Are you old enough to remember when those on the “right” referred to the “New Deal” and the subsequent direction of the democratic party as “creeping socialism?”  I can still vividly remember all the naysayers complaining about Medicare, Social Security, unemployment insurance, “welfare,” and on and on as if it was to be the end of the United States of America – when, in reality, these measures led to what may end up being the high point of this great republic’s history.  I’ve been writing on this blog now for about 4+ years and slowly – as I consume book after book exposing what’s REALLY going on with my government – my conception of “what’s wrong” is becoming clearer.  The truth, as I look inward, is that I’ve been a victim of the brainwashing our government has been putting out just as the rest of Americans who watch television, listen to the radio, read the newspapers, etc.  I, personally, have never had a problem with the word socialism and have always been a bit curious as to why our “liberal media” portrays the word with such a negative connotation.  What I’m finally coming to grips with is that the multinational corporations which are slowly taking over this great nation HATE socialism because it empowers the working class of people and limits the ability of the RICH to get RICHER!  In my mind, the REAL threat to the America I’m growing old in is CREEPING FASCISM!

I know many will consider such a “claim” as being preposterous, but I believe I can back the claim up with “facts” that make it difficult to come to any other conclusion.  As I’ve watched this nation I feel so connected to slowly unravel over the past 30+ years I’ve known something is drastically wrong, I’ve never doubted that its origin is in the republican party, but I’ve struggled to manage a sense of clarity in my mind which would allow me to grasp the reality of what’s happening.  I believe that reality is finally setting in and it’s not a “pretty sight.”  The more I learn combined with reminiscing over the political observations I’ve been focused on since the 60’s are making this “reality” much, much clearer.  The first thing I needed to do in order to gain this clarity was to stop thinking that “Fascism could never happen in America – we have a democracy.”  The next thing I needed to do was understand what fascism really is – when I think of fascism I could only muster the thought of Hitler’s Germany.  Well, the definition of fascism is: “a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology.  Fascists seek to organize a nation according to corporatist perspectives, values, and systems, including the political system and the economy.”  I’ve read several definitions of fascism and they all come back to a collaboration between corporations and government.

Before I go any further I must remind anyone reading here about my posts regarding the book “The Family” by Jeff Sharlet.  This book chronicles a secret “cache” of fundamentalist “Christians” who have been traveling over the globe since the days of FDR organizing “cells” of business leaders and political power brokers in a right wing push to repeal the legislation of the New Deal.  These people have grown exponentially since the 30’s, they have a firm grip on legislators in both houses of our Congress, and – most significantly to me – they structured their philosophy on that of Hitler and the Third Reich!  Now, if that doesn’t get your attention, I’m not sure what will – but, I’ll keep trying.  Jim DeMint, John Ensign, Tom Coburn, John Kyl, just to name a few of the members of this group.  They are the ones behind the “National Prayer Breakfast” which draws almost EVERY US politician who wants a national “stage” each year in Washington DC.  Their immense power is totally UNKNOWN to us “little people” and they are fully intent on keeping it that way.  How significant their “tentacles” are on this “creeping fascism” I’m seeing is not clear to me – but, reading that book helped me to see that there REALLY is an organized group planning to make Karl Rove’s “permanent republican ‘majority'” a reality.  But, I digress……….

Let’s go back to the days of Ronald Reagan for starters – because, that’s where I believe this “push” managed to get into “high gear.”  When you look with 20/20 hindsight to the statistics this doesn’t seem so far fetched.  Reagan took office after the budget deficit had been reduced by Jimmy Carter around 50% during his four years as president from about $70 BILLION to $35 BILLION – I’m going strictly by memory here, but I believe those figures are pretty accurate.  Of course, Reagan’s great BS Claim was that he was going to “reduce taxes and balance the budget!”  The ONLY time I ever agreed with a Bush was when George HW Bush called Reagan’s plan “voodoo economics.”  Of course, Reagan won – with the help of the republican dirty tricksters (I don’t think we’ll ever know the full extent of what went on in that campaign because Carter was weakened by the Iran Hostage crisis – but, Reagan was too “out there” to win without some shenanigans – including the candidacy of John Anderson which drew disheartened democrats away from Carter.  As a warning to liberals – Reagan was about as much a “fringe” candidate in the 70’s as Sarah Palin is today).  Since the day Ronald Reagan moved into the White House the middle class in America has been on a down hill slide and corporate POWER has been on the RISE.  Let me lay it out for you (I’m sure there are books out there that do this much better, as I’m working from memory, but I think you’ll get the point).

First, Reagan went right after the unions.  I’ll never forget watching him, on national TV, break the PATCO Union which was the bargaining agent for the Air Traffic Controllers.  At the time Reagan took office the United States’ workforce was approximately one third unionized.  The middle class in America was thriving.  Much of what happened during the Reagan years, as I look back, was very subtle – but, when putting it all together as part of this long term “movement” which was being spearheaded by the “Family,” it was also very calculated.  For example, the union busting – those in the Family and those on the “right” during the “New Deal” HATED the unions.  Ever since the day Reagan broke the Air Traffic Controllers the percentage of our workforce that is unionized has been dwindling – and, they’re still trying to defeat those unions which still exist (I’m in one of them – the teacher’s union – and proudly so).  As of this writing, I believe the total percentage of America’s workforce which is unionized has dropped to something less than 10%!  The republican party – in conjunction with groups such as the “Family” – have convinced America’s middle class (there’s where most of the votes are) to vote against their own self interest – as unions bargain for the rights of the workers themselves – ie America’s middle class!  Then the question becomes, “how did they manage to pull this off?” Getting millions of Americans to vote against their own self interest.

Have you ever listened to Rush Limbaugh?  Sean Hannity?  Glenn Beck?  Bill O’Reilly?  Michael Savage? (Weiner) Lars Larson?  John Boehner?  Mitch McConnell?  Sarah Palin?  John McCain? any of these right wing water carriers for whomever is providing the “message?”  These people are participating in one of the greatest brainwashing schemes, in my mind, the world has ever witnessed.  I’m sure people around the world are wondering what on earth is happening to the United States of America which just 30 short years ago was the “leader of the free world.”  Well, all you have to do is listen to some of these people – for just a few moments – and FACT CHECK what they’re “spewing” and you start to get a picture of “what’s going on.”  This “brainwashing” started during the Reagan years with Limbaugh.  Since that day we’ve been hearing the term “republican talking points” and not too many people have called them (the republicans) on what that (talking points) means.  George W Bush put it best when he said he had to say things “over and over again sort of to catapult the propaganda” which is what they’ve been up to for over 30 years. 

The other day I did a little experiment.  I happened to be driving during the day and heard a conversation Thom Hartmann had with a republican regarding the impending battle over the “tax cuts for the rich.”  (Hartmann, if you don’t know, is a “progressive talker” on the radio – and, this was prior to Obama “caving” on the issue)  The other person, I never knew his name, kept using the term “uncertainty” when referring to why republicans wanted the tax cuts extended.  His claim was that corporations weren’t hiring due to the “uncertainty” of not knowing if these cuts would be extended or not (has there been a lot of hiring since they were exteneded? I’m digressing again….).  Hartmann, to his credit, saw right through the guy and called him out on the ludicrousness of his claim – but, it all made sense to me about 5 hours later.  On my way home from work that evening I tuned into a couple “conservative” talk shows and heard the term “uncertainty” in regards to why the tax cuts needed to be extended from both sources.  Once home I turned on Fox “news” (I really hate doing that) and guess what term was coming out of EVERY mouth on their channel that evening?  Yup, you’re correct, UNCERTAINTY!  That’s a small example of what the republicans have been doing since the first day they put Limbaugh on the airwaves.  In the process they’ve managed to turn the words “liberal” and “socialism” into politically incorrect terms and they’ve convinced their unsuspecting audiences that the media is truly “liberal.”

Limbaugh reportedly makes $400 MILLION per year, Beck something approaching $100 MILLION, and who knows (or cares) how much the rest of them make – we, just know that they’re well paid to give the “message” to the unsuspecting public.  So, if you’re wondering (like I did for so long) why so many good Americans continually vote against their best interests – take a look at Fox and a listen to some of these right wing blow hards who have no sense of honor whatsoever.  Should this nation vote in an autocratic, corporatist regime all these people will continue to flourish – in fact, they’ll have even more reason to participate in the propaganda “machine” because they’ve proven that their wealth is more important than their conscience.  The frustration most Americans feel regarding our political leaders is that most of them are “corporatists.”  Well, with the direction we’ve taken in the last ten years, it’s becoming more and more difficult to imagine the process which will overcome that tendency.

But wait, there’s more.  These people – due to me not knowing for sure I’m going to say they’re PROBABLY the “Family” – seemingly have a grip on more than just the republicans.  Yes, much of the deregulation which was aimed at dismantling the “New Deal” originated during the Reagan presidency, yet voting in democrats hasn’t really helped all that much.  There were things I liked about Bill Clinton and he was surely much better in many ways than any republican alternative, but the bottom line is that it was during Clinton’s “watch” that NAFTA was enacted, the Glass Steagall act was repealed, and worst than everything else (in my view) the telecommunications act of 1996 was passed.   Combining that MAJOR blunder with the propaganda scheme being put into place by Limbaugh and the republicans, Clinton had “opened the door” for about 8 or 9 RIGHT WING corporations to take over about 90% of America’s so-called “liberal media.”  Just the FACT the republicans have spent so much time convincing America’s public that the media – which they control – is “liberal” simply goes to the sophistication of their scheme.  It’s like people such as Beck and Limbaugh calling President Obama a fascist – when it is them who are espousing the fascist principles.  Unfortunately, America’s voting public is still “unsuspecting” and many – maybe even most – still think people like Beck and Limbaugh (OK, you too Lars) are actually telling the truth – when, in reality, they’re closer to being like wind up dolls which have been pre-programmed from the “source.”  I realize this is getting involved, but I’m going to continue.  (I put this in bold in case you want to bookmark and come back later :o)

So, you have this “source” (probably the “Family”) leading the republicans in their takeover of the media (America’s fourth estate – the “free press” which was designed by the founders to keep our politicians “honest”) and then combine that with a planned takeover of the courts and hopefully you can see the same trouble on the “horizon” that I do.  Make no mistake that the “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision was NO ACCIDENT!  I have no doubt what the Bush “people” had in mind when they put John Roberts and Sam Alito on the Supreme Court.  When I think back to Alito’s disgusting response to President Obama’s (accurate) prediction that “Citizens United” would open the “floodgates” to foreign corporate money influencing our elections it makes me wonder if he can even visualize the damage he’s done to this great nation.  Both Roberts and Alito directly contradicted their sworn testimony before Congress when they participated in that decision which overturned 100 + years of American campaign law (talk about your legislating from the bench!) and further empowered the corporate interests which I’m essentially claiming are taking over our government – with the help of a select few participants in and around the congress of the United States.  It was bad enough to have a Supreme Court which felt at all comfortable determining the outcome of a presidential election – especially against the clear will of the people – but, this decision was the “icing on the cake.”  If “Citizens United” doesn’t get people’s attention, whatever it’s going to take might be too late (I guess that’s why I’m still writing).

In partial summary, you should be able to see that “we the people” are facing a sophisticated propaganda “machine,” the “right wing” has garnered control of the media to the point where they’re convincing good Americans to vote against their own self interests, and the Supreme Court is tilted strongly to the “right” and has created a monstrosity in “Citizens United” which could give multinational corporations unlimited power in our future elections.  These people (whoever they are) have marginalized unions, have eliminated a large percentage of the “New Deal” regulations which prevented corporate overreach, they still HATE programs like Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, etc., and I haven’t even mentioned how they support the imperialistic and militaristic policies of the Bush doctrine and how they’ve so handsomely profited from America’s “war machine.”  Hopefully, you’re starting to get my “drift.”

Let me conclude by pointing out, from the prespective of I guess what you’d have to call the “Christian left,” the part of all this that really made it start to come together in my head was when I read about the “Family” – a fundamentalist “Christian” right wing group – who have been basing their philosophy on Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and other authoritarian figures since the demise of the Germans after WW II – and putting the name of Jesus on it.  These people call themselves Christians, but their actions go against everything I’ve learned since I committed my life to Jesus Christ.  Their idea of “free will” is them deciding on what is “free” and the rest of us going along – or else.  Instead of focusing on the poor they focus on the rich.  It’s almost as if the “poor” don’t matter.  I don’t know if you remember, but when George W Bush got the Military Commissions Act through Congress in 2006 – an act which included an attempt to end Habeas Corpus – he had the presumed “right” to determine at will that ANY American citizen was an “enemy combatant” and they could be locked up in a Guantanamo type prison presumably indefinitely.  Well, the Supreme Court did overturn the ABSURD revoking of the basic human right – Habeas Corpus – BUT not the Military Commissions Act itself.  Think about that!

It’s time to refresh you on the definition of fascism:  “a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology.  Fascists seek to organize a nation according to corporatist perspectives, values, and systems, including the political system and the economy.”   I believe I’ve shown that the push for the “permanent republican majority” is radical and authoritarian by inference.  To me, there is no doubt that the republicans are the vehicles for a scheme based on “corporatist perspectives, values, and systems,” and they are in the process of a long term project aimed at undermining our political system and economy.  For them, it’s all about POWER!  (and money) I always thought that it would be impossible for America to evolve into a fascist state until I looked closer at what the republican party’s been up to for the past 30+ years.  Is it too far fetched to think that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and “The Family” could be part of a fascist conspiracy in America?  To me, the evidence strongly implies this is so!  If “We the People” continue to be complacent and take our democracy for granted, these people may very well succeed – that’s what the baby boomers who voted for the “tea party” will be leaving to their children and grandchildren!  Ughhhhh!!!