Mildly Provocative piece in today's Guardian by Naomi Wolf, stretching it at times and nothing that hasn't been raised already but worth a read.

None of those conditions are particularly new to the United States.

Maybe the extent of surveillance, but that's about it.

vockins wrote:None of those conditions are particularly new to the United States.

Not new? I don't remember losing habeas corpus or seeing people locked up without access to lawyers before five years ago. I don't remember America fighting a war against a human emotion ( anger/ terror, they're interchangeable ) before five years ago. Yes, we fought 'communism', but it was embodied in a state, the Soviet Union. The last six years have replotted the graphs for all those fascist trends until they're pointing skyward at angles between 20 to 60%. Everything on the Wolf list is either primarily a new development or a new alarming runaway trend.

I lost respect for Naomi Wolf after she got chumped by Ali G. and threatened to sue him.

Everything she says here concerns me, but she's a little late to the ball, don't you think? That seems to wrap her up as of late. She was once important and she isn't anymore, but she does what she can to stay relevant.
And dude, she pulled The Hitler Card...

In the end though, the more people write about these assholes, the more likely someone will read it, even if it is Wolf and in The Guardian.
Helps the cause and I'm for that.

-A

I think you're allowed to play the Hitler Card in a conversation about fascism, no?

I was kind of kidding. "The Hitler Card" is a common joke here.

I just always cringe because whether it's a proper comparison or not, it's used for everything.
You know, Saddam wasn't Hitler, bad as he was.
People want Universal Healthcare? So did Hitler!
Yeah, Hitler walked out on his bar tabs too.

The guy killed 6 million in camps, you know? Only Stalin compares.

Yeah, but when you're talking about Nazis, there's gonna be a little Hitler in there.

-A

alex maiolo wrote:The guy killed 6 million in camps, you know? Only Stalin compares.

Pol Pot deserves a dishonourable mention I guess.

Incidentally, the 'Hitler Card' is correctly known as Godwin's Law.

Godwin was a fascist. Ha!

clocker bob wrote:

vockins wrote:None of those conditions are particularly new to the United States.

I don't remember losing habeas corpus or seeing people locked up without access to lawyers before five years ago.

Jackson in 1812, Lincoln, Colorado Coal Riots in 191?, Philippine-American War camps, SF Dock Riots in 1934, Palmer Raids, Hawaii after Pearl Harbor, Japanese internment, and I bet I'm forgetting a half dozen at least.

I don't remember America fighting a war against a human emotion ( anger/ terror, they're interchangeable ) before five years ago.

"Avenge The Maine," Sacco & Vanzetti, impetus for the Sedition Act, OPEC/Khomeni/Arab fears...

Yes, we fought 'communism', but it was embodied in a state, the Soviet Union.

... and that insignificant backwater that has a quarter of the planet's population, hollywood blacklisting, Verona Project...

Everything on the Wolf list is either primarily a new development or a new alarming runaway trend.

It comes in waves, but nothing she's mentioning here is new at all. There's a rich history of all ten occuring here for the length of the existence of the country.

tommydski wrote:

alex maiolo wrote:The guy killed 6 million in camps, you know? Only Stalin compares.

Pol Pot deserves a dishonourable mention I guess.

Yes. I might start playing the Pol Pot Card.

Incidentally, the 'Hitler Card' is correctly known as Godwin's Law.

Dude THANKS for reminding me. I completely forgot about this!
I love it.

-A