January 28, 2005
180 MILLION FASCISTICS CAN'T BE WRONG:
God and guns: Bush’s inauguration speech was a declaration of holy war (Boston Phoenix)
As we already know from bitter experience, Bush’s idea of supporting freedom and democracy is increasingly close to fascistic. His ideology is a combination of two strains: the small-town Republicanism he absorbed growing up in Midland, Texas, and the born-again Christianity he embraced when he turned 40. Bush’s entire world-view appears to have been shaped by these two experiences — as well as colored by a petulant sense of entitlement derived from membership in the imperial Bush family — and he has devoted much of his presidency to imposing that view on others. His narrow vision, combined with his overweening hubris, calls to mind the ludicrous words of Nebraska senator Kenneth Wherry, who in 1940 said, " With God’s help, we will lift Shanghai up and up, ever up, until it is just like Kansas City. " Fallujah is not like Midland yet, but Bush intends to keep trying.Critics who possess the maturity and wisdom that Bush lacks were quick to point out the dangers of Bush’s desire to force democracy upon the world.
I see Brownshirts.... Posted by Orrin Judd at January 28, 2005 12:42 PM
"Supporting freedom and democracy is fascistic." Right. I think the color of the sky in his world just turned plaid.
Posted by: Mikey at January 28, 2005 12:47 PMKenneth Wherry was a senator, who became minority leader. He and his fellow Nebraska Senator Butler were supporters of McCarthy. Senator Butler said of Dean Acheson (truman's Sec of State)
"I look at that fellow, I watch his smart-aleck manner and his British clothes and that New Dealism in everything he says and does, and I want to shout, 'Get out! Get out! You stand for everything that has been wrong in the United States for years!"
I guess they were both rather ludicrous.
Being from Boston myself, that is the local "punk scene" newspaper. This article doesn't surprise me in the least - and was probably written by some music student from Berkley (they have a Berkley school of music in boston).
So, all I'm saying is don't make the mistake of thinking this represents either 1) a serious viewpoint 2) someone who can be taken seriously or 3) representative of more than 2% of the Boston population.
Those are the grains of salt.
Posted by: fat kid at January 28, 2005 1:24 PM"Fascist" simply means "scary" to the BP's readership. True as far as it goes: lots of things are scary. Parents, homework, looking for a job, having to keep a job... the list just goes on and on. Personally if I were surrounded by so much creeping scariness I'd blame Bush too.
Posted by: joe shropshire at January 28, 2005 1:37 PMWell, our armed forces do wear brown cammo in Iraq....
Posted by: Sandy P at January 28, 2005 1:54 PMWhy, he was right about the Red Dean.
Posted by: oj at January 28, 2005 2:54 PMI think h-man may have found a new masthead for your site.
Posted by: joe shropshire at January 28, 2005 3:48 PMVisualize how they will howl when democracy is forced on the judiciary.
Posted by: LUCIFEROUS at January 28, 2005 5:01 PMHave we found Dean A in the KGB archives yet?
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at January 28, 2005 7:50 PMh-man:
On the other hand, we Nebraskans had Senator Carl Curtis, who spent his career fighting big-government liberalism and whose Regnery-published book Forty Years Against the Tide contained an introduction by Russell Kirk.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at January 28, 2005 8:03 PMOh, and no quote from any Nebraska senator will ever top this one from Roman Hruska, made in response to the charge that Nixon Supreme Court appointee G. Harold Carswell was mediocre:
"Even if he was mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance?
A long legislative career and this is the only thing he's widely known for.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at January 28, 2005 8:09 PMMatt
"Ludicrous" was the word used in the original post. My own view is one of admiration for all of the Senators mentioned.
Posted by: h-man at January 29, 2005 5:55 AM