Creeping fascism, stagnant public concern

[babylonsister]

http://pmcarpenter.blogs.com/p_m_carpenters_commentary/2007/03/creeping_fascis.html

Creeping fascism, stagnant public concern

The uproar over the White House-orchestrated firing of conscientious U.S. attorneys stirs mixed emotions. It would be nice to believe it's grounded in public outrage, but such outrage would have been searingly befitting years ago -- and it never came. If an illegal war didn't merit the public's unforgiving disgust then, what possibly could now? The canning of government lawyers? Come on. Let's get real, even though these days that is a sad exercise.

My guess, proffered as an empirically based one, is that Americans at large could name more contestants on "American Idol" than those principals behind the latest subversion of the U.S. constitution. I would further guess -- again, empirically -- that if stopped on the street and asked about the current "uproar," a depressingly statistically significant number would respond, "What uproar?" Indeed ... "What scandal?"

snip//

But consider the real and ultimate reality check: Fundamentally what the White House attempted was a covert, political revamping of the American legal system. The occasionally attentive may think it was just petty politics, but in some respects its potential consequences loomed greater in terms of constitutional subversion than even an illegal war.

When one thinks more than one move ahead in the White House's game of political chess, one can easily imagine a future legal system in which there are excusable, unprosecuted crimes committed by "good" Republicans and inexcusable, prosecutable crimes committed only by all others. Taken to its logical extreme: did Unitary Executive Adolph's political supporters have to fear prosecution -- for anything?

In the study of comparative political systems there's a name for the particular one that accommodates that sort of selective jurisprudence. Yet I seriously doubt the at-large public is giving more than a minute's thought, if that much, to the White House's attempt at Move One, let alone Move Six, or Eight. And therein lies the deeper danger -- today, and tomorrow.

[Monkeyman]

1. Dam Girl your going have to wear a bandage on your arm soon LOL

Keep posting

[CrazyOrangeCat]

2. K&R

for the sad truth.

[POAS]

3. Fascism like algae likes stagnant water

[BridgeTheGap]

4. What does it take? Grassroots activism

and that's been missing for awhile. It may be making a come back - we'll see.
Big money support of campaigns nearly killed off most grassroots political organizing at the Federal level.
While most people are complacent and distracted, there are many people who are aware of what's going down and they're pissed. What's lacking is organization. That group of people, properly organized, can influence many other people.
The most undermining belief is that we, as inviduals, can't/don't make a difference. That belief can be countered by effective organization and the willingness of people to interact with our fellow citizens.