More than a few people around these parts have drawn parallels between the GOP's political tactics under BushCo, and the rise of the Nazi party in Germany prior to WWII. But beyond the obvious similarities - Reichstag Fire & Twin Towers, the Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State & USA Patriot Act, Dachau & Abu Ghraib - we haven't really taken the time to consider how an American form of Fascism would have to be different from its European counterparts in order to succeed.
Any faction seeking to pull off a Constitutional Coup in this country would have to come up with a new and different implementation - something never seen before in Europe (nay, the world even) and something uniquely American. Such an effort would, I think, have to require, at a minimum:
1.That nothing from the Fascist Handbook gets used that is Res Ipsa Loquitur ("the thing speaks for itself"), e.g. no government ownership of the media, book burning, or banning of political parties. That would be too obvious.
2.That it employs no (overt) racial slurs, economic caste systems or religious scapegoating; it would have to appear, on the surface, that "everybody is welcome" into the new party power; ergo, if you are not involved with them it is by your own choice, and not because you were excluded.
3.Infinite money and infinite patience, so as to not force the American public into a new ideology, but instead light the coals and blow gently to raise the fire. The American people would have to believe that they were the ones who initiated the change and owned it, not the political party.
Beyond this, any tactic to make the power grab could be employed as long as it does not violate the Holy Trinity of Fascist Guidelines, and I think the tactics used thus far become fairly obvious when you keep the aforementioned rules in mind:
- The government doesn't own the media. Seven corporations with strong GOP ties do.
- Don't burn books, censor them instead with warning labels about evolution and rephrase the definition of marriage for a whole new generation.
- Don't ban political parties, but chisel away at the traditional base of the Democratic party - lure the Jews with a pro-Israel stance, lure Hispanics with immigrant guest worker programs and prominent cabinet appointments; take out trial lawyers through tort reform and unions through new anti-labor laws; rabidly attack whoever is left - gays, environmentalists, blacks - until they are so disenfranchised with Democratic party spinelessness that they leave for other, smaller political parties. Because, in the end, there can be only one.
- A few Arab/Muslim terrorists don't represent all Arabs or Muslims, because true Muslims value peace.
- Americans voted on Moral Values because they are fed up with the liberal elitists; 30 million Christians were not exploited for political gain.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea.
It was my further analysis of Joseph Goebbel, Hitler's infamous propaganda master, that revealed additional gestalts.
First, in our proto-Fascist country, Liberals have replaced Jews as the group requiring a Final Solution. When I began my research I had assumed that history would replace one religious minority with another; that is, American Fascism would target Muslims instead of Jews. But then I stumbled across an interesting historical footnote that I had not known before: In 1933, Jews coordinated a worldwide boycott of German products when the Nazi party came to power. They were reacting to what was, at the time, a government regime hostile to their economic influence and political goals, and before the Nazis started their ethnic cleansing program. It was the same kind of gut reaction that many of us felt immediately after the election:
"Boycott the Red States!"
"End Red State Welfare!"
And, an even more interesting tidbit documented by David Irving in 1993:
"Jewish restauranteurs in England announced they would no longer serve German customers."
Hmmm... anybody remember an alleged showdown between a New York City restaurant and the Bush twins last week? (I thought you might.)
But wait, there's more.
In 1938, Goebbels got together with local law enforcement in Berlin to begin a program to systematically harass the Jews that were still hanging around at the time - telephones were turned off, cars were called in for inspection and found to be unfit to be on the road, tax audits were initiated by GOP members of Congress against politically dissident citizens... oh, wait, that last one is about to happen here. Sorry! Getting ahead of myself.
The last piece of historical wisdom that struck me in particular is also from 1933, when Hitler - anxious to pass the Enabling Act that would make him dictator of Germany - courted the Catholic Centre Party for their votes, offering to guarantee the rights of the Catholic Church in Germany in exchange for their support of the legislation. Of course, they agreed - and were promptly expelled from Germany later that same year.
But the modern parallel should be obvious: American Catholics have sold their votes to the GOP in exchange for their aggressive pushing of anti-abortion legislation, the consequences for delivering the rest of our government into the hands of Fascists be damned. Since the Fundies don't believe the Catholics to be part of their Final Divinely-Inspired Solution either, I expect that in the near future - after abortion is made illegal - the Catholics will be marginalized within the GOP, having served their purpose. (Gosh, gotta love that Catholic voting block - at least they can be counted on to fuck up and sell out consistently.)
What I am forced to wonder now, and solicit from all of you, is what could the Jews have done differently in 1933 to undermine the Nazis? The boycotts didn't work, and had the net effect of backfiring on the Jews, because Goebbel cleverly capitalized upon the boycotts to further fuel anti-Semitism in Germany. So, then, what could the Jews have done differently? Or, more importantly, what can we do differently?