verbena-19

ICH: Fascism Then, Fascism Now?

(November 27, 2005)

Updated News/Articles from Information Clearing House:

I had finished posting for tonight when I received this updated email alert from Tom Feeley, saw the headline and read the introduction to the "Fascism Then, Fascism Now?" article, and felt compelled to post it here.

My grandparents had told me stories of how fascism was insidiously worked into the fabric of democracy in the country of my birth during their time. By the time I was born, that fascism had been supplanted by Stalinist communism. I was not around for the former, but was for the latter, and those memories are indelibly etched in my mind, causing me many sleepless nights and nightmares a lifetime later. The two ideologies are similar in their totalitarianism; they are just opposite sides of the same counterfeit coin.

"My father was a slave and my people died to build this country, and I'm going to stay right here and have a part of it, just like you. And no fascist-minded people like you will drive me from it. Is that clear?" : Paul Robeson (1898-1976) - from testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, June 12, 1956

=
"The history of mankind is a history of the subjugation and exploitation of a great majority of people by an elite few by what has been appropriately termed the 'ruling class'. The ruling class has many manifestations. It can take the form of a religious orthodoxy, a monarchy, a dictatorship of the proletariat, outright fascism, or, in the case of the United States, corporate statism. In each instance the ruling class relies on academics, scholars and 'experts' to legitimize and provide moral authority for its hegemony over the masses." : Ed Crane

=
Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power: Benito Mussolini

=
"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group," : Franklin D. Roosevelt quotes

=
Fascism is capitalism plus murder." : Upton Sinclair

===
To read this newsletter online http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/ or http://snipurl.com/ayzc


RSS FEED http://www.feedfire.com/site/rss.cgi?ChanContentId=001864

===

Number Of Iraqi civilians Slaughtered In Bush's War 100,000 +

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Slaughtered In Bush's War 2108

===

Fascism then. Fascism now?

When people think of fascism, they imagine Rows of goose-stepping storm troopers and puffy-chested dictators. What they don't see is the economic and political process that leads to the nightmare.

By Paul Bigioni

Before the rise of fascism, Germany and Italy were, on paper, liberal democracies. Fascism did not swoop down on these nations as if from another planet. To the contrary, fascist dictatorship was the result of political and economic changes these nations underwent while they were still democratic. In both these countries, economic power became so utterly concentrated that the bulk of all economic activity fell under the control of a handful of men.
Read more...

===
Caped Crusaders in a Comic Book War

Our valiant crusaders—oil executives by day, freedom fighters by night—return to the world stage once again

By Jerry Ghinelli

When we last left them, our heroes, Bush Wayne and his trusted companion, Dick Grayson-Cheney, were heading east to Iran to hunt for weapons of mass destruction, free the Iranian people from the axis of evil and bring American-style democracy to all the good people of the Middle East.
Read more...

===
'Trophy' video exposes private security contractors shooting up Iraqi drivers:

The video has sparked concern that private security companies, which are not subject to any form of regulation either in Britain or in Iraq, could be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent Iraqis.
Read more...

===
What To Do About Iraq:

It's not just a matter of "getting out," although that's Number 1 on the Christmas Wish List. There are several other things the U.S. must also do for a humane and conscientious resolution to the horrors of our war against Iraq. My list of the necessary steps for reparation in Iraq and movement toward reconciliation with the Muslim world include the following.
Read more...

** I've just read this article by Rod Rees (ICH), and totally, fully agree with him. Following his suggestions is the ONLY way to restore Iraq, stem terrorism, and regain U.S. credibility as a 'democratic' nation. Sadly, I cannot see the Bush administration even remotely considering such actions, or any future U.S. administration for that matter. The U.S. has embarked upon a very dangerous road from which their corporate greed will not allow them to return. -- Annamarie
===

Abuses as bad as under dictator, claims Allawi:

Abuse of human rights in Iraq is as bad now as it was under Saddam Hussein, if not worse, former prime minister Iyad Allawi said in an interview published yesterday.
Read more...

posted by Annamarie at 2:59 AM