Anarcho-Communist
18th June 2005, 04:20
1.) 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.
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/images/bushdoll.jpghttp://www.oldamericancentury.org/shockand_we.jpeghttp://www.oldamericancentury.org/lets-roll-s.jpg
"Bring 'em on!" (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMAUS/GMA030707Tommy_Franks.html) and let's not forget the failed "Bring 'em on!"
American Nation Brainwashed: I spoke to some 2,000 students during their annual lecture at a Baptist college in Pennsylvania. After a short prayer service for peace centered on the Beatitudes, I took the stage and got right to the point. “Now let me get this straight,” I said. “Jesus says, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’ which means he does not say, ‘Blessed are the warmakers,’ - With that, the place exploded, and 500 students stormed out. The rest of them then started chanting, “Bush! Bush! Bush!”
2.) 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.
Cheney comes out in favor of keeping Gitmo
Bush, Cheney Attack Amnesty International
"For Amnesty International to suggest that somehow the United States is a violator of human rights, I frankly just don't take them seriously.": Bush calls Amnesty International's "gulag" report absurd (three times in two sentences)
Guantanamo Judge: “I don’t care about international law. I don’t want to hear the words ‘international law’ again. We are not concerned with international law.”
Rumsfeld to approve new guidelines that will formalize the administration's policy of imprisoning without the protections of the Geneva Conventions and enable the Pentagon to legally hold "ghost detainees,"
US 'preparing to detain terror suspects for life without trial'
U.S. oks evidence gained through torture.
The Bush administration has concluded for the first time that some non-Iraqi prisoners captured by American forces in Iraq are not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions
July 1, 2003: U.S. Suspends Military Aid to Nearly 50 Countries: because they have supported the International Criminal Court and failed to exempt Americans from possible prosecution.
US has at least 9000 prisoners in secret detention
U.S. listed as cause of most human rights abuses
More...
3.) 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.
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/slander.jpg
Slander: Liberal lies...
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/howtotalk.jpg
How to talk to a liberal (if you must)
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/deliver.jpg
Deliver us...defeating terrorism, despotism, and liberalism
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/savage.jpg
The Enemy Within: Saving America from the liberal assault in our schools, faith and military
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/reckless.jpg
Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undercut Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our Security
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/persecution.jpg
Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity
Congressman: Muslims 'enemy amongst us'
SB 24, Ohio law to muzzle "liberals"
Britain's War On Islam: "We Will Blow Your Son's head Off" they say. File may take a moment to load. Flash presentation. "We Will Blow Your Son's head Off" (http://www.oldamericancentury.org/fox_endj.jpeg)
World history textbook used by seventh-graders at Scottsdale’s Mohave Middle School was pulled from classrooms mid-semester amid growing criticism of the book’s portrayal of Islam
How U.S. Attorney-General, a Christian Evangelist With Anti-Islamic Views On Record, Is Waging War On American Muslims
Dr. James J. Zogby: A co-ordinated and bigoted assault The anti-Arab campaign being waged today in the U.S. is an organised multi-pronged effort targeting a variety of Arab leaders, institutions and Islam.
America's freedoms are being challenged by anti-Muslim hysteria and abuses of the Patriot Act, said a convert to Islam and former Army chaplain
4.) 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.
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/fy05.gif
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/images/budget_pie.gif
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/images3/USvsWorld2004Top25.gif
If you haven't seen the Oreo flash animation yet, see it here
Bush budget: Military wins: Bush proposed a $2.57 trillion budget for 2006 on Monday that would erase scores of programs, cull savings from Medicaid and cut housing for the disabled and many other programs. Its fate will be decided by Congress over coming months.
Bush’s Domestic Program Hit List
CIA in decline, Pentagon on the rise: The recent revelation that the Department of Defense has been operating its own espionage arm for the last two years confirms Rumsfeld’s success in sidelining the CIA.
Three cable channels now feed news, information and entertainment about the armed services into millions of living rooms 24 hours a day, seven days a week: The Military Channel, the Military History Channel and the Pentagon Channel.
Pentagon to spend 75 billion for three new brigades
President Bush Wipes Out Vocational and Gifted Education; Gives Special Education Short Shrift. "Under this budget, our children with disabilities and our children with gifts and talents will be left behind."
The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War
5.) Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
It's legal again, to fire gov't workers for being gay
Bush calls for Constitutional ban on same-sex marriages
Bush refuses to sign U.N proposal on women's "sexual" rights
W. David Hager chairman of the FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory
Committee does not prescribe contraceptives for single women, does not do abortions, will not prescribe RU-486 and will not insert IUDs. Hager believes that headaches, PMS and eating disorders can be cured by reading Scripture.
The State Department has awarded an explicitly anti-feminist U.S. group part of a US$10 million grant to train Iraqi women in political participation and democracy.
6.) Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes the 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.
Smoking Gun Memo? Iraq Bombshell Goes Mostly Unreported in US Media
FOX NEWS ADMITS BIAS Scott Norvell is London bureau chief for Fox News, and on May 20 he let the mask slip in, of all places, the Wall Street Journal. So far, the damage has been contained, because Norvell's comments -- in an op-ed he wrote decrying left-wing bias at the BBC -- appeared only in the Journal's European edition.
Free Press details recent governmental propaganda efforts, from faux-correspondent Jeff Gannon to paid-off pundit Armstrong Williams, and from the demise of FOIA to video news releases passed off as news.
Conservative columnist discloses CIA operative's name, liberal reporters face jail time
Chain of TV and radio station donates $300,000 worth of airtime to GOP
candidates for free last-minute political ads
US seizes webservers from independent media sites
Bush's war on information: US editors forbidden to publish certain foreign writers
Bush administration violated federal law by producing and distributing television news segments about the effects of drug use among young people. The GAO said the videos "constitute covert propaganda" because the government was not identified as the source of the materials
7.) Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/elev.jpeg
Bush Aides ADMIT 'stoking fear' for political gain
GOP convention in a nutshell
The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says.
Bush nominates new commissioner of FDA in attempt to combat "food terrorism"
Wolfowitz sees his placement as head of World Bank as way to fight terrorism
U.S. Set to Test Missile Defenses for Commercial Airliners
Cheney warns that if Kerry is elected, the USA will suffer a "devastating attack"
Former counterterrorism chief claims that the now- discredited documents that showed Iraq trying to purchase uranium were fabricated right here in the United States
"We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security," Ridge said last year. Evidence suggests otherwise
Senate to pass a bill exempting Department of Homeland Security from all judicial oversight.
Picking up where Tom Ridge left off, Dept of Homeland Security issues another vague, non-specific warning
A scared populace is a compliant populace Terrorists are likely planning U.S. attacks, a U.S. Homeland Security official said Friday.
8.) 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.
NC congressman proposes law making it ok to preach politics from the pulpit
Texas Governor Mobilizes Evangelicals
Family research council: Justice Sunday
Law would put 'In God We Trust' in schools: A proposed law, now awaiting action in the state House, would require the motto to appear in every public school classroom, auditorium and cafeteria in Pennsylvania
New York Times reports on conference "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith
Christian conservatives, led by some top Republicans, are stepping up their assault on the U.S. judiciary, saying judges are attacking religion and must be reined in
Tom "The Hammer" DeLay says U.S. need not separate church, state
Thou shalt be like Bush: What makes this recently established, right-wing Christian college unique are the increasingly close - critics say alarmingly close - links it has with the Bush administration and the Republican establishment.
Park Service Continues to Push Creationist Theory at Grand Canyon and other nat'l parks
9.) 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.
Supreme Court overturns Arthur Andersen conviction
Congress rejects proposal to investigate Iraq's war profiteers
Off the Hook: Deferred Prosecution Agreements On the Rise: Ten major American corporations settled serious criminal charges with deferred prosecution, no prosecution, or de facto no prosecution agreements over the last two years
Shadowy lobbyists ignore rules and exploit connections -- and their industry of influence nets almost $13 billion.
Fortune 500 companies that invested millions of dollars in electing Republicans are emerging as the earliest beneficiaries of a government controlled by President Bush
The Supreme Court overturns the conviction of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm for destroying Enron Corp.-related documents before the energy giant's collapse
White House helps Halliburton send their audit through the wash before presenting it to the UN
Bankruptcy ''reform" bill written by credit card companies: The bill makes it harder for ordinary people crushed by debt (often medical debt) to start anew. It leaves intact dodges used by wealthy people, such as asset-hiding trusts, and the corporate ability to use bankruptcy to slash wages, evade pension responsibilities, and stiff creditors.
10.) 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.
Schwarzenegger steps up attacks on labor unions in California
Labor Department warns unions against using their money politically
Basics on New Financial Reporting Rules for Unions Proposed by the Department of Labor
Organized labor locks horns with White House
President Bush Attacks Organized Labor Bush attacked organized labor Saturday, issuing orders effectively reducing how much money unions can spend for political activities and opening up government contracts to non-union bidding.
March 2001: President Bush signed his name to four executive orders on organized labor last month, including one that cuts the money unions will have for political campaign spending.
Congress and the Department of Labor are trying to change the rules on overtime pay, eliminating the 40 hour work week, taking eligibility for overtime pay away from millions of workers, and replacing time and a half pay with comp days.
11.) 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 is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
Bush's new economic plan cuts funding for arts, education
Artists from all over the world are being refused entry to the US on security grounds.
Jeb Bush calls author of bill banning professors from being too liberal as a "freedom fighter"
A group of more than 60 top U.S. scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates and several science advisers to past Republican presidents, on Wednesday accused the Bush administration of manipulating and censoring science for political purposes
12.) 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
Snitch-or-Go-to-Jail bill will make pretty much anything short of reporting on everyone you see for doing just about anything a jailable offense. With minimum sentences, up to and including life without parole.
Report: Thousands wrongly convicted each year: Thousands of suspects unable to afford lawyers are wrongly convicted each year because they are pressured to accept guilty pleas or have incompetent attorneys, the American Bar Association says in a report.
The problem with Gonzales is that he has been deeply involved in developing some of the most sweeping claims of near-dictatorial presidential power in our nation's history, allowing him to imprison and even (at least in theory) torture anyone in the world, at any time
Police officers don't have to give a reason at the time they arrest someone, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a ruling that shields officers from false-arrest lawsuits.
13.) 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.
Bush Cronyism: Foxes Guarding the henhouse
Iran-Contra Felons Get Good Jobs from Bush
Big Iraq Reconstruction Contracts Went To Big Donors
Bush Wars -- Crooks Get Contracts : The main companies that were awarded billions of dollars worth of contracts in Iraq have paid more than $300 million in fines since 2000, to resolve allegations of fraud, bid rigging, delivery of faulty military equipment, and environmental damage.
US Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) lost track of $9 billion
14. 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.
The Conyers Report (.pdf) (http://oldamericancentury.org/ohiostatusrept1505.pdf)
The complete POAC collection of 2004 election stories
Consultant who destroyed Democratic voter registration forms says his GOP clients are "very proud" of his company's actions
RNC funds voter suppression efforts in at least 5 states
Republican judge upholds RNC efforts to supress Democratic party voters
Bush campaign chairman quits over illegal phone jamming
the 2000 election
How To Rig An Election In The United States
Scoop: Diebold Memos Disclose Florida 2000 E-Voting Fraud
Because of a Help America Act passed after the 2000 election, by 2006, every state will use e-voting.
Election officials all over the country are erecting illegal barriers to keep young voters from casting ballots. From New Hampshire to California, officials have designed complex questionnaires that prevent college students from registering, hired high-powered attorneys to keep them off the rolls, shut down polling places on campuses and even threatened to arrest and imprison young voters
Florida 2000: "I'm with the Bush-Cheney team, and I'm here to stop the count."
This picture is what stopped the ballot recounts in Florida shortly after it seemed that legitimate President Gore had a lead. The "citizens" started what was later called "the preppy riot". Screaming, yelling, pounding on the walls, these "outraged citizens" intimidated the polling officials to halt the court mandated recount. A closer look reveals who they really were. They were bussed and flown in at Republican lawmakers expense. Some even flew in on Tom Delay's private plane.
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.
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/images/bushdoll.jpghttp://www.oldamericancentury.org/shockand_we.jpeghttp://www.oldamericancentury.org/lets-roll-s.jpg
"Bring 'em on!" (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMAUS/GMA030707Tommy_Franks.html) and let's not forget the failed "Bring 'em on!"
American Nation Brainwashed: I spoke to some 2,000 students during their annual lecture at a Baptist college in Pennsylvania. After a short prayer service for peace centered on the Beatitudes, I took the stage and got right to the point. “Now let me get this straight,” I said. “Jesus says, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’ which means he does not say, ‘Blessed are the warmakers,’ - With that, the place exploded, and 500 students stormed out. The rest of them then started chanting, “Bush! Bush! Bush!”
2.) 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.
Cheney comes out in favor of keeping Gitmo
Bush, Cheney Attack Amnesty International
"For Amnesty International to suggest that somehow the United States is a violator of human rights, I frankly just don't take them seriously.": Bush calls Amnesty International's "gulag" report absurd (three times in two sentences)
Guantanamo Judge: “I don’t care about international law. I don’t want to hear the words ‘international law’ again. We are not concerned with international law.”
Rumsfeld to approve new guidelines that will formalize the administration's policy of imprisoning without the protections of the Geneva Conventions and enable the Pentagon to legally hold "ghost detainees,"
US 'preparing to detain terror suspects for life without trial'
U.S. oks evidence gained through torture.
The Bush administration has concluded for the first time that some non-Iraqi prisoners captured by American forces in Iraq are not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions
July 1, 2003: U.S. Suspends Military Aid to Nearly 50 Countries: because they have supported the International Criminal Court and failed to exempt Americans from possible prosecution.
US has at least 9000 prisoners in secret detention
U.S. listed as cause of most human rights abuses
More...
3.) 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.
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/slander.jpg
Slander: Liberal lies...
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/howtotalk.jpg
How to talk to a liberal (if you must)
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/deliver.jpg
Deliver us...defeating terrorism, despotism, and liberalism
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/savage.jpg
The Enemy Within: Saving America from the liberal assault in our schools, faith and military
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/reckless.jpg
Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undercut Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our Security
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/persecution.jpg
Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity
Congressman: Muslims 'enemy amongst us'
SB 24, Ohio law to muzzle "liberals"
Britain's War On Islam: "We Will Blow Your Son's head Off" they say. File may take a moment to load. Flash presentation. "We Will Blow Your Son's head Off" (http://www.oldamericancentury.org/fox_endj.jpeg)
World history textbook used by seventh-graders at Scottsdale’s Mohave Middle School was pulled from classrooms mid-semester amid growing criticism of the book’s portrayal of Islam
How U.S. Attorney-General, a Christian Evangelist With Anti-Islamic Views On Record, Is Waging War On American Muslims
Dr. James J. Zogby: A co-ordinated and bigoted assault The anti-Arab campaign being waged today in the U.S. is an organised multi-pronged effort targeting a variety of Arab leaders, institutions and Islam.
America's freedoms are being challenged by anti-Muslim hysteria and abuses of the Patriot Act, said a convert to Islam and former Army chaplain
4.) 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.
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/fy05.gif
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/images/budget_pie.gif
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/images3/USvsWorld2004Top25.gif
If you haven't seen the Oreo flash animation yet, see it here
Bush budget: Military wins: Bush proposed a $2.57 trillion budget for 2006 on Monday that would erase scores of programs, cull savings from Medicaid and cut housing for the disabled and many other programs. Its fate will be decided by Congress over coming months.
Bush’s Domestic Program Hit List
CIA in decline, Pentagon on the rise: The recent revelation that the Department of Defense has been operating its own espionage arm for the last two years confirms Rumsfeld’s success in sidelining the CIA.
Three cable channels now feed news, information and entertainment about the armed services into millions of living rooms 24 hours a day, seven days a week: The Military Channel, the Military History Channel and the Pentagon Channel.
Pentagon to spend 75 billion for three new brigades
President Bush Wipes Out Vocational and Gifted Education; Gives Special Education Short Shrift. "Under this budget, our children with disabilities and our children with gifts and talents will be left behind."
The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War
5.) Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
It's legal again, to fire gov't workers for being gay
Bush calls for Constitutional ban on same-sex marriages
Bush refuses to sign U.N proposal on women's "sexual" rights
W. David Hager chairman of the FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory
Committee does not prescribe contraceptives for single women, does not do abortions, will not prescribe RU-486 and will not insert IUDs. Hager believes that headaches, PMS and eating disorders can be cured by reading Scripture.
The State Department has awarded an explicitly anti-feminist U.S. group part of a US$10 million grant to train Iraqi women in political participation and democracy.
6.) Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes the 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.
Smoking Gun Memo? Iraq Bombshell Goes Mostly Unreported in US Media
FOX NEWS ADMITS BIAS Scott Norvell is London bureau chief for Fox News, and on May 20 he let the mask slip in, of all places, the Wall Street Journal. So far, the damage has been contained, because Norvell's comments -- in an op-ed he wrote decrying left-wing bias at the BBC -- appeared only in the Journal's European edition.
Free Press details recent governmental propaganda efforts, from faux-correspondent Jeff Gannon to paid-off pundit Armstrong Williams, and from the demise of FOIA to video news releases passed off as news.
Conservative columnist discloses CIA operative's name, liberal reporters face jail time
Chain of TV and radio station donates $300,000 worth of airtime to GOP
candidates for free last-minute political ads
US seizes webservers from independent media sites
Bush's war on information: US editors forbidden to publish certain foreign writers
Bush administration violated federal law by producing and distributing television news segments about the effects of drug use among young people. The GAO said the videos "constitute covert propaganda" because the government was not identified as the source of the materials
7.) Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/elev.jpeg
Bush Aides ADMIT 'stoking fear' for political gain
GOP convention in a nutshell
The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says.
Bush nominates new commissioner of FDA in attempt to combat "food terrorism"
Wolfowitz sees his placement as head of World Bank as way to fight terrorism
U.S. Set to Test Missile Defenses for Commercial Airliners
Cheney warns that if Kerry is elected, the USA will suffer a "devastating attack"
Former counterterrorism chief claims that the now- discredited documents that showed Iraq trying to purchase uranium were fabricated right here in the United States
"We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security," Ridge said last year. Evidence suggests otherwise
Senate to pass a bill exempting Department of Homeland Security from all judicial oversight.
Picking up where Tom Ridge left off, Dept of Homeland Security issues another vague, non-specific warning
A scared populace is a compliant populace Terrorists are likely planning U.S. attacks, a U.S. Homeland Security official said Friday.
8.) 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.
NC congressman proposes law making it ok to preach politics from the pulpit
Texas Governor Mobilizes Evangelicals
Family research council: Justice Sunday
Law would put 'In God We Trust' in schools: A proposed law, now awaiting action in the state House, would require the motto to appear in every public school classroom, auditorium and cafeteria in Pennsylvania
New York Times reports on conference "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith
Christian conservatives, led by some top Republicans, are stepping up their assault on the U.S. judiciary, saying judges are attacking religion and must be reined in
Tom "The Hammer" DeLay says U.S. need not separate church, state
Thou shalt be like Bush: What makes this recently established, right-wing Christian college unique are the increasingly close - critics say alarmingly close - links it has with the Bush administration and the Republican establishment.
Park Service Continues to Push Creationist Theory at Grand Canyon and other nat'l parks
9.) 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.
Supreme Court overturns Arthur Andersen conviction
Congress rejects proposal to investigate Iraq's war profiteers
Off the Hook: Deferred Prosecution Agreements On the Rise: Ten major American corporations settled serious criminal charges with deferred prosecution, no prosecution, or de facto no prosecution agreements over the last two years
Shadowy lobbyists ignore rules and exploit connections -- and their industry of influence nets almost $13 billion.
Fortune 500 companies that invested millions of dollars in electing Republicans are emerging as the earliest beneficiaries of a government controlled by President Bush
The Supreme Court overturns the conviction of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm for destroying Enron Corp.-related documents before the energy giant's collapse
White House helps Halliburton send their audit through the wash before presenting it to the UN
Bankruptcy ''reform" bill written by credit card companies: The bill makes it harder for ordinary people crushed by debt (often medical debt) to start anew. It leaves intact dodges used by wealthy people, such as asset-hiding trusts, and the corporate ability to use bankruptcy to slash wages, evade pension responsibilities, and stiff creditors.
10.) 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.
Schwarzenegger steps up attacks on labor unions in California
Labor Department warns unions against using their money politically
Basics on New Financial Reporting Rules for Unions Proposed by the Department of Labor
Organized labor locks horns with White House
President Bush Attacks Organized Labor Bush attacked organized labor Saturday, issuing orders effectively reducing how much money unions can spend for political activities and opening up government contracts to non-union bidding.
March 2001: President Bush signed his name to four executive orders on organized labor last month, including one that cuts the money unions will have for political campaign spending.
Congress and the Department of Labor are trying to change the rules on overtime pay, eliminating the 40 hour work week, taking eligibility for overtime pay away from millions of workers, and replacing time and a half pay with comp days.
11.) 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 is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
Bush's new economic plan cuts funding for arts, education
Artists from all over the world are being refused entry to the US on security grounds.
Jeb Bush calls author of bill banning professors from being too liberal as a "freedom fighter"
A group of more than 60 top U.S. scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates and several science advisers to past Republican presidents, on Wednesday accused the Bush administration of manipulating and censoring science for political purposes
12.) 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
Snitch-or-Go-to-Jail bill will make pretty much anything short of reporting on everyone you see for doing just about anything a jailable offense. With minimum sentences, up to and including life without parole.
Report: Thousands wrongly convicted each year: Thousands of suspects unable to afford lawyers are wrongly convicted each year because they are pressured to accept guilty pleas or have incompetent attorneys, the American Bar Association says in a report.
The problem with Gonzales is that he has been deeply involved in developing some of the most sweeping claims of near-dictatorial presidential power in our nation's history, allowing him to imprison and even (at least in theory) torture anyone in the world, at any time
Police officers don't have to give a reason at the time they arrest someone, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a ruling that shields officers from false-arrest lawsuits.
13.) 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.
Bush Cronyism: Foxes Guarding the henhouse
Iran-Contra Felons Get Good Jobs from Bush
Big Iraq Reconstruction Contracts Went To Big Donors
Bush Wars -- Crooks Get Contracts : The main companies that were awarded billions of dollars worth of contracts in Iraq have paid more than $300 million in fines since 2000, to resolve allegations of fraud, bid rigging, delivery of faulty military equipment, and environmental damage.
US Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) lost track of $9 billion
14. 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.
The Conyers Report (.pdf) (http://oldamericancentury.org/ohiostatusrept1505.pdf)
The complete POAC collection of 2004 election stories
Consultant who destroyed Democratic voter registration forms says his GOP clients are "very proud" of his company's actions
RNC funds voter suppression efforts in at least 5 states
Republican judge upholds RNC efforts to supress Democratic party voters
Bush campaign chairman quits over illegal phone jamming
the 2000 election
How To Rig An Election In The United States
Scoop: Diebold Memos Disclose Florida 2000 E-Voting Fraud
Because of a Help America Act passed after the 2000 election, by 2006, every state will use e-voting.
Election officials all over the country are erecting illegal barriers to keep young voters from casting ballots. From New Hampshire to California, officials have designed complex questionnaires that prevent college students from registering, hired high-powered attorneys to keep them off the rolls, shut down polling places on campuses and even threatened to arrest and imprison young voters
Florida 2000: "I'm with the Bush-Cheney team, and I'm here to stop the count."
This picture is what stopped the ballot recounts in Florida shortly after it seemed that legitimate President Gore had a lead. The "citizens" started what was later called "the preppy riot". Screaming, yelling, pounding on the walls, these "outraged citizens" intimidated the polling officials to halt the court mandated recount. A closer look reveals who they really were. They were bussed and flown in at Republican lawmakers expense. Some even flew in on Tom Delay's private plane.