I awoke this morning at about 7 (mountain time) and perused your post then, but it was a little much to respond to a 10,000 word essay on the historical ties between the Bush crowd and Nazi Germany over my first cup of coffee, but you are right, Rogue, the only word for it is "fascism". Just like in Germany in the 30's, many in the populace are so fearful of "communism", they embrace the destruction of our rights to protect us from the Red Menace, even though we don't have Stalin's army breathing down our neck.
What's truly sad is that many decent, law-abiding patriotic Americans have had so much propaganda shoved down their throats, that ranting and railing against the horrors of "socialism" is considered a normal part of political discourse simply because we have some basic government sevices like public transportation or food stamps for the starving, but when others accuse the govenment of fascism, it is considered completley over the top and unacceptable discourse that only left-wing nutjobs would engage in, but fascism is really the only word for it.
When government controls business -- and I don't mean passing laws or regulations that businesses must abide by such as not being allowed to pour toxic waste into public waterways or employ children at less than livable wages, I mean deciding the methods and amounts of production and distribution -- that's called communism. But when business controls government -- and I don't mean insisting on the right of free enterprise, I mean passing laws that exempt business from taxes and/or liability, or using government resources in the service of private enterprise (such as using the army to invade another country or provide security), that's called fascism. It has nothing to do with goose-stepping about and speaking in a funny accent; it's placing government under the control of large conglomerates of money. We called it fascism in WWII, but Mussolini called it Corporatism, and that's what we are living under today.
Socialism does not pose a threat to the American way of life; "corporatism" does.
AI
