing Karen Hughes from the White House Inner Circle.
-
- Karen Hughes, Bush's former official spinmaster held
the title, Counselor to the President and though she is in the process
of "resigning," she is currently traveling in Europe with Mrs.
Bush as her adviser. According to press reports, Hughes will continue to
travel to the White House to consult with Mr. Bush.
-
- Another player is Charlotte Beers, Public Diplomacy and
Public Affairs chief. She has recently (May 1, 2002) asked Congress for
$600M for the Propaganda budget. Ms. Beers comes from an advertising
background
and sees her role as public persuasion. She is careful to use the term
"persuasion" rather than "propaganda", but the net
effect is the same. The Bush administration is managing perception, and
up until the foreknowledge about a potential attack with too many details
provided in presidential briefings came to light, the mainline media bought
into perception management. Lewis Lapham, Harper's editor, views it as
"the media is hand in hand with the government." (Fost, Dan
4/24/02,
SF Chronicle). It remains to be seen if this latest wrinkle in Mr. Bush's
façade continues to be noticed by the somnambulant American
public.
-
- John Rendon and his public relations firm, The Rendon
Group, specialize in making images, manipulating scenes and managing news.
He is currently under a $100,000 per month contract to track foreign news
reports and offer advice on media strategy. Rendon consulted with the
Pentagon
when it created the Office of Strategic Influence. Supposedly this office
was snuffed after publicity leaked that the Pentagon planned to use it
to spread disinformation. But, whether it is gone or just gone underground
is a legitimate question.
-
- "Persuasion works best when it's invisible. The
most effective marketing worms its way into our consciousness, leaving
intact the perception that we have reached our opinion and made our choices
independently" (George Monbiot, The Guardian, UK 5/14/02). This is
what Beers and Rendon do best and it is why Mr. Bush's administration hired
them.
-
- Whether it was the Reichstag fire in February 1933 or
the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, perceptions of
the events were orchestrated and managed for political gain. Hitler used
the Reichstag fire to mobilize the German population for Hitler's National
Socialist German Worker's Party (Nazi Party). Mr. Bush's propaganda machine
is using 9/11 for political advantage. Any call for a Congressional
investigation
of 9/11 has been met with sneering propaganda tactics. Fear, intimidation,
loss of one's livelihood, public ridicule are the Bush tactics. Hitler's
SS and SA troops beat publishers to a bloody pulp. To date, Bush has not
resorted to public beatings; people just lose their jobs as TV's Bill Maher
learned for being Politically Incorrect.
-
- The Republican National Party is currently selling
photographs
of Mr. Bush depicting the "resolute leader" on 9/11 and it's
aftermath (even after he told a German reporter he was trying "to
stay out of harm's way" that day). This is one example of perception
management that may come back to haunt him and his administration. Goebbels
used exactly the same strategy to sell the image of Hitler even though
his weaknesses were known to those close to him. "Give me ten years
and you will not recognize Germany" (Adolf Hitler, 1933). Between
his Gestapo troops and propaganda machine, he transformed Germany in four
years. The United States has changed dramatically from January 2001 to
May 2002. What role has a propagandized press played in this?
-
- John Stanton and Wayne Madsen state that "A crisis
without precedent is underway in the United States. And its consequences
will be far graver than those wrought by the U.S. presidential election
of 2000 and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The collapse of
the Jeffersonian 'free and uncensored press' in America endangers the
liberties
of all Americans. --The only remaining barrier to monstrous U.S.
totalitarianism
is a sickly and crippled U.S. media, an aggressive foreign media and the
hope that the heretofore somnambulant American public will awaken from
its stupor." (Stanton, J & Madsen, W. (4/25/02) U.S. Media Profit,
Propaganda and Puffery, Counterpunch.org).
-
- "Secrecy is a tool the leadership uses to maintain
power and control over controversy" (Sr. Sylvester, 5/2/02). Mr. Bush
has learned that lesson well. And when secrecy doesn't work, then resort
to propaganda and perception management. If things get to close to the
truth then they offer up another "terrorist alert" so everybody
stays too scared to ask any questions. Or Ashcroft can bust another former
gang member and call him a terrorist and wave the flag some more. And when
perception management doesn't work, what then should Mr. Bush do? Does
he go home to Crawford or does he continue to raise funds for Far
Reich/Right
causes by telling that God awful sick Trifecta joke?
-
- What it boils down to is that we are being subjected
to a form of propaganda that even the Europeans recognize. The American
people are being ruled and controlled through fear tactics. The media shows
us images of America standing tall and then, in the same breath, does it's
best to work with Bush II to send us cowering into our basements for fear
of another attack. America waves the flag while it covers its eyes and
ears to the real threat to this country.
-
- History repeats itself.
-
- Hitler's Playbook: Who Bequeathed It To Bush?
-
- "Fascism should more appropriately be called
corporatism
because it is a merger of state and corporate power." (Benito
Mussolini,
Encyclopedia Italiana)
-
- According to David Gergen (1999), the 2000 election was
about raw political power. He termed it a hinge point in history. The last
time the GOP controlled the White House and the Congress was when
"Ike"
was in charge and he didn't want to rock the boat. "Conservatives
have very different ideas in mind if they can grab the helm now."
What Gergen and other members of the media didn't mention to the American
people is that if the Far Right could control the White House and Congress,
they could also control the judiciary and the fate and face of America
for generations to come. (Gergen, David (November 15, 1999). Editorial:
A Hinge Point in History. U.S. News and World Report)
-
- And grab the helm they did, not by winning the White
House by a majority, but by Supreme Court fiat ( with at least two judges
violating several statutes of Title 28 Sec. 455 of the Judicial and
Judiciary
Procedure). Even with the legitimacy of the Bush presidency in question,
the Conservatives -- those with the Far Right agenda -- grabbed the raw
political power that Gergen predicted would be the outcome of that
election.
The abuse of power in the guise of pushing an agenda which the majority
of the electorate voted against would now become a perverted rule of law.
The Far Right transformed into the Far Reich. We need only to look at
Bush's
nominations and appointments to fully appreciate this tactic. Corporate
America's cronies were placed in every powerful position within the Bush
administration. From Alcoa's O'Neil as Secretary of Treasury to Enron's
White as the Secretary of Army, this administration represents Totalitarian
Corporatism. And what precisely does Totalitarian Corporatism look like
and how does this play out in the United States? Will the outcomes be any
different for America than they were for Germany?
-
- When most people hear the word "fascism" they
think of racism and anti-Semitism, the hallmarks of the totalitarian
regimes
of Mussolini and Hitler. But do not forget there is an economic policy
component of fascism known as "corporatism," an essential
ingredient
of economic totalitarianism (DiLorenzo 1994). This is why corporate leaders
played key roles in financing Hitler as Chancellor and George W. Bush's
run for the White House. Corporate heads from the United States, England
and Germany financed Hitler's rise to power. These same powerful worldwide
forces from the Military-Industrial Complex, Oil, Energy, and Media spent
millions of dollars to influence the American 2000 election. And when the
election could not be bought, they used five members of the United States
Supreme Court to stop the Florida vote, thereby giving election
"victory"
to the eldest son of George Herbert Walker Bush. Now why was this election
so important to the Far Right forces? And having gained the White House,
what -- besides greed and power -- motivates them to change the face of
America? Why would a political party supposedly dedicated to "states'
rights" use the Supreme Court to usurp those rights? Why would a
political
party with slogans such as "get the government off our backs"
move to take over the government and all its vast financial resources?
There is only one explanation. Totalitarian corporate industrial policy.
From the Department of Energy to the Departments of Justice and Defense,
the Bush administration has worked to establish policies that do not serve
the interests of the people, but serve the interests of rich and powerful
corporations.
-
- "Totalitarianism is a form of government in which
all societal resources are monopolized by the state in an effort to
penetrate
and control all aspects of public and private life, through the state's
use of propaganda, terror, and technology. Totalitarian ideologies reject
the existing society as corrupt, immoral, and beyond reform. They project
an alternative society in which these wrongs are to be redressed, and
provide
plans and programs for realizing the alternative order."
http://www.remember.org/guide/Facts.root.nazi.html
-
- These ideologies are supported by propaganda campaigns
and demand total conformity on the part of the people. Can we honestly
say that the Bush Far Reich agenda is any different from that of Hitler's
Third Reich when it comes to this form of ideology?
-
- Parallels Between Hitler's and Bush's Power Game Plan
As Chancellor, Hitler manipulated President Hindenberg into dissolving
the Reichstag to permit new elections. He sought a Nazi majority in the
Reichstag to rubber-stamp whatever laws the big corporations that financed
him wanted. Hitler abused democracy to establish his dictatorship. Is this
any different from the methods Mr. Bush used to secure the presidency --
by Supreme Court fiat rather than an election by the people? And then he
used a slim Congressional majority to push through legislation favorable
to corporations.
-
- Following his inauguration Vice President Dick Cheney
was all over the Congress and Senate imposing the Far Reich agenda. This
is the "raw power" that Gergen meant in his "Hinge Point
in History" editorial. Deals from energy to defense were made in
secret
in the Vice President's office. Enron wrote Cheney's Energy Policy that
cost Californians and North Western citizens billions. Texas and
international
oil interests had the entire country by the tail and a Republican majority
in Congress rubber-stamped everything from the tax cut for the wealthiest
2% to the rape of the environment. And with few notable exceptions, the
media were silent. How very much like Hitler's Third Reich and his
propaganda
machine.
-
- Bush's cabinet was installed to serve the interests of
corporations, not the people. His actual disdain for regular American
citizens
is typified by his quote about those citizens who objected to his
administrative
choices. "My picks obviously activated the voices of a few, the fringe
people, the special-interest groups whose job is to make a lotta noise
in Washington, DC." If you are not with Bush, you are fringe. If you
want to stop global warming, you are fringe. If you object to any of his
policies, you are fringe. How very much like Hitler's marginalization of
the people, group by group.
-
- And then came September 11, 2001, with the direct attack
on America followed by the counter-attack on Afghanistan. This unleashed
a whole new level of Far Reich control over the American people and the
agenda. To keep a population in line, both Hitler and Bush declared
perpetual
war. Or in Hitler's words: "Another weapon I discovered early was
the power of the printed word to sway souls to me. The newspaper was soon
my gun, my flag-a thing with a soul that could mirror my own." But
in this case technology has moved light years ahead of Hitler's time and
Bush's Far Reich uses the power of television, controlled by a few
corporate
heads, to control and sway. Following 911 the patriotism of the American
people was twisted to suit the purposes of the Far Reich Agenda just as
patriotism of the German people was twisted following the Reichstag fire
to suit the purposes of the Third Reich.
-
- You are with us or against us. In Germany if you were
against Hitler and the Nazis you were subjected to tribunal
"justice."
Civil rights were discarded and many ended up in concentration camps. In
Bush's America, an unknown number of Arab detainees are being held in U.S.
jails and the Guantanamo Naval Base. They do not have access to legal
representation.
Their resources are frozen, and the American public is assured that if
they are charged they will have access to legal representation. Though
their actual numbers and identities were kept secret, we were told that
these detainees were not American citizens. Now we learn that an American
citizen, Jose Padilla, is being held without legal counsel in a catch-22
situation that is worthy of a Joseph Heller plot. (Heller, Joseph (Reprint
edition 1966). Catch-22. NY: Scribner Paperback)
-
- Secrecy is the Far Reich Bush policy and if you question
that policy, you are unpatriotic. German citizens learned very early to
keep quiet and not ask questions. American citizens are learning the same
painful lesson. The Bush administration is the most secret in our recorded
history and those who dare question the administration's secrecy are
labeled
"unpatriotic."
-
- Fear and isolation are weapons. The German people were
not stupid or unaware. They saw their neighbors beaten and threatened.
They saw them disappear. And they did not want this to happen to themselves
or their families. Now we are seeing the same situation in the United
States
as members of the FBI intimidate people who dare dissent. Those who choose
not to stand miles away in the "First Amendment Zones" whenever
a Bush official speaks in a public arena do so at risk to their freedom.
This happens and the media remains silent. The TV cameras focus on those
in agreement with Far Reich policies and ignore those who dissent. News
people who dissent lose their jobs. Professors who dissent are held up
to ridicule by university administrators. It did not take long for all
in the news business to realize that Bush praise is the secret formula
for survival in a tough competitive market.
-
- Attack Intellectualism. Hitler's Playbook specified that
Intellectualism must be attacked and did so by book burning and destruction
of news sources unfriendly to the Third Reich. Goebbels presided over a
communications monopoly. Nazi youth groups heckled professors until
administrators
forced them out of universities. We need go no further than Lynne Cheney's
American Council of Trustees and Alumni
(http://www.counterpunch.org/foley0522.html)
to see the corollary of Bush's Far Reich. "Lynne Cheney's right wing,
not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization collected "unpatriotic"
utterances and issued its report, "Defending Civilization: How our
universities are failing America and what can be done about it"
(Foley,
5/22/02). Germany lost incredible intellectual talent in the 1930s (e.g.,
Einstein, Freud). Will the United States lose its most talented university
people by 2004?
-
- Closely allied with Cheney's ACTA is William Bennett's
Americans for Victory Over Terrorism (AVOT) project. According to their
campaign literature "AVOT is designed to combat those who would weaken
the nation's resolve and erode our commitment to end the international
menace of terrorism." One of their articles stated that "anti-war
ferment in America is growing." In other words, speak praise of Far
Reich policies or expect to be attacked. Will ACTA and AVOT grow so
powerful
that we will be afraid to dissent? At what point will the media notice
that our right to free speech is gone?The abuses of power before and,
especially,
after 9/11 by the Bush Reich have been unsettling, to say the least. The
world is watching us, believing we all support the policies Bush and his
thugs are pursuing. They see the similarities. But our former main source
of information, television and the newspapers, seems silent in the face
of such a threat to what our founding fathers had in mind.
-
- There has been no attention paid to the Metropolitan
Detention Center in Brooklyn where uncounted numbers of American citizens
are being held without charge while Ashcroft petitions the courts to allow
their deportation. The defense counsels of John Lindh, Zacarias Moussaoui,
Richard Reid and Jose Padilla have had their hands tied by the DOJ in the
name of "national security." If George and his gang decide to
call you a "hostile combatant" then you can just kiss your rights
goodbye. Some still argue that these people and others like them are proven
enemies of the country or just "very bad people," but how long
will it take before the precedent being set with these accused
"terrorists"
trickles down to folks like you and me?
-
- There is an ugly secret being kept from all of us. Some
of us recognize this -- especially those who see it from afar -- and then
there are those who continue to refuse to believe it could happen here.
And there lies the danger. Arthur Livingstone (2001) asked the question,
"Does history repeat itself?" and the answer, unfortunately,
is yes. (http://www.goodwriters.net/dhri1.html) We, in America, are seeing
a reincarnation of the Third Reich, and its name is Corporatism. If left
unchecked, the worst case scenario will be that Americans will be left
without liberty, justice or freedom. Thomas Jefferson saw the threat in
1816: "I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our
moneyed
corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial
of strength and bid defiance of the laws of our country."
-
- The only thing standing in the way of the Far Reich's
goal of corporatism is the American public. One stumbling block that Bush
faces that Hitler didn't have to contend with, is the vast amount of
information
available with today's technology. The Internet has brought a world
together
in ways never dreamed of in the days of WWII. It is both a source of
comfort
that we are not alone and a source of frustration as it causes us to wonder
when will the rest of the country catch up?
-
- We all know that our European neighbors notice the
similarities
discussed in this series. They wonder when we are going to finally wake
up. So many Americans have given their lives to defend that which makes
this country a unique and special place. Will we let the noble experiment
in democracy die in the 21st Century? Will we let it die at the hands of
George W. Bush's version of the Third Reich?
-
- http://www.oldamericancentury.org/dave300019.htm
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