Fascism American Style

And on a star-spangled night, my love,
You can place your rights on the fireplace....
And by the dawn's early light, my love,
Your constitution's turned to dust....
Fascism American Style,
That's me and you!

Howdy, folks! Come to where the furor is! Welcome to fascist country!

The combined strength of American corporate and military power, forcing itself down the throat of the entire planet is nothing new. In fact, it's been done before. Do you, perchance, remember a guy by the name of Hitler? Do you remember Mussolini? Does that sound like an extreme example? Consider the following quote:

"Fascism should more properly be called 'corporatism' because it is the total merging of corporate and state power".

Study that quote very carefully. It might very well have come out of the pages of the "Project For A New American Century". But that dandy little piece of timeless prose didn't originate from the pen of Paul Wolfowitz. It came straight from the mouth and mind of Benito Mussolini, the father of the modern fascist state.

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. I don't even think we're in America anymore. It certainly isn't the America of John Adams when he wrote, "We go not abroad in search of monsters to slay". It definitely isn't the America of Abraham Lincoln when, on the fields of Gettysburg in November of 1863, he spoke of, "...government of the people, by the people, for the people..." No. This is not the America that I grew up in.

The term "American Century" was coined at the end of World War II by Time Magazine founder, Henry Luce. At that point in history it was clear to everybody that the United States was going to be the leader, militarily and economically, for many years into the future. A little over ten years ago, when it became obvious that the "America Century" was coming to an end, both literally and figuratively, I wondered aloud how the USA, with its history of being just a wee bit reactionary at times, would handle the inevitable shifts in the global and economic situation. Would it act like a grown up and step aside as gracefully as merrie ole England did in the first half of the twentieth century when it became apparent that she was no longer the number one player on the world stage and that America was the new super power? Or would it go into complete denial, get crazy and try to destroy everything it could get its hands on?

Sadly, the administration of George W. Bush gave us the answer to that question.

Pray for peace.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

tomdegan@frontiernet.net