<p>I am majorly bummed about Hackett. Otoh, candidates being pressured to drop out of primaries happens routinely in both parties. I preferred Hackett to Sherrod Brown but thems the breaks. I’ll have a salient quote after I get back later in the day.</p>
<p>“who has an official party guidebook that encourages its members to “Memorize as many as possible” ways to attack below the belt, and I’ll give you full credit.”</p>
<p>Oh Puhleeeeze. All you have to do is look at the uniform use the term “culture of corruption” by countless Dems to know that there is a comparable playbook that the Dems use to smear Republicans. You claim to have found the Republican playbook (was Mary Mapes involved with its distribution by any chance?), but funny thing is that I don’t recall the term “traitor” actually used by a Republican against a Dem. As opposed to the myriad charges of “lieing”, “betray”, “brown shirts”, “fascist”, “taliban”, “unpatriotic” coming from very high-profile Dems.</p>
<p>The power of denial runs strong in you, Fundingfather. You make a good Republican.</p>
<p>Yup, and your Democratic issued blinders are firmly in place. Don’t you even take them off to send them to the cleaners? Still no examples of a a republican calling a dem a traitor?</p>
<p>Um, by saying if you don’t support the war you support he enemy, sounds like calling someone a traitor to me</p>
<p>John Kerry has been described as a waffler who blathers, a son of privilege who won’t stand up to millionaires, a Washington insider who’s a handmaiden to special interests and an inconsistent candidate whose word is no good. </p>
<p>From Source A
“The American people don’t want another Washington insider who never plays it straight. They don’t want a follower who makes decisions by licking his finger and sticking it up in the wind.”
“We need leadership that will take responsibility in this country, and I’m very disturbed that John did not do that.”
“Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards are good men, but they don’t have the leadership to stand up to millionaires.”
“I don’t think people understand in this country how politicians in Washington can say one thing and do something else.” </p>
<p>From Source B
“President Kerry. Please, spare us.”
“John Kerry is part of the corrupt political culture in Washington.”
“It appears that his word is no good.”
“I’m just incensed by his hypocrisy.”
“This is not the person we need to head the Democratic Party. I think Senator Kerry is clearly not the person to carry the banner of the Democratic Party because he has acted so much like a Republican.”
“Senator Kerry apparently supports the kind of corrupt fund raising, politically corrupt fund-raising mechanisms that George Bush has also employed.”
“We are not going to beat George Bush by nominating someone who is the handmaiden of special interests.”
“A special-interest clone.”
“A candidate of no principle.”
“Just another inside-the-Beltway guy who’s played the game for 15 years.” </p>
<p>From Source C:
“We can keep pursuing George Bush’s tired, old, failed economic policies like Senator Kerry and other Democrats in this race have suggested. Or we can learn from the policies that worked for us.”
“Kerry’s explanation of how he’ll pay for his [health] plan doesn’t add up. He’s trying to have it both ways.”
“I don’t think cheap sound bites hiding expensive plans are the answer.” on health-care proposals from Kerry and Dean. </p>
<p>From Source D:
“We also don’t need a waffler in charge of our country’s future.” </p>
<p>All of that comes from fellow Democrats.
Source A: Wesley Clark
Source B: Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean
Source C: Rep. Dick Gephardt
Source D: Sen. Joe Lieberman</p>
<p>BG, a GOP friend queried me with the AP story on Hackett, wondering what more there was to it. Part of my reply is below:</p>
<p>I’ve given money to Hackett and I’m disappointed. Nonetheless, there is indeed “the rest of the story” as you correctly infer. Fwiw, it is not unusual for party establishments to clear the field for a preferred candidate. Or, as the case with the GOP in Florida, to look around for somebody, anybody, in lieu of Katherine Harris in what might have been a winnable contest against Bill Nelson.</p>
<p>But for a more complete view on Hackett, here’s this:
and this:
</p>
<p>As for the Bush administration and tendencies towards fascism, let’s make a score card:</p>
<p>Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism </p>
<p>Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. </p>
<p>Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>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. BushCo: 7</p></li>
<li><p>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. BushCo 8</p></li>
<li><p>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. Bush Co 9</p></li>
<li><p>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. BushCo 7</p></li>
<li><p>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. Bush Co 8</p></li>
<li><p>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. BushCo 7…with spikes to 9, e.g., Fox News</p></li>
<li><p>Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. BushCo 9 </p></li>
<li><p>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. BushCo 8</p></li>
<li><p>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. BushCo 9</p></li>
<li><p>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. BushCo 7</p></li>
<li><p>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. BushCo 8</p></li>
<li><p>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.BushCo 7…but they’re working on it </p></li>
<li><p>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. BushCo 9</p></li>
<li><p>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. BushCo 7</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The above is a summary of the more detailed orignal article “Fascism Anyone?” first published in Spring 2003 edition of Free Inquiry</p>
<p>FF,
Does this count:
Anne Coulter
‘I’VE BEEN TOO busy fretting about “why they hate us” to follow the Democrats’ latest objections to the war on terrorism. So it was nice to have Al Gore lay out their full traitorous case this week. To show we really mean business, Gore said we should not get sidetracked by a madman developing weapons of mass destruction who longs for our annihilation."</p>
<p>And wasn’t it Incurious George that said, " if you’re not with us, you’re against us." </p>
<p>Come on you so called “CC lefties”, get googling and give FF some actual quotes.</p>
<p>A quick google:</p>
<p>Marc Racicot attended a Republican fundraiser and candidates’ forum in Bozeman, Montana, where Bob Davies, a candidate for the state legislature, declared that President Clinton should be shot. Davies said he routinely uttered that sentiment in response to voters who asked about his stand on the impeachment controversy.
Davies also told the forum that Clinton was guilty of treason and should be executed …
Neither Racicot nor any of the other Republican officials at the forum interrupted Davies, opposed his threats against the president, or reported Davies’ comments to law enforcement agencies, even though advocating attacks against the president is a federal crime. </p>
<p>Georgia Representative Charlie Norwood charged that Bill Clinton was “guilty of high treason.”</p>
<p>in an appearance with other military veterans coordinated by President Bush’s re-election campaign, said Kerry helped push North Vietnam’s proposals for the United States to withdraw at a time when the two countries were still officially at war. “I see that as treason,”</p>
<p>“Whether they are defending the Soviet Union or bleating for Saddam Hussein, liberals are always against America. They are either traitors or idiots, and on the matter of America’s self-preservation, the difference is irrelevant.” – Ann Coulter</p>
<p>“Nancy Pelosi should apologize for her irresponsible, dangerous rhetoric. She apparently is so caught up in partisan hatred for President Bush that her words are putting American lives at risk.” - Tom DeLay</p>
<p>Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America, said Democratic criticism of the Iraq war “amounts to treason”</p>
<p>Republican Congressman Spencer Bachus said a remark Maher made on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” about the military missing its recruiting goal by 42 percent in April “borders on treason”</p>
<p>So, Xiggi - are you trying to demonstrate how strong but above-the-belt criticism of fellow party members is tolerated in the Democratic party? So as to contrast it with the kind of stuff I’ve posted in this post? Thank you. :)</p>
<p>If you’re going to quote Ann, please, don’t forget her greatest hits, such as:</p>
<p>“We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren’t punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That’s war. And this is war.” </p>
<p>or</p>
<p>“When contemplating college liberals, you really regret once again that John Walker is not getting the death penalty. We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors.” </p>
<p>Her words were applauded by National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, and Lynne Cheney (wife of Vice President Cheney), all of whom were in attendance. </p>
<p>So, warn your kids about the perils of being liberal.</p>
<p>“Let me put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts to the region the words of Senator Durbin, certainly putting Americas men and women in uniform in greater danger. No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals.”</p>
<p>Karl Rove
6/22/2005</p>
<p>" Everybody got it? Dissent, fine; undermining, youre a traitor. Got it? So, all those clowns over at the liberal radio network, we could incarcerate them immediately. Will you have that done, please? Send over the FBI and just put them in chains, because they, you know, theyre undermining everything and they dont care, couldnt care less."</p>
<p>Bill OReilly
6/20/2005</p>
<p>TheDad, those 14 points are a fraud. I tracked down “Dr” Britt only to learn he’s not a doctor and really doesn’t have the credentials to create such a list. Google the man. You won’t be able to find anything else he’s written or where he teaches except as an intro to the 14 point and then you’ll find that different sources list different universities, which in turn, by the way, don’t show any evidence that he ever had anything to do with them.</p>
<p>It’s just as well, since that list is so amorphous you could easily point out that FDR was a facist, too. Everyone knows that’s wrong, right?</p>
<p>And it wouldn’t be that hard to come up with a comparable list that proves my cat Critter is a dog.</p>
<p>Oh, people say the darndest things:</p>
<p>“If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it’s clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush Administration again, all right?”</p>
<p>So in his own writing, Mr. Britt does not call himself Dr. So HE isn’t a fraud. The net can do that</p>
<p>And that list, scares you don’t it Strick, tell, me, give a # that does not have any truth in it right now with Bush, come on I am sure you can</p>
<p>And how do you know he hasn’t done any research</p>
<p>oh yeah, I forgot that the people working for Bush are all perfectly credentaled for the jobs they were HIRED for</p>
<p>ANd Rove and Relliy, now those are men to be listened too</p>
<p>Eternal Fascism:
Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt </p>
<p>By … who knows… this is the Matrix after all</p>
<ol>
<li>The first feature of Ur-Fascism is the cult of tradition.</li>
</ol>
<p>Traditionalism is of course much older than fascism. Not only was it typical of counterrevolutionary Catholic thought after the French revolution, but is was born in the late Hellenistic era, as a reaction to classical Greek rationalism. In the Mediterranean basin, people of different religions (most of the faiths indulgently accepted by the Roman pantheon) started dreaming of a revelation received at the dawn of human history. This revelation, according to the traditionalist mystique, had remained for a long time concealed under the veil of forgotten languages – in Egyptian hieroglyphs, in the Celtic runes, in the scrolls of the little-known religions of Asia.</p>
<p>This new culture had to be syncretistic. Syncretism is not only, as the dictionary says, “the combination of different forms of belief or practice;” such a combination must tolerate contradictions. Each of the original messages contains a sliver of wisdom, and although they seem to say different or incompatible things, they all are nevertheless alluding, allegorically, to the same primeval truth.</p>
<p>As a consequence, there can be no advancement of learning. Truth already has been spelled out once and for all, and we can only keep interpreting its obscure message.</p>
<p>If you browse in the shelves that, in American bookstores, are labeled New Age, you can find there even Saint Augustine, who, as far as I know, was not a fascist. But combining Saint Augustine and Stonehenge – that is a symptom of Ur-Fascism.</p>
<ol>
<li>Traditionalism implies the rejection of modernism.</li>
</ol>
<p>Both Fascists and Nazis worshipped technology, while traditionalist thinkers usually reject it as a negation of traditional spiritual values. However, even though Nazism was proud of its industrial achievements, its praise of modernism was only the surface of an ideology based upon blood and earth (Blut und Boden). The rejection of the modern world was disguised as a rebuttal of the capitalistic way of life. The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.</p>
<ol>
<li>Irrationalism also depends on the cult of action for action’s sake.</li>
</ol>
<p>Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation. Therefore culture is suspect insofar as it is identified with critical attitudes. Distrust of the intellectual world has always been a symptom of Ur-Fascism, from Hermann Goering’s fondness for a phrase from a Hanns Johst play (“When I hear the word ‘culture’ I reach for my gun”) to the frequent use of such expressions as “degenerate intellectuals,” “eggheads,” “effete snobs,” and “universities are nests of reds.” The official Fascist intellectuals were mainly engaged in attacking modern culture and the liberal intelligentsia for having betrayed traditional values.</p>
<ol>
<li>The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism.</li>
</ol>
<p>In modern culture the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge. For Ur-Fascism, disagreement is treason.</p>
<ol>
<li>Besides, disagreement is a sign of diversity.</li>
</ol>
<p>Ur-Fascism grows up and seeks consensus by exploiting and exacerbating the natural fear of difference. The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.</p>
<ol>
<li>Ur-Fascism derives from individual or social frustration.</li>
</ol>
<p>That is why one of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups. In our time, when the old “proletarians” are becoming petty bourgeois (and the lumpen are largely excluded from the political scene), the fascism of tomorrow will find its audience in this new majority.</p>
<ol>
<li>To people who feel deprived of a clear social identity, Ur-Fascism says that their only privilege is the most common one, to be born in the same country.</li>
</ol>
<p>This is the origin of nationalism. Besides, the only ones who can provide an identity to the nation are its enemies. Thus at the root of the Ur-Fascist psychology there is the obsession with a plot, possibly an international one. The followers must feel besieged. The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia. But the plot must also come from the inside: Jews are usually the best target because they have the advantage of being at the same time inside and outside. In the United States, a prominent instance of the plot obsession is to be found in Pat Robertson’s The New World Order, but, as we have recently seen, there are many others.</p>
<ol>
<li>The followers must feel humiliated by the ostentatious wealth and force of their enemies.</li>
</ol>
<p>When I was a boy I was taught to think of Englishmen as the five-meal people. They ate more frequently than the poor but sober Italians. Jews are rich and help each other through a secret web of mutual assistance. However, the followers of Ur-Fascism must also be convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak. Fascist governments are condemned to lose wars because they are constitutionally incapable of objectively evaluating the force of the enemy.</p>
<ol>
<li>For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle.</li>
</ol>
<p>Thus pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. It is bad because life is permanent warfare. This, however, brings about an Armageddon complex. Since enemies have to be defeated, there must be a final battle, after which the movement will have control of the world. But such “final solutions” implies a further era of peace, a Golden Age, which contradicts the principle of permanent war. No fascist leader has ever succeeded in solving this predicament.</p>
<ol>
<li>Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology, insofar as it is fundamentally aristocratic, and aristocratic and militaristic elitism cruelly implies contempt for the weak.</li>
</ol>
<p>Ur-Fascism can only advocate a popular elitism. Every citizen belongs to the best people in the world, the members or the party are the best among the citizens, every citizen can (or ought to) become a member of the party. But there cannot be patricians without plebeians. In fact, the Leader, knowing that his power was not delegated to him democratically but was conquered by force, also knows that his force is based upon the weakness of the masses; they are so weak as to need and deserve a ruler.</p>
<ol>
<li>In such a perspective everybody is educated to become a hero.</li>
</ol>
<p>In every mythology the hero is an exceptional being, but in Ur-Fascist ideology heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death. It is not by chance that a motto of the Spanish Falangists was Viva la Muerte (“Long Live Death!”). In nonfascist societies, the lay public is told that death is unpleasant but must be faced with dignity; believers are told that it is the painful way to reach a supernatural happiness. By contrast, the Ur-Fascist hero craves heroic death, advertised as the best reward for a heroic life. The Ur-Fascist hero is impatient to die. In his impatience, he more frequently sends other people to death.</p>
<ol>
<li>Since both permanent war and heroism are difficult games to play, the Ur-Fascist transfers his will to power to sexual matters.</li>
</ol>
<p>This is the origin of machismo (which implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality). Since even sex is a difficult game to play, the Ur-Fascist hero tends to play with weapons – doing so becomes an ersatz phallic exercise.</p>
<ol>
<li>Ur-Fascism is based upon a selective populism, a qualitative populism, one might say.</li>
</ol>
<p>In a democracy, the citizens have individual rights, but the citizens in their entirety have a political impact only from a quantitative point of view – one follows the decisions of the majority. For Ur-Fascism, however, individuals as individuals have no rights, and the People is conceived as a quality, a monolithic entity expressing the Common Will. Since no large quantity of human beings can have a common will, the Leader pretends to be their interpreter. Having lost their power of delegation, citizens do not act; they are only called on to play the role of the People. Thus the People is only a theatrical fiction. There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.</p>
<p>Because of its qualitative populism, Ur-Fascism must be against “rotten” parliamentary governments. Wherever a politician casts doubt on the legitimacy of a parliament because it no longer represents the Voice of the People, we can smell Ur-Fascism.</p>
<ol>
<li>Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak.</li>
</ol>
<p>Newspeak was invented by Orwell, in Nineteen Eighty-Four, as the official language of what he called Ingsoc, English Socialism. But elements of Ur-Fascism are common to different forms of dictatorship. All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning. But we must be ready to identify other kinds of Newspeak, even if they take the apparently innocent form of a popular talk show.</p>
<p>"And how do you know he hasn’t done any research</p>
<p>oh yeah, I forgot that the people working for Bush are all perfectly credentaled for the jobs they were HIRED for"</p>
<p>Oh, what an opportunity for the most astute cut and paste artist! </p>
<p>So, dear CGM, why don’t you take the next 30 minutes to scout the internet to find the qualifications of the “Doctor.” I could give you a couple of hints, but it would not be fair to use the help of a Bushie. </p>
<p>Let’s keep it simple … Is he a doctor or not? Is he a political scientist or not? Has he published anything except novel(s)? Should not be THAT hard to find the credentials of someone who has been so WIDELY quoted by so many discerning and intelligent readers. </p>
<p>The clock is ticking. See ya in 30 minutes!</p>
<p>I see newspeack everyday:</p>
<p>No child left behind</p>
<p>The Clear Air Act</p>
<p>National Energy Policy</p>
<p>Patriot Act</p>
<p>“Opposing class warfare is class warfare.”</p>
<p>“Attacking racial prejudice is race baiting.”</p>
<p>Remember when it was a Crusade we were on</p>
<p>ANd these Bush gems:</p>
<p>“God loves you, and I love you. And you can count on both of us as a powerful message that people who wonder about their future can hear.”</p>
<p>“The march to war affected the people’s confidence. It’s hard to make investment. See, if you’re a small business owner or a large business owner and you’re thinking about investing, you’ve got to be optimistic when you invest. Except when you’re marching to war, it’s not a very optimistic thought, is it? In other words, it’s the opposite of optimistic when you’re thinking you’re going to war.” </p>
<p>“In my judgment, when the United States says there will be serious consequences, and if there isn’t serious consequences, it creates adverse consequences.”</p>
<p>Just remember it’s the birds that’s supposed to suffer, not the hunter." - Advising quail hunter and New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, Roswell, N.M., Jan. 22, 2004</p>
<p>“[A]s you know, these are open forums, you’re able to come and listen to what I have to say.” - Washington, D.C., Oct. 28, 2003"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what’s moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves." - Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003</p>
<p>and in true newspeak:</p>
<p>?“It’s very interesting when you think about it, the slaves who left here to go to America, because of their steadfast and their religion and their belief in freedom, helped change America.” - Dakar, Senegal, July 8, 2003</p>
<p>CGM, you’re wasting precious time. </p>
<p>Tic Tac Tic Tac</p>