Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

[John Simkin]

I highly recommend this article by Naomi Wolf. As she points out: "From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms.... and George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2063979,00.html

[Sid Walker]

I highly recommend this article by Naomi Wolf. As she points out: "From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms.... and George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2063979,00.html

"Fascist America, in 10 easy steps"

Suggested subtitle for Naomi's article: "A left-wing critique of the current US Government and the lurch towards authoritarianism that doesn't mention Zionism, the Israel Lobby or neocons even once.

Quite an achievement really.

I'm sorry to sound a discordant note, but to me this article is > 90% obfuscation and < 10% illumination.

Ms Wolf's second point - 'Create a Gulag' - makes we wonder if we grew up on the same planet. In which 'fascist' country did that term originate?

Point 8 is ludicrous. The author makes no case whatsoever that the Bush Administration is even close to controlling the press - nor could she, becuase it is clearly not true. Skirting around who actually may exercise control over the press, she speaks about 'lies' as though the Dubya gang invented them - then she writes: "In a fascist system, it's not the lies that count but the muddying. When citizens can't tell real news from fake, they give up their demands for accountability bit by bit." On that basis, Naomi, America has been fascist since AT LEAST late November 1963.

All in all, this is left gatekeeping in the Chomsky / Monbiot tradition, IMO.

I'd say more about what I believe to be her distorted historical analysis, but having not been called a 'fascist' myself all day, this time I'll quit while I'm ahead.

[Guest Stephen Turner]

I highly recommend this article by Naomi Wolf. As she points out: "From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms.... and George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2063979,00.html

John, you beat me to the punch. Of course much of what Ms Klien witnesses in America is also happening, on a smaller scale, in the UK, Further, should the Neo-Con Sarkozy beat Royal in the Presidential elections in France, I suspect something of a very similar "facist Lite" nature will soon be occuring accross the English channel