Quote Of The Day

July 30th, 2012

"I'm afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security."

-- Jim Garrison

Quote Of The Day

May 18th, 2012

"Fascism is not defined by the number of its victims, but by the way it kills them."

-- Jean-Paul Sartre

Romney Watch - Et Tu, Mittens?

Feb 22nd, 2012

by F. Grey Parker

Barry Goldwater once said, 

"Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize that religion has no place in public policy. They must learn to make their views known without trying to make their views the only alternatives."

My. How things have changed.

There was a time when I had some regard for Mitt Romney. He once seemed contemplative and fair. There is plenty in his record to respect no matter how much he's running from it lately.

But that's just it... he's really running from it. What's more, what he is running to is un-American.

A few months ago, he was not just the GOP elite establishment's choice. He also seemed the smart choice. Not anymore.

I believe that yesterday, Romney not only sealed the fate of his campaign but also that of his party.

Santorum Watch - Obama Equals Hitler Edition

Feb 21st, 2012

Way back in 2010, while stumping for Republican candidate Pat Toomey, GOP darling and potential 2012 Presidential nominee compared the sitting President to a schoolyard drug dealer and argued that he posed the same threat to the world as Hitler. I shit you not.

Santorum Watch - Just Plain "Wow" Edition

Feb 20th, 2012
by F. Grey Parker

Last week, I had more than a little egg on my face after posting a bit of satire regarding Rick Santorum as if it were factual. When I realized my error, I updated it promptly and left it posted in the interest of disclosure. I do take responsibility for my mistakes.

Was the post I am discussing patently absurd? Yes. But nearly every actual pronouncement from the Santorum campaign has also been absurd. So, yeah, I got fooled. That said... can anyone blame me?

Newt Watch - Full On Fascism

Dec 18th, 2011

Even before Newt Gingrich's remarks regarding the judiciary during the most recent GOP debate (we live-blogged it HERE), he had already provoked criticism over his distorted notions of the separation of powers. Notably, former George W. Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey called them, "dangerous, ridiculous, totally irresponsible, outrageous, off-the-wall and would reduce the entire judicial system to a spectacle."

As has always been the case with Newt, when faced with any intelligent criticism, he doubles down. In a conference call with the press yesterday, he vowed that, as President, he would simply ignore any Supreme Court ruling with which he disagrees.

Russel Berman notes:

"Gingrich’s position represents, in effect, a direct challenge to the interpretation of Marbury v. Madison, the seminal 1803 Supreme Court decision that established the principle of judicial review and cemented the high court as the ultimate arbiter of whether congressional or executive acts are constitutional."

This is classic Gingrich; throw bombs and grin as they go off around our political landscape. We should be used to it.

However, his appearance on today's Face The Nation program was worse than merely reasserting an anti-Constitutional position. When asked about the "practical" dilemmas inherent in his proposal that congressional subpoenas be issued to judges whenever he disagrees with them, he said, "sure," he'd have judges arrested and forcibly compelled to explain themselves... politically.

Quote Of The Day 2 - (actual quote edition)

Dec 11th, 2011
We were punked earlier and posted a false quote. Yeah, we feel crappy about it. We apologize.

"A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends."
-- Henry A. Wallace

Senators Levin and McCain Channel Orwell

Nov 28th, 2011
by F. Grey Parker 

Hey, kids! This could soon be YOU!

Having spent the greater part of yesterday and today pointing out the fact that the McCain/Levin provisions in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, SB 1867, are among the most serious attacks on due process, trial by jury, habeas corpus and a free society in living memory, it was with more than a degree of revulsion that I read their joint op-ed in the Washington Post a short time ago.

In the land of Levin/McCain, up is down, white is black and, yes, freedom is slavery:

"We are concerned that much of the debate over these provisions demonstrates a basic misunderstanding of what this bill would do and attributes to it many things that it would not do."

Apparently, if we think something might be amiss, we are guilty of "misunderstanding."

Would you like to know what the Levin/McCain provision would and would not do? Here goes. If enacted, sections 1031 and 1032 of the NDAA would...

Fact: Explicitly authorize the federal government to indefinitely imprison without charge or trial American citizens and others picked up inside and outside the United States.

Fact: Mandate military detention of some civilians who would otherwise be outside of military control, including civilians picked up within the United States itself

Fact: Transfer to the Department of Defense core prosecutorial, investigative, law enforcement, penal, and custodial authority and responsibility now held by the Department of Justice.
(sourced)

No, no, no, they say. We have it all wrong.

"The most controversial point involves the circumstances under which a terrorist detainee should be held in military, rather than civilian, custody. The bill provides that a narrowly defined group of people — al-Qaeda terrorists who participate in planning or conducting attacks against us — be held in military custody."

Ooooh. Well. That's different. Those subject to these provisions are "narrowly defined." They are "al-Qaeda." According to whom?

"It is the executive branch that determines whether a detainee meets the criteria for military custody, under procedures that this legislation allows the executive branch to develop."

Got it? That's the "criteria." It's the "executive" who decides. That's it. The "executive," whomever that may be, gets to establish the whole structure for a system of vast new powers with a single pen stroke. The Roman Caesars didn't have it this easy this fast. At least the ancient Roman Senate took substantially longer in times of far greater upheaval to give nearly God-like powers to their despots.

Senators Levin and McCain are clearly a little nervous. They seem to have, over the weekend, become aware that, despite the provisons having been agreed upon in secret committee, educated and activist Americans have actually read them. Their response? Blackmail:

"Congress has passed a defense authorization bill every year for five decades. This year’s bill includes pay raises for our troops, funding for equipment to protect them from roadside bombs, and medical care and other benefits for them and their families. It would be extremely unfortunate if disagreements over these detainee provisions prevented us from passing this bill and fulfilling those duties. But it would be tragic if this happened because of misunderstandings about what the bill says and does."

Therefore, if we have reservations about a bill that would provide for the creation of a Gulag culture in America, and in expressing said reservations might hold up the bill, we are being 'anti-troop.'

Of course, patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel... and the fascist.

With all due respect, this is evil. This must be stopped. If it is not, it is a nail in the coffin of our country.

Wow...

Nov 7th, 2011

This isn't new, but it's worth reviewing...

Quote Of The Day

Oct 10th, 2011

"Fascism is capitalism plus murder."
-- Upton Sinclair

Trump - America Should Pillage Libya

Aug 22nd, 2011

With the news that Gaddafi's end is near, those responsible journalists over at Fox & Friends sought the sober and deliberative analysis of renowned foreign policy guru... Donald Trump. Add this to the list of things I can't make up. It's a doozy of a performance. Trump wants to know, since we are the real "victors" here and not those smelly, brown rebels, why can't we just take all their oil?

"You know in the old days, when you win a war, you 'kept to the victor, belongs the spoils.'"

This sentiment is closer to pure Fascism than anything I have heard on Fox in weeks. Lately, that's saying something. Just think, only a short time ago, Fox was fawning over the prospect of a Trump Presidency. Can you imagine? Perhaps his slogan could have been, "It Takes A Pillage."

Quote Of The Day

Aug 19th, 2011

"Fascism is not defined by the number of its victims, but by the way it kills them."
-- Jean-Paul Sartre

Quote Of The Day

Aug 9th, 2011

"The more there are riots, the more repressive action will take place, and the more we face the danger of a right-wing takeover and eventually a fascist society."
-- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Here You Go, Dishonest Coward

August 6th, 2011
by F. Grey Parker

Dana Loesch

In the heady days which followed the Christianist assault on a gathering of youngsters at a youth-in-government Summer camp in Norway, there was a staggering movement by America's rightist Islamophobes to deflect blame.

Any potential blame. So many ugly and misguided articles were published that it was simply stunning.

Nothing, however, was as convoluted as a piece which Dana Loesch posted over at Andy's Joint.

You see, it wasn't enough for Dana to join the right wing chorus of those saying the killer "was not really a Christian." It wasn't enough for Dana to deny that venomous right wing pronouncements might actually have had a real world impact on a warped mind. It wasn't even enough for her to simply get behind all the circled wagons amongst her fellow rightists and make self-serving claims of "censorship" and conservative "victimhood" to avoid a discussion about the power of rhetoric.

The Billionaires' Tea Party - Trailer

April 11th, 2011

Quotes Of The Day - Same As It Ever Was Edition

Feb 28th, 2011

Now

"America's corporate and political elites now form a regime of their own and they're privatizing democracy. All the benefits - the tax cuts, policies and rewards flow in one direction: up." -- Bill Moyers


Then

"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." -- Benito Mussolini

More Serious Ugliness From The USAF

Feb 7th, 2011

The U.S. Air Force has been reacting with far greater reckless alarm to the fact of Wikileaks existence than other branches of the service. It just got worse. From FAS:

"Many government agencies have instructed their employees not to download classified materials from the WikiLeaks web site onto unclassified computer systems.  The government’s position is that although the material is in the public domain, its classification status is unaffected.  Therefore, to preserve the integrity of unclassified systems, the leaked classified information should not be accessed on such systems.  If it is accessed, it should be deleted.

But on February 3, Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base issued startling new guidance stating that the leaked documents are protected by the Espionage Act and that accessing them under any circumstances is against the law, not simply a violation of government computer security policy.

“According to AFMC’s legal office, Air Force members — military or civilian — may not legally access WikiLeaks at home on their personal, non-governmental computers, either. To do so would not only violate the SECAF [Secretary of the Air Force] guidance on this issue,… it would also subject the violator to prosecution for violation of espionage under the Espionage Act,” the AFMC legal office said."

Impeach Scalia

Jan 5th, 2011

There is a great danger in the casual way the term "impeachment" has been thrown around over the last few years. What's more, to propose impeaching a Supreme Court Justice is and should be almost unheard of. 


It's time to seriously pursue it now. Justice Antonin Scalia has so overstepped the bounds of propriety and into the realm of activist politics that he must be removed from the Court. He is a clear and present danger to the established separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.


From The L.A. Times:

"Reporting from Washington — 

The decision by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to accept an invitation from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), the founder of the House's Tea Party Caucus, to speak to incoming House members about the Constitution is drawing fire from some who worry the court is injecting itself into partisan politics.

The meeting "suggests an alliance between the conservative members of the court and the conservative members of Congress," said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, who said Scalia had shown "exceedingly poor judgment."

"Poor judgement?" That's a little like saying of someone who has intentionally run over a dog that they "hit the brakes too late." Impeachment is more than justified.

Quote Of The Day -- New Year's Day 2011 -- With A Message

Jan 1st, 2011


"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people." -- Howard Zinn

It's your country. What are you prepared to do? We have a scant few days before a deeply fascistic wave in the Republican membership of the 112th Congress is given broader power over our lives. 

Rand Paul Supporters Assault Woman

Oct 26th, 2010

Fascism usually rises from a populist movement. You know, the people?

Apparently, this group of American citizens decided that an anti-Paul activist had gotten too close or something. They threw her to the ground and one supporter is clearly seen stomping on her her head.

Does anyone really want to argue that this is happening in a vacuum? We are wondering if this post from Conservatives 4 Palin might have helped incentivize these thugs.