Fascism - a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, supression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
*Note - I periododically repost the Early Warning Signs of Fascism to remind everyone of what we are facing here in America. Fascism is on the march in the United States.
...............Early Warning Signs of Facism.............
1) Powerful And Continuing Nationalism
2) Disdain For Human Rights
3) Identification Of Enemies As A Unifying Cause
4) Supremacy Of The Military
5) Rampant Sexism
6) Controlled Mass Media
7) Obsession With National Security
8) Religion And Government Intertwined
9) Corporate Power Protected
10) Labor Power Supressed
11) Disdain For Intellectuals & The Arts
12) Obsession With Crime And Punishment
13) Rampant Cronyism & Corruption
14) Fraudulent Elections
My husband and I are both members of Veterans For Peace. Last week we flew to Minneapolis to attend the 23rd Annual Veterans For Peace National Convention. The theme of this year's VFP convention, my first convention ever, was 'Peace, Liberty, and Justice for All' and the focus was on the use of nonviolence to promote a culture of peace. It was a positive and enlightening experience especially in the face of the 8-year systematic assault on American Democracy by the Bush neoconservatives and the Christian Right.
THE REPUBLICANS HATE OUR FREEDOM!
As veterans we have taken an oath to "support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic". As Veterans For Peace we have pledged to use nonviolent means to do so.
Together, Republican Nationalists, neoconservative corporatists, and the Christian Right have succeeded in leveraging the most profound and dangerous threat to American Freedom ever faced by this nation. The eight dark years under the reign of George W. Bush have seen the Constitution set forth by our founding fathers red-lined and the consequent rise of American Fascism. The threat to our country is domestic. The terrorists who comprise the threat live among us. They seek to destroy not only the Constitution upon which American Democracy is based, but all of our inherent rights as well.
What happened in Minneapolis/St. Paul during the farcical 2008 Republican Convention is very telling. The FBI, Secret Service, and local law enforcement, under the questionable leadership of Ramsey Co. Sheriff, Bob Fletcher, violated the Constitutional rights of the press, and pro-peace, anti-McCain demonstrators every chance they got. Weapons (including an AR15) drawn, the Minneapolis/St. Paul law enforcement traitors excuted pre-emptive, warrantless raids on private homes against the peaceful citizens that they were sworn to protect.
The invasive aggression by the Minnesotan army of Darth Vader look-alikes was pre-emptively excused by Bush operatives under the guise of "probable cause" and "conspiracy to commit civil disobedience". It is unfortunate that our employees in the intelligence and law enforcement communities seem to have confused Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto with the Constitution. They have crossed into the realm of "thought police".
View the RNC/ police actions in Minneapolis/St. Paul here:
Unnecessary force was employed to confiscate computers, cameras, video cams, cell phones, printed and written materials, press cards and credentials and journalist's notes. The Bush conspirators have not only violated the freedom of the press, they have proven that they will stop at nothing to suppress the freedom of speech to advance the manufactured truths and propaganda required to move Americans toward acceptance of the fascist form of government they all support.
Please review the following Amendments:
.......... Amendment I ..........
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
.......... Admendment IV..........
The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath of affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
*Note - There were children in the private homes that were the targets of the pre-emptive home invasions. One man was asleep in his bed when yanked to his feet by the armed intruders. He was naked. He was not allowed to cover himself but was zip cuffed and told to lie face down on the floor. He remained on the floor cuffed and naked for an hour! These methods have been employed against the Iraqi people by the occupying American forces for over five years now.
The whole world is watching as the USA is bludgeoned back into the Dark Ages by Republican barbarianism. It is only those who've chosen ignorance over patriotism who do not see.
AMERICA HAS BECOME A VERY SICK COUNTRY UNDER REPUBLICAN RULE.
We must fight to save our nation with nonviolence.
................Kitchen Window Woman................
P.S. - We are on vacation in Michigan visiting family. I felt very strongly, however, that this piece needed to be written - KWW