Last time I stopped off, I was on the fifth step on the road to fascism, which is to harass citizens' groups. In the fascist shift, one of the main goals is to suppress any dissenting voices. Here in America, several citizens' group have been harassed and infiltrated. The American Civil Liberties Union reports that thousands of anti-war, environmental, and others have been infiltrated by agents.
H.R. 1955 is also defining terrorism in a much broader sense, and is aiming to terminate ideologically-based violence and homegrown terrorism in the United States. This bill gives the government the right to say who is performing a terroristic operation. For example, the government could say that leading an anti-war rally is against what America is attempting to achieve, and therefore they are a terrorist organization.
The sixth step is to engage is arbitrary detention and release. Pro-democracy activists in China were arrested and released several times. There is frequently a "list" of dissidents and opposition leaders: and once you're on the list, you can't get off.
Does this "list" sound familiar to you? In 2004, America's Transportation Security Administration confirmed that it had a list of passengers who were targeted for security searches or worse if they tried to fly. Names on the list include Senator Edward Kennedy, a member of Venezuela's government, and thousands of ordinary American citizens.
Targeting key individuals is the seventh step in a fascist shift. Mussolini went after rectors of state universities who refused to correspond to the fascist line. Joseph Goebbels purged academics who were not pro-Nazi.
The Bush administration purged eight US Attorneys for what has been apparent political disloyalty. When Goebells eradicated the civil service in 1933, the attorneys were "coordinated" as well, a step that paved the way for more brutal laws to follow.
All dictators and would-be dictators target newspapers and journalists, and controlling the press is the eighth step. The Committee to Protect Journalists says arrests of US journalists is at an all-time high. Both CBS and the Associated Press in Iraq had staff members seized by US military and sent to violent prisons. The news organizations were unable to see the evidence against their staffers.
You won't have a shutdown of news in modern America. But you can have a steady stream of news polluting the news as well. A string of false information is already being delivered by the White House. For example, there was a false charge that Saddam Hussein had acquired yellowcake uranium from Niger. In a fascist society, it's not the lies that count by the muddying. When citizens can't tell real news from fake, they give up demands for accountability.
The ninth step towards a fascist society is to cast dissent as "treason". When Bill Keller, the publisher of the New York times, ran the Lichtblau/Risen stories, Bush called the leaking of classified information "disgraceful", while may right-wing commentators started by a "treason" drumbeat. Republicans in Congress even called for Keller to be charged with treason.
In the Soviet Union, dissidents were "enemies of the people". National Socialists called people who supported Weimar democracy "November traitors". When Congress foolishly passed with Military Commissions Act of 2006, the president has been endowed with the power to call anyone an "enemy combatant", ship you or me to a navy brig, and keep you or me in extreme isolation while awaiting trial. Most Americans are not willing to believe or accept this, even though it is true. But I never said anything would be easy. I'm saying it's the truth.
The tenth and final step towards a fascist society is to suspend the rule of law. While Americans are focusing on Britney Spears' meltdown, laws that take a dagger to the heart of democracy have been passed in Washington. The Patriot Act and H.R. 1955 have broadened the definition of terrorism and restricted our freedom. Another House Resolution which can also change America is House Resolution 888. I don't want to speak on it right now, but I would like to encourage you to research it. I'll end this post with a quote from the movie The Matrix, in an explanation that showcases why I don't want to tell you about H-Res. 888.
"I'm trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it." - Morpheus
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