Why Lie? Fascism is the Goal!

There were several articles in today's papers that pointed to the right's unbelievable propensity to lie about public issues.

One piece dealth with the latest "debate" and focused on foreign policy. Several flat out lies were exposed. Other mere exaggerations for effect were disclosed.

The funny thing is most of lies were so blatant that anyone with a cursory information source would see right through them.

And that is the rub. The truth is most conservatives have walled themselves off from objective media. Fox News, Lindbaugh and AM Radio dominate their reality.

Now I am not talking about conservatives reading "The Nation" or other progressive magazines. They don't even read "Newsweek" or "Time". They don't tune in "ITunes U" to listen to discussions. They avoid conflicting opinion like the plague.

I read, and read and read. I read conservative columns, like George Will, and tune in Fox News as long as I can stand it.

And what do I see...lies.

It really is a mirror universe of reality.

And this scares me. I have read extensively about political philosophy. Fascism is a political philosophy that so greatly damaged the world in the 20th Century that society itself crumbled in many areas; eg., the holocaust.

Propaganda is an essential ingredient of any fascist state. Moreover, mythology, exaggerating past glories and nostalgia for the past are center pieces of how a fascist state develops.

You see this everyday in the conservative lie factory. There appears to be a real belief that liberalism is so bad that lying and cheating are justified to attain political goals.

So Michelle Bachman lies about foreign policy. Mitt Romney runs an ad, quoting the President out of context, with devastating effect. The President's birthplace is still questioned.

It just goes on forever.

The danger? The danger is the development of fascist momentum to destroy our democratic institutions.

This danger is apparent and is increasing. It is manifesting itself in the radicalization of the Republican Party. There is simply no room in the Republican Party for moderation. Orville Norquest, who is quite simply a fascist, has pushed Republicans to sign a "no tax increase " pledge to the point that the very legitimacy of government has been irrevocably damaged.

This is readily apparent in California. Tax cutting is used to so hamstring government, that its very legitimacy is questioned. For example, local school boards are under attack all over the state, and are blamed by the public for the incessant cuts that are occurring.

And what comes of this? A mythology is created, that democratic decision making processes are too cumbersome, that government does not work. In America, when you mention the government, you are talking about the Constitution that begins "We the People". So, dysfunctional government really means dysfunctional democracy.

So how, you might ask, does this jive with "The Tea Party" movement, who uses the Constitution as their Bible?

If you listen to them, their "Constitution" is their interpretation of the Constititution. Liberal judges must be eliminated to make the "Constitution" pure. They yearn for a return to "a literal interpretation" of the Constitution; which of course is according to radical right wing dogma.

Repealing the 14th Amendment is an immediate target. This is ostensibly to counter federal power. But the heart of the 14th Amendment is "equal protection under the law', which protects individuals from states who discriminated after the Civil War. Without the 14th Amendment, Civil Rights essential end.

And that is exactly what the fascists want; to rid the country of civil rights.

And that means the end of our freedom. That means a single party state, and ultimately a dictator.

The stage is being set. I will bet you that in meetings with the rich and powerful, who are bankrolling the whole thing, they have openly hoped for the overthrow of the "liberal state" and the establishment of corporate backed dictatorship.

Sound far fetched? Just stay tuned.

This nation is not locked in a struggle between conservative and liberal, the conflict has gone way past that. This nation is locked in a struggle between liberal democracy and fascism.