Posted on 12/18/2007 7:41:42 AM PST by mnehring
YouTube video via Drudge- Ron Paul quote this morning on Fox and Friends- "When fascism comes it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. "
On a side note, your comming home soon are you not? I am making tamales and chili gravy fot H.A.T. folks and would love to include you.
It's late at night here and I'm beginning a long sojourn tomorrow. Look up postings by FReepers SandRat and Tennessean4Bush for starters.
...because the happenings in iRaq...
Is that a typo or is that some new Apple-inspired spelling?
Danny seems to be unaware that, as regards the goings-on in Mesopotamia, FR is a primary source.
Have a safe trip and a blessed Christmas & New Year.
Yes, the 'cult' of following the Constitution!
While American conservatism in its truest sense is closest to classical liberalism and free market economics as espoused by John Locke, Adam Smith, and Thomas Jefferson, there is also in American history an authoritarian, pro-big government, nationalist tendency, separate from the leftist tendency. The 1920s Ku Klux Klan was one manifestation, but so were the more authoritarian Federalists like Alexander Hamilton at the beginning of the Republic, the Know Nothings of the 1850s, the Southern Populists around the turn of the last century, the various fascist groups of the 1930s, and the "law 'n' order" movement first represented in the George Wallace third party Presidential candidacy 40 years ago.
Unlike Marxism, fascism is not a thoroughgoing worldview, but nationalist, populist, and authoritarian sentiments combined with nostalgia for some bygone era. Large corporate interests have aligned themselves with these movements, much as modern American corporate entities support liberal Democrats and RINOs, in a cynical play to back the winner. Remember that the Japanese zaibatzus, or business trusts, supported their country's militarism, as did the Krupp and Thyssen interests did for Hitler in Nazi Germany. In its most extreme forms, like Nazism, it differs little from Communism in terms of totalitarian state power and the suppression of freedom. American authoritarians have never had a person like the fictional Nehemiah Scudder of sci-fi author Robert Heinlein's Future History series, and our society has long been too diverse to unite the nation against a hated minority.
I would argue that the main differences between the Klan and the Blackshirts were not in ideology, but in organizational leadership and the different natures of America and Italy. Well over 95% of Italy's citizens are native Italians with a common culture and language, despite regional differences. Catholics, Jews, blacks, and other religious and racial minorities like Mormons and American Indians were probably over one-third of the U.S. population in the 1920s. A Klan coup would have led to a second civil war, probably as nasty as the one Spain experienced in the 1930s.
For all his flaws, I do not see Mike Huckabee as a real life Nehemiah Scudder or an American Benito Mussolini. Perhaps Ron Paul does not either. However, it is reasonable to draw the implication that he thinks so from his citation of the Sinclair Lewis line.
That sounds heavenly and I will be home in two days.
I come back to Iraq the first week of '08.
“I think that’s a stretch, but even if he think’s he’s God’s candidate of choice, how does that make him a fascist? Huckabee has lot’s of faults, but I don’t see him as a potential tyrant.”
I think it’s clear that Paul was making a statement in general about people using God and the flag to buy votes.
And who is your favored candidate?
I cannot wait to see how enthusiastic the posts get when we get the GOP nominee and no one cares!
I keep forgetting. I'm still a novice and the Higher Paulenati get quite cross with me when I slip back into my old ways of free speech based on mere observation.
I must try harder to toe the line or the Paulenati may do something quite frightful and drastic.
I've heard scary stories about those dungeons.
The statement doesn't need defending, in context, it speaks for itself.
Even Hillary was baking cookies in 92!
No, but I will explain. The problem is when that’s the only issue. And the “pro-life” issue isn’t just one issue that people choose “Yes” or “No” on, it’s a whole damn smattering of issues that every candidate is different on.
There’s abortion (partial-birth, first trimester, second trimester, chemicals, machines).
There’s contraception (birth control pills, condoms, natural family planning).
There’s euthanasia (on retarded children, people near natural death, cancer patients).
... And that’s nowhere near all of the issues. Pro-life is a blanket statement, and is nowhere near fully defined because there are plenty of people that are pro-life that disagree on issues of life. So, the way people measure each candidate is completely on how they believe personally.
I'm sure CNN is so much more comfortable for the Paulenati. ;-)
Thank you and I warmly wish the very same to you and yours.
Guilty?
I can’t tell if that’s sarcasm... I’m not sure if you people are aware, but you can use (sarcasm) and (/sarcasm) and it is wholly clear what your intent is.
Can anyone put some links up? I’m very new to this site, and it seems quite extensive.
I appreciate it. Thanks.
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