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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on August 30, 2012 at 2:00pm

Probably not ... but for anyone who wants a little substantiation, give a look at this.

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Permalink Reply by Pat on August 30, 2012 at 3:23pm

The following is a quote from author and humorist Garrison Keillor (A Prairie Home Companion). It was written about the George W. Bush administration, and it is as true today as it was back then. The only word I added is in brackets [].

The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, misanthropic frat boys, shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, nihilists in golf pants, brownshirts in pinstripes, sweatshop tycoons, hacks, fakirs, aggressive dorks, Lamborghini libertarians, people who believe Neil Armstrong's moonwalk was filmed in Roswell, New Mexico, little honkers out to diminish the rest of us, Newt's evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch [candidate] president, a dull and rigid man suspicious of the free flow of information and of secular institutions, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk.

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on August 30, 2012 at 3:32pm

Wow.  Garrison always did have a way with words.  Would love to hear him say them, especially for the benefit of those who, upon seeing those words, would think they had to be spoken with anger or a stressed attitude.  Much as I can "hear" him speak those works in his calm, avuncular style, the real deal would very much be worth the having.

Excellent, Pat.  Thanks for putting that up!

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Permalink Reply by matthew greenberg on August 31, 2012 at 9:57am

wow, thems strong words!  i'm not familiar with this guy, i'll have to check him out. 

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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanko on August 31, 2012 at 10:17am

I only hear him on NPR.  If you don't listen to NPR ever, there is no reason for you to have heard of him.

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Permalink Reply by Tammy S on August 31, 2012 at 11:25am

They made a movie called The Prairie Home Companion, about the show a couple of years ago, I really enjoyed it. I used to listen to his show when every weekend when I worked the shipping post at Honeywell.

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Permalink Reply by AgeOfAtheists14 on August 30, 2012 at 8:22pm

they're just crazy folks set in overdrive bubbles set to stun? odd imho
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/8/30/daughter_of_billionaire_gop_d...

mormons just capitalize on the undeducated imho

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Permalink Reply by Rich Goss on September 3, 2012 at 10:12pm

Roland, interesting post but GHW Bush was a war hero and goes down as the youngest pilot in the entire Armed Forces. 

If anything, your post shows how mercenary these people are. 

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Permalink Reply by Kacie Tsao on September 2, 2012 at 3:39pm

Of course they're fascist.  That's why they're always crying about liberals being socialist when they wouldn't even know real socialism if it hit them upside the head.  Classic projection tactics and propaganda.

That's not to say that the average Republican is a supporter of fascism.  They've just been seduced by the ultra-nationalistic rhetoric and are too proud/stubborn/arrogant to listen to anyone who tries to let them know how badly they're being used by their party's leaders.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Dodds on September 2, 2012 at 7:20pm

It certainly does seem that way, doesn't it?  I'm just wondering how far they're willing to go.

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Permalink Reply by Mojo on September 3, 2012 at 5:40pm

One if the ironies about the far right (Republicans/Tea Party) is how they struggle to throw off the word that best describes their belief system and world view. Of course who wants an instant association with the likes of the Third Reich or Mussolini? Well, white supremacists and racists still idolize these monsters as icons, but for the moment the far right does not want their followers to examine the logical goals of paranoid right wing thinking.

In any case, I see today's variant as neo fascism that is far more subtle than its crude predecessors. So fascism today is an amalgam of interests that include corporatism, (leading to oligarchy and Plutarchy) theocracy,crony capitalism, and whenever it is tolerated racism and bigotry. Today for example, anyone who might be Muslim can be openly ridiculed and coerced with little fear of reprisal.

One aspect of the neo fascists that early propagandists such as Goebbels would envy today not only the control of mainstream media, but the huge infrastructure of pseudo think tanks and news outlets on TV and talk radio that constantly spew their ideologies until it has now become viewed as simply allowing the expression of opposing ideas .

The greatest coup to date by the far right was the SCOTUS decision on Citizens United, enabling corporations and the ultra-rich to essentially buy elections and the officials that will be their loyal lackeys.

The far right today represents a serious and well organized threat to democracies at all levels from the right collectively organize workers, to speech critical of the regimes they install.

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Permalink Reply by Rich Goss on September 3, 2012 at 10:04pm

Right on, Christian Soldier.  “As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free.”  C’mon, let’s die for this shit.  How many idealistic kids went to their death singing this patriotic, all-American song from the Civil War?  It was a "civil" war:  everybody said "Thank you" and "please" before they blew you head off. 

Another contribution of Goebbels should be mentioned. He’s the guy that came up with the idea that if you take a lie and repeat it over and over people will eventually believe it. 

Excellent post.  Let me just add that just last week I heard Romney say:  “Corporations are people.” 

Tell me, my friend, is that above line part of fascism?

 

 

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