BEN TRIPP
The Other "F" Word
Thu May 8 16:15:19 2003
67.1.128.216

http://www.counterpunch.org/tripp05082003.html
May 8, 2003


The Other "F" Word
"Chosen by the Grace of God"?
by BEN TRIPP

You could fill your lederhosen with razor blades and ride a
bicycle down some steps. You could administer yourself a
boiling-hot clyster of Drano and minced cactus. You could
irritate a pride of lions whilst bedecked in a ham waistcoat. But
why take the easy way out? It's better to stand and fight. I
refer to the deeply Sisyphean task of opposing the neofascist
regime which has taken over the United States. There, I did it. I
used the word 'fascist', which places me in that camp, even if
the word was prefixed with the modifier 'neo' as in 'o neo f the
worst ideas ever'.

It's been a long time coming, and not just because of Bob Dole's
Viagra (humorous joke, get it? Long time never mind). For all its
strenuous efforts, I could never give the Bush administration
that much credit before. Fascism is such a heavy term, so loaded
with images of greasy newsreel dictators in Sam Browne belts and
tall boots. Too many commentators leapt on the 'Orwellian' and
'fascist' bandwagons too quickly into Bush's sic volo, sic jubeo
term of office. After all, wasn't the WWI Sedition Act far worse
than Ashcroft's Junior Inquisition? How about the McCarthy Era,
when a ventriloquist's dummy nearly destroyed our nation's
freedoms, just to deny Dalton Trumbo the screenwriting credit for
'Roman Holiday'? For a long time I couldn't quite slap the 'F'
word, as fascism is coyly known among lefties, on Bush and his
minions. No matter how naughty the Man Who Would be President
might be, for my tastes he never hit that perfect Kafka note--
until recently. Him and his people weren't really fascists. Just
execrable excrudescent assholes. But 2003 has changed all that.

These people are fascists, and they make Mussolini look like a
mezzafinook. There is no component of American liberty of which
they are unwilling to relieve us, and no aspect of American life
upon which they are unwilling to relieve themselves. Where to
begin? First, we must define 'fascism'. It is a term like 'love',
about which it can be said that everybody knows exactly what it
means, and nobody knows what they're talking about. Luckily I
know everything and so can clear the matter up, particularly if I
consult Mussolini's own diary, which I picked up on Ebay for a
song (the song was 'That's Amore' as sung by Dean Martin). For
those not fluent in Italian, I will paraphrase the definition
before me in Il Duce's crabbed hand:

Fascism is an extreme right-wing ideology which embraces
nationalism as the transcendent value of society. The rise of
Fascism relies upon the manipulation of populist sentiment in
times of national crisis. Based on fundamentalist revolutionary
ideas, Fascism defines itself through intense xenophobia,
militarism, and supremacist ideals. Although secular in nature,
Fascism's emphasis on mythic beliefs such as divine mandates,
racial imperatives, and violent struggle places highly
concentrated power in the hands of a self-selected elite from
whom all authority flows to lesser elites, such as law
enforcement, intellectuals, and the media. What a rush. Must buy
Clara a new hat.

I couldn't have said it better myself. If we accept this general
definition of fascism, we can be forgiven for rushing to the
bedroom and throwing some clean underwear into a portmanteau ere
catching the next train to Toronto. But we must stand our ground,
however eroded it may be. Our freedoms have been undermined at
home. Our nation has engaged in an outrageous military adventure
overseas, the tissue-thin justification for which has disappeared
completely, leaving America in the awkward position yclept
'hostile invader' by entities such as the United Nations (you
remember them, those nice colored folks over on 39th Street?)
Meanwhile our states have mostly gone bankrupt, the first tax cut
during wartime since the 1840's ­more wealth for the wealthy- is
in the works while corporate feudalism runs rampant, our ability
to respond to authentic terrorist threats has been hobbled, the
voting system has been co-opted by digital pirates in the
Republican party, the electoral system in general is hostage to
big money, our healthcare system is in meltdown, our national
budget is so far in the red we have to import ink from China just
to keep up; the prison population is exploding while our schools
implode, civil rights are verklempt and vivisepulturated, our
businesses are folding by entire sectors while the
military-industrial complex thrives, and our environment is
sinking into crisis with the North Pole melted and environmental
regulation evaporating like so much ozone. Meanwhile, Jesus
Christ is sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom.

But because the American media has ceased to make its own news,
relying instead on a kind of government-hosted charabanc tour for
journalists, nobody is questioning this lunatic national
retrenchment in a public forum- instead, we demonize Arabs and
teenagers and black people and homosexuals and poor folks and
drug users and anyone, God bless them, who has ever performed
fellatio. And that's only the tip of the scheisseberg. These are
all harbingers and symptoms and outcomes of fascism. But still,
fascism is such an extreme notion. Once could argue that these
many fresh hells are the result of simple criminal mismanagement,
and for some time I have been so inclined (to argue thus, not to
criminally mismanage. For the latter I'd need an MBA.)

What specific enormity cemented the notion of Bush and his cabal
as 'fascists' in my mind? If I could sit out all of the above,
surely nothing could compel me to apply the scarlet 'F' to these
vendible quantum-larrikins and their erstwhile leader, the
Ivy-League demagogue bogtrotter George W. Bush. I can tell you
the very moment, and if you missed it, it's worth finding a
dog-eared copy of the video and viewing it entire, although I
caution you to keep a bucket handy- these images are too graphic
for many American stomachs.

An aircraft carrier in the Pacific, about an hour from San Diego,
California. You could row that far. A couple of jets on deck as
props, lots of giddy sailors. Here comes an airplane! It lands in
the accustomed manner. Out springs the Boy Prince, the Dauphin of
D.C., the VIP of the GOP, George W. Bush in full military flight
suit, with his ejector harness giving him the worst moose knuckle
in presidential history. A bit of video for the election
commercials just in case the Democrats don't all curl up and die
on their own, what's the harm in that? I wish it was that simple.
But what we really saw in that moment was a coup d'etat. The
president isn't supposed to wear a uniform. He's a civilian.
Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt strapped on a pistol now and then and
we've had generals who made president before. That Kennedy fellow
was a war hero, too, and Bush Senior, the one who got elected,
did his bit in the Pacific while Grampy Prescott was supporting
the Nazis in Europe. But when they were president none of these
men put on military uniforms. They understood that there are
three sacred lines with regard to American democracy that can
never be crossed: the line between privilege and power, the line
between Church and State, and the line between civilian and
military leadership. Cross any of them, and you're at fascism's
doorstep. Cross two, you're on the threshold with your hand on
the doorknob.

George W. Bush, son of unimaginable privilege, crossed the first
line when he was selected to be president by the Supreme Court
and accepted the job. He crossed the second line when he revealed
his divine imperative, such as when (after the disaster of 9/11)
he spoke of being "chosen by the grace of God to lead at that
moment." (attributed by Tim Goeglein, deputy director of White
House public liaison and a barrel of laughs at any party.) When
George climbed out of that airplane in his shiny new war suit, he
didn't just carry his own cute little self across the deck: son
of privilege, chosen of God, and wearing a military uniform, he
passed through the doorway from mere wickedness to fascism. Our
struggle in the time ahead is to resist the urge to follow him.

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