Upton Sinclair's "Pious Home City" of Pasadena and the Revival of Fake "Fascism"

The Pasadena Pundit ^ | December 22, 2005 | Wayne Lusvardi

[WayneLusvardi]

Upton Sinclair's "Pious Home City" of Pasadena and the Revival of Fake "Fascism" (See bottom of this 1934 political flyer at this link: http://www.ssa.gov/history/pics/epic6.gif)

Upton Sinclair's novel "It Can't Happen Here" has been recently re-issued by the American Library (with a blood splattered cover no less) See: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/12/18/public_enemy/?page=full. Sinclair's 1935 novel "It Can't Happen Here" was a cautionary tale about America's descent into fascism. If you don't believe the political Left is not again beating the drums of fascist charges, this time against the Bush Administration, read Hannah Naiditch's current hyperbolic column in the Pasadena Weekly entitled "Democracy Now?" at http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/columnists02.html.

In 1934 Sinclair, muckraking author of The Jungle and lifelong socialist, ran for governor of California under his "End Poverty in California" (EPIC) platform. Sinclair's home political base, or as he called it "my pious home city," was none other than Pasadena, California. In that year a reported crowd of 9,000 people jammed the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and Sinclair had to come out and address those who were turned away from the front steps of the Auditorium. Sinclair was quoted as saying:

"I've had a lot of laughs out of the elderly statesman they've put up against me. While denouncing my 'communism' he suddenly found that peaches were rotting on the ground in the north. He begged the growers to donate the fruit to be canned for the unemployed. If he were not so stout, so rosy, and so good looking, you would have thought it was Upton Sinclair." Sinclair went on to state that "two hundred and eight experienced gangsters" had been imported from New York to fix the election. His wife eventually handed him a note and he announced to the crowd "Mrs. Sinclair says the people are becoming tired." The crowd pleaded "Go on!" "It's you poverty, not mine" said Sinclair. "If you elect Merriam...I won't need to think about what Pasadena thinks of me."

Let's see Bush has not been able to disband Congress or burn down the Reichstag yet. There is still a check on his power with the courts (witness the Tom DeLay indictments). The press is still free to create pseudo-scandals to harass and criminalize Bush Administration staffers (Plamegate). Congress gave Bush a blank check after 9/11 before he invaded Afghanistan and Iraq but this could be rescinded at any next session of Congress. All the hype about Abu Ghraib ends up to be mostly the criminalization of photographing mere pranks and psychological harassment which merely embarrassed the Administration and the military. The Patriot Act has only been used in a pittance of cases against foreigners and is subject to re-ratification by Congress where it is in trouble. Bush has no "brownshirts" of which I am aware mugging political dissidents in the streets or singling out Jews or any other minority for political persecution or genocide. The liberal immigration policies of Bush and Congress are creating a backlash of the public and political Right against illegal immigrants taking jobs and lowering wages of Americans; but most criminalization of illegal immigration thus far is symbolic. And immigration policies of Bush and Clinton and Congress have bankrupted the public health care system resulting in the continuation of the tactics of the political Left of Big Tobacco lawsuits to make up health care deficits, thus leading to criminalization of smoking and an erosion of our freedoms http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/opinions/ci_3331511). And the number one fear of American and British troops in Iraq is not fear of being killed, but that they may be court martialed by the Bush Administration for just doing their job (again due to militarized version of political correctness).

And here in California, liberal-leftist government never told the public that the state Energy Crisis of 2001 was not caused by Enron but by government, not a word of which was mentioned in Pasadena or statewide liberal newspapers. Perchlorate contamination of water wells is likely from chlorine being added to drinking water by water agencies, not from pollution by big corporations (see "Californians Like to be Fooled - Our State is a Paradise of Fakirs"

http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=15347&catcode=33). But the leftist Pasadena Weekly has been championing the demonization of big corporations for causing perchlorate contamination, thus offering cover for government and abandoning its role of speaking truth to power and being a true public watchdog.

Yes, there is overly aggressive policing of grandma's at airports due to political correctness emanating from the political Left. Yes, there has been a horrible isolated case of Federal air marshals mortally shooting an airline passenger who was obviously irate and panicky at the oppressive and criminal-like handling of civilian passengers on commercial airlines, again which could have been avoided except for political correctness. Yes, there is a legitimacy crisis with the rationale for the Iraq War due to the Bush Administration, like the Clinton Administration before it, putting all its eggs in the one basket of WMD's.

But to insinuate or call Bush a fascist is over the top and should not be taken seriously. That the "pious home city" of Pasadena is once again the cultural home base of such hyperbole and political extremism is not a surprise however. This is especially so with the print space, prominence and even (im)moral legitimacy in Pasadena newspapers given Leftist columnists and Leftist Christian anti-war ministers with their phony charges of fascist-like harassment by the I.R.S., which for all we know was instigated by themselves. That this column could not be printed elsewhere in Pasadena except for this website is witness to where the fascism is - on the political Left. -- The Pasadena Pundit

[TFFKAMM]

Uh...IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE was written by SINCLAIR LEWIS.

A mistake like this pretty much ruins his premise.

[WayneLusvardi]

This column has been retracted at the Pasadena Pundit.

[tallhappy]

You're the Pasadena Pundit, right?

[dynachrome]

Long ago it ruined a book report of mine. I was reading both Lewis and Sinclair around the time I did a book report on "The Jungle" . A "C" for not paying attention.

[WayneLusvardi]

Both Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis lived in Pasadena. Source from which article relied upon was in error and reversed the names. The article should be re-worked to include both as it would still lead to the same point.