Victims of Creeping Fascism

12/19/05 "ICH" -- -- When a sitting president declares that the constitution is just “A God damned piece of paper,” it reveals much about his inner character; or lack thereof. It reveals dangerous illusions of omnipotence, contempt for the law, and scorn for the people. It was George Bush who uttered those tortured words to Whitehouse aides last week. Easily misled by false idols intoxicated with power and driven by insatiable greed, we are witnessing nothing less astonishing than the demise of the American experiment. Dreams of democracy, justice, peace and hope are receding into the dim recesses of ever more distant memory. We see them morphing into an Orwellian nightmare of monstrous proportions that promises to pursue us to our graves. If we continue on this course of ethical decline, in another decade we will not even be able to recall the forms and texture of those dreams that once held so much promise.

The American people have allowed the theft of the past two presidential elections with hardly so much as a whimper of protest. Most are not even aware that they occurred. Moreover, we have allowed indicted Congressman Tom Delay to redraw congressional districts in a way that gives conservatives a substantial advantage over democrats and totally precludes progressives from competing. While the morality of such actions may not be in question—their legality is currently under investigation by federal prosecutors.

As a result of decades of complacency created in part by the fog of television, and the ongoing corporatization of the government, the American people find themselves the victims of creeping fascism. Like the proverbial frog placed in a pot of warm water upon a lighted stove, we hardly notice the gradual loss of our freedoms. By the time we awaken to reality—if we ever awaken—we will find ourselves parboiled. By then it will be too late to extricate ourselves.

One by one our basic freedoms are being stolen from us by those who purport to represent our interests. These are freedoms for which millions of our own fought and died. Were their sacrifices in vain? It appears so. In the aftermath of the toppling of the World Trade towers by clandestine operatives inside the government, the massive Patriot Act was enacted into law. Incredibly, this immense document, sold to the people as protecting the sanctity of American lives, was not even read by the law makers who voted it into law. The Patriot Act was nothing more than a piece of creeping fascism that quietly, unobtrusively, stripped us of our hard won freedoms without so much as a skirmish.

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