fascist america

For Mitt Romney, an American hereditary aristocrat deeply rooted in a patriarchal, hierarchal, and authoritarian church, fascism comes naturally. The male hierarchy of the Utah bishops is reflected and replicated in the top-down pecking order of the corporate board room, and in both places, the rule of law is subservient to that of raw power. These are the environments that shaped the character of Romney, whose assumption of the necessity for patriarchal authoritarianism he never questions..

Romney's fascist tendencies are obvious, hence not particularly dangerous, as such things go. But when we point out the same tendencies in Barack Obama, less obvious, much more subtle, and very cleverly disguised, we find ourselves in hot arguments with well-meaning liberals and others who long for a return to the rule of law and democratic principles.

Obama's complexion and humble background provide one form of cover for his worship of raw power; his rhetorical schtick of vague liberal boilerplate, expressed in generalized platitudes rather than concrete specifics, is meant to convey an impression of progressivism. It also helps that his political enemies, driven by irrational fears and inchoate rage, characterize him as a radical leftist, a socialist, and even a Maoist cultural revolutionary.

The irony of these accusations is that the real Obama, clearly visible beneath the paper-thin veneer of liberalism, has indeed accomplished a sort of a cultural revolution in the US, but it's the exact opposite of what his detractors claim it to be. Obama, with his drone wars and kill lists, his compulsive obsession with absolute secrecy in the national security state, his willingness to sabotage Social Security, Medicare, and all other social spending by the government in close cooperation with the Republican Party, and his simultaneous inflation of military budgets, all these things are evidence which lead us to the inescapable conclusion that this "radical leftist" is America's first president who is also a perfect fascist.

And America will remain a fascist country and a danger to the rest of the world, no matter which candidate goes home to the White House with the prize in a few days. For the voting public, justifiably fearful of the future, economically depressed and politically confused by rhetorical smokescreens issuing from both camps, there is no choice whatsoever.

Because no matter who wins, we're going to get what we got -- Corporatism and militarism, cooked up under the domination of an ultra-conservative religion whose salient characteristics are irrational and fantastic theology, promulgated by a masculine hierarchy which is furiously engaged in the repression of any and all opposition to their absolute rule. This is our legacy and seemingly our fate as a people, unless we find a way to overthrow and demolish this fascist regime, which has now lasted over 30 years under both parties.

See also, "What is Fascism?"