Rising fascism in the US

Our corrupt govt is funding the most murderous genocide since Nazi Germany’s—and no one has killed more journalists or bombed more hospitals that the efficient US / Israel killing machine.

Ask if you’d like elaboration.

I could talk about it ALL DAY.

Hightor is correct. And there are threads dedicated to the Israel/Hamas conflict where you can post about US involvement in it to your hearts content.

It is EVIDENCE of the fascism in the US.

One of the first things Mussolini did was invade Ethiopia.

Biden's invasion of Gaza by proxy isn't a lot different.

That's the thing about History, you can find obvious parallels.

We're a lot better off with the Labour Party than we ever were under the corrupt David Lloyd George Liberals.

I suspected that you might be misusing the term "fascism" – as many people do – but I thought you might have a better explanation than equating US military support for Israel with the policies of the Third Reich. Instead, it seems like you're just grabbing any convenient term, like "corrupt", to back up your "USA bad/Israel evil" mantra. The fact that you totally ignore so many other mass killings, including the hundreds of thousands of Rwandans and the millions of Cambodians, to make a weak rhetorical point pretty much obviates any need for further elaboration.

After the Second World War, the US set up an international system of treaties, foreign aid, and defense compacts with Western-leaning democracies as a bulwark against the threat of Soviet expansion – and as a way to secure markets. These policies should have been examined closely after the Vietnam debacle and most of them should have been reformed or repealed outright. But even after the break up of the Soviet bloc, "anti-communism" remained a potent driver of foreign policy and a useful tool for the transnational corporate system which was quickly supplanting the old order. It turned out that maintaining all those military commitments was pretty popular and it became a feature of late stage capitalism which was now able to exploit low wage labor around the world, flooding the US with cheap consumer goods to keep the yahoos happy as their jobs were exported to the third world.

The US commitment to the Israeli state should have been more closely tied to democratic progress and recognizing the human rights of the Palestinian minority. It wasn't – largely because of antipathy toward Muslims and the Arab states which were threatening access to cheap oil, backed up pro-Jewish sentiment which was as strong a force as anti-communism in the US political mindset. Meanwhile the demography of Israel was changing and hopes for just treatment of the Arab minority dwindled as right-wing governments exploited the tensions to maintain political power.

I can't defend Biden's pro-Israel stance, nor can I defend Israel's military tactics which amount to the collective punishment of a captive population. But the tragedy – and it is a tragedy because it will solve none of the underlying problems – deserves better treatment and a fuller explanation than just being likened to Nazi genocide and labeled "fascism".

I ‘ignore’ other mass killings, therefore the US isn’t a fascist nation. This is the quality of response I almost always get from you. And, just to avoid useless detours into intentional distraction, I’ve decided to just ignore your comments from now on. Your responses to me are very rarely in good faith.

It is true that the original definition of fascism has changed to match geopolitical dynamics, and between that fact and people smashing the word to suit their feelings or lacking knowledge, the word is like antisemitism or democracy—a joke.

But the warning signs are deadly serious.

In US and / or their proxy, Israel

Murder, incarceration or control of journalists
Widespread public distrust of elections
Govt control of media, a singular accepted ‘news’ narrative
Govt agencies threatening / punishing citizens in the service of suppression of dissent
Govt violence against protesters
Harassment of educators as enforcement of national belief system
In democracies, overwhelming public sentiment ignored by govt—ruling elite steamrolling over the will of the people

I don’t mind people disagreeing with me, but I require at least the semblance of good faith to spend the time responding.

No, that's not a syllogism that I used. You stated that:

I replied that you ignored other mass killings – which were more murderous. And I disputed your use of the term "fascism" because you gave no evidence of "fascist" behavior. Militarism and nationalism are components of fascism but don't, by themselves, constitute fascism.

Great – what took you so long?. My commentary on your posts is primarily directed to other people who frequent political threads so as far as I'm concerned nothing's changed.

Are there fascist elements to be found in the conduct of our national government?

• Murder, incarceration or control of journalists

– done primarily on the local level. Online services have a well-established First Amendment right to host, curate and share content as they see fit. Laws enacted by conservative legislators seek to overturn this right and the question will be determined by the Supreme Court.

• Widespread public distrust of elections

– fomented by domestic opponents of universal ballot access

• Govt control of media, a singular accepted ‘news’ narrative

– there are many news outlets offering competing versions of events and interpreting them independently

• Govt agencies threatening / punishing citizens in the service of suppression of dissent

– like those poor Jan 6 protestors? A dissenting citizen has to be pretty stupid to attract the attention of law enforcement agencies

• Govt violence against protesters

– primarily local police departments enforcing strict "law and order" mandates

• Harassment of educators as enforcement of national belief system

– again, a characteristic of regional opponents of free speech – book banning and harassment of public libraries is another example

• In democracies, overwhelming public sentiment ignored by govt—ruling elite steamrolling over the will of the people

– single issue concerns often fail to become enacted in legislation; for example, reproductive rights are supported by a majority of voters yet even in the face of electoral victories these rights have been struck down or ignored by anti-democratic reactionaries in state legislatures, courts, and statehouses.

Yes. Apparently, the funding of war crimes has been deemed less than criminal by those doing the funding.

Indeed: Tibet, (former) Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Dafur, genocide in Iraq and Syria - just to name a few after WWII.

None of which were financed by the US.

The opposite in fact, which is why we need to protest against the atrocities being perpetrated by the IDF and funded by the West.

Regarding the above atrocities, our respective governments protested so we didn't have to.

All countries except Bahrain and Seychelles have withdrawn from OpErAtIoN pRoSpErItY gUaRdIaN.

Twitter is rife with ‘Rome is burning’ language.

But, the air seems clean.

In the moment, yes.
(The Indian Navy has dispatched an aircraft and a warship to assist a merchant ship that was hit by a drone strike off the coast of India Saturday. [More than 12 hours ago] Ambrey, a maritime security firm, said the "Liberia-flagged chemical/products tanker... was Israel-affiliated" and had been on its way from Saudi Arabia to India.)

Hardly. The US has supported Israel for many decades, for reasons that have nothing to do with fascism. You could apply a lot of other descriptors to this stance...fascism isn't one of them.

Fascism: A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, a capitalist economy subject to stringent governmental controls, violent suppression of the opposition, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.

You could also look up 'hallmarks of fascism'...which show no correlation to the decades long support of Israel / the parties & governments that provided that support.

Just because a word sounds like a cool insult, doesn't make how you want to use it accurate.

Trump though, I think he is, and that if he can be, he will be a dictator.

Regardless of thoughts of comeuppances and multipolarity, I’d much rather Israel and the US STOP the violence in Gaza before a wider conflagration ignites.

But, I think the power behind Biden will not stop before the world is at war.

Not likely. The starvation of hundreds of thousands of human being doesn't seem to move them in the least.

Always, and I do mean always, the intention behind Lash's posts here is - and has been - to derogate Biden and/or the Democratic Party. Negative comments by her directed at the GOP and/or Republican politicos are pro forma and constitute perhaps 3% of what she has written recently and in the past. This really isn't a difficult lesson to absorb, folks.

Well it's hard to like the guy, what with his tacit approval of, and material support for, starving a population and moving them off their land; otherwise known as war crimes.

Blatham: When faced with the option of lending his voice to the end of a genocide of innocent families or flying to the defense of the doddering idiot facilitating their slaughter, chooses to…

well. We all knew what he’d do. What a loyal pup.