That is what we used to say in Cuba in 1958
Disturbing as this may sound to you, we are heading in a similar direction. I see all the signs of something that is unpleasantly familiar: the mob mentality, the intimidation, the loss of the power of the vote, the greed, the lies and exaggerations and worst of all the division that exists among Americans.
I would dismiss it and say that it is a temporary condition caused by the frustration of harsh economic times. I could discount it to mean that people are misinformed and are not willing to think for themselves. I could also say that these Teahadist-Republicans are easily misled and will believe anything Fox News tells them…but you see, the problem is more complex than that.
On the one hand we have an oligarchy that is leading them to defend their interests even though these members of the mobs don’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. On the other hand we have a country deeply divided by the ignorant-superstitious religious fanatics, the hard-core racist-white supremacist and the rest of us who are progressive liberals or just middle of the road centrists...which seems to be where most Americans are.
What WISEACRE of the daily KOS says about FASCISM:
“When you don't have any say-so in your government, and your representatives don't represent their constituents, and everything is done in secret and no one is accountable, THAT feels like fascism. When you don't feel respected as a citizen with human rights, but more like some asset to bleed to death for the benefit of credit card companies, insurance companies, and banks, WHICH feels fascist.
Fascism isn't in the angry mobs; it's in the structure that makes mobs angry. To me, the Tea Party people are angry conservative populists who have been tricked into blaming liberal scapegoats so they won't notice the plutocrats robbing them blind. As a middle-road populist who loves this country and its ideals, just as much as any conservative, if not more, I wish we could figure out how to somehow find some common ground with others who want the rule of law to apply to the government and the plutocracy, who resent being a resource for exploitation, and who want their damned representatives to represent them.”
As a fourteen year old just finding out about the world and how things worked, I lived in Cuba just about the time Castro came to power; there I witnessed the mobs in the streets, looting the homes and businesses, intimidating people and then coming in to “confiscate” private property. Then there were the horrific firing squads...”PAREDON, PAREDON” was what the crowds were shouting.
One of the favored FASCIST tactics; one who the Castro brothers learned well, was that of manipulating the ignorant crowds and making them go to intimidate a foe. Anyone who opposed the REVOLUTION was labeled a “gusano” (worm) and was either summarily done away with or had a mob of people bused in to stand in front of their houses and yell obscenities and throw manure and the government provided the buses, gave the workers the morning off and maybe either some lunch or snack. This is what is called intimidation by mobs. It worked!
Kristallnacht
Backtrack to the Bush years and we find that President Bush quickly labeled anybody who was opposed to the war as “terrorists and unpatriotic” and we then get to those dark, nightmarish August days during the Congressional recess when the insurance companies invested millions upon millions of dollars to create “grassroots” organizations that would go to town hall meetings and disrupt the civil discourse and attempts by elected officials to be in touch with constituents.
We have also seen how for two years the Republican lawmakers have done absolutely nothing to correct or help clean up the financial and economic mess they created. It is as if it never happened and not only do they obstruct any attempts to fix the problem but they are fervently working towards making President Obama a one term President.
Today marks the anniversary of the Cuban Revolution ascent to power. I thought it would be a good idea to do this post because it has been since 1959 that our equivalent of the Tea Party took power and look at the shape Cuba is in right now more than fifty years later. And we used to say “IT CAN’T HAPPEN IN CUBA” so now I hear: “IT CAN’T HAPPEN IN AMERICA” and I stare into the emptiness of the distance and remember those days of my adolescence.
SOURCE: http://wiseacre.dailykos.com/
PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.newser.com/story/40435/kristallnacht-remnants-found-near-berlin.html
