For several years I've referred to the Republican party as America's answer to 1930s fascism. One can see the genesis of this shift as far back as the Reagan administration when the "religious right" and "moral majority" allied themselves more closely with the party and successfully co-opted parts of the Republican agenda. The "Reagan Revolution," in fact, signalled the death of an older, more obviously patrician Republican party and underscored the changing currents of partisan politics in this country. Sure, the party maintained its close ties to the American corporate monolith. Yet the Republicans now sported a fresh coat of mean-spiritedness and moral self-righteousness that fed on the prejudices of its most ignorant grassroots supporters.
Now we have an administration that cloaks itself in the mantle of moral rectitude
and hyper-patriotism. And, using those issues to justify its actions, the Bush administration has unsettled the historic balance between the co-equal branches of government and thoroughly abused executive authority as defined in the constitution.
Thanks to Cheney and Rove, this administration has thrown up a curtain of secrecy that rivals anything the Soviets could produce in the 60s and 70s. Moreover, their usurpation of some the most basic, Constitutionally-protected rights of citizens is criminal. Add the purging of our judicial system, the torture of prisoners, and spying on ordinary citizens - practices justified under the guise of "national security" or the "war on terror" - and one can detect the first stirrings of a nascent fascist state. Although I realize Congress doesn't have the moral wherewhital to pursue this course, Bush and Cheney should be impeached, convicted, and removed from office. They should be held accountable for the wasted lives of our American military personnel and sent to jail for their lies.
For several years I've referred to the Republican party as America's answer to 1930s fascism. One can see the genesis of this shift as far back as the Reagan administration when the "religious right" and "moral majority" allied themselves more closely with the party and successfully co-opted parts of the Republican agenda. The "Reagan Revolution," in fact, signalled the death of an older, more obviously patrician Republican party and underscored the changing currents of partisan politics in this country. Sure, the party maintained its close ties to the American corporate monolith. Yet the Republicans now sported a fresh coat of mean-spiritedness and moral self-righteousness that fed on the prejudices of its most ignorant grassroots supporters.
Now we have an administration that cloaks itself in the mantle of moral rectitude and hyper-patriotism. And, using those issues to justify its actions, the Bush administration has unsettled the historic balance between the co-equal branches of government and thoroughly abused executive authority as defined in the constitution.
Thanks to Cheney and Rove, this administration has thrown up a curtain of secrecy that rivals anything the Soviets could produce in the 60s and 70s. Moreover, their usurpation of some the most basic, Constitutionally-protected rights of citizens is criminal. Add the purging of our judicial system, the torture of prisoners, and spying on ordinary citizens - practices justified under the guise of "national security" or the "war on terror" - and one can detect the first stirrings of a nascent fascist state. Although I realize Congress doesn't have the moral wherewhital to pursue this course, Bush and Cheney should be impeached, convicted, and removed from office. They should be held accountable for the wasted lives of our American military personnel and sent to jail for their lies.
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