Mikaela says:
Okay, after reading Maggie's recommendation for the mortgage crisis, the next on my list is Naomi Wolf's End of America, her historical exploration of the steps toward establishing fascist control over nations -- Italy, Germany, Russia, Czechoslovakia, etc.
She argues we're on a fast pace to establishing the first 10 steps.
- Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy = Islamic Fanaticism / Terrorism
- Create a gulag = Abu Gharib / Guantanamo / CIA secret prisons
- Develop a thug caste = Blackwater mercenaries
- Set up an internal surveillance system = Patriot Act & domestic spying
- Harass citizens' groups = Infiltration of anti-war groups and others by FBI, police groups
- Engage in arbitrary detention and release = no fly lists, terrorist watch lists, etc.
- Target key individuals = Valerie Plame, whistleblowers, etc.
- Control the press = embedded journalists, retaliation ag. reporters, muddying the news w/ false info
- Dissent equals treason = popular newsbite about civil rights defenders, war protestors, etc.
- Suspend the rule of law = John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007, allowing President to declare martial law for an "emergency" and send in national guard troops from one state to another -- military force to control a civilian population, even over the objections of that State's leadership. (Sounds like freedom to me!)
You can listen to her talk to Amy Goodman about her book yesterday on Democracy Now, or read the summary version of her steps in a Guardian article (which includes a great explanation of how this threat is not just from the right, but that all administrations in power will be tempted to abuse what they can control once the system has been established). Or buy her book at Amazon.
Or all three.
Why is it important? Because these are threats we've faced before -- maybe will always face -- and there are things each of us can do now at this crucial moment to avoid what's only unavoidable if we do nothing to stop it...
The Patriot's Task:
NAOMI WOLF: Well, the patriot’s task is, first, wake up. I mean, all around the world, democracy activists who are familiar with these same ten steps are sort of waving their arms at us, going, “No! You know, recognize this.” You don’t make it easier for the President to declare martial law, as we just did with the 2007 Defense Authorization Act. You don’t make it easier for the President to lock up political opponents in a cell or strip people of habeas corpus. No, you don’t make it easier for the President to have a paramilitary force like Blackwater, composed of hand-selected torturers and murderers from countries like Chile and Nigeria and El Salvador, where they're trained to torture their own civilians. You know, you don’t set them loose in Illinois and Southern California and North Carolina. No! Bad idea! So, first, you wake up. You see the blueprint.
Finally, we have to -- we started the americanfreedomcampaign.org. It’s a democracy movement to restore the rule of law. We're calling for lawyers across the country and citizens to call for hearings, special prosecutor, identify the crimes, impeach and prosecute, and save the country.
Here's a founding father's take on tyranny. You can judge for yourself just what it is that Bush & Co. really want for themselves:
"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands ... is the definition of tyranny." -- James Madison
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