Out of the woods

2012-01-29T11:09:00.000-05:00

Theroots of fascism

Ina previous blog I pointed out a range of thoroughly fascist attackson Hispanics, on blacks, and on immigrants. The parallels to Germanfascism of the 1930s and 40s are overwhelming. Those parallels mayhelp us understand what is happening in the United States today.

Inthe 1930s Germans suffered, as did Americans, from the world widedepression that began in 1929. In addition, the Germans had beendefeated in World War I. In 1914 Germans from the right and the leftcould not wait to sign up to fight for the Kaiser. My father andthree Jewish uncles, signed up. Four years later the national dreamwas in shambles and Germany was defeated.

Butvery soon, Germans began to say: don't blame us. Someone inventedwhat has become known as the “stab in the back” legend. It hinteddarkly at the betrayal of the German military by political forceswhich were never clearly identified. In typical, paranoid fashion thestory was that forces, not further identified, had betrayed theGerman people and their victorious military by suing for peace in1918.

TheGerman people did not blame their leaders. The Kaiser fled to Hollandwhere he lived out a long life in a small castle. No one demanded hisextradition and punishment. Field Marshall Hindenburg, one of thecommanders of the German Army during World War I, was electedpresident of the German Republic. Instead the Germans turned on theJews, homosexuals, and gypsies, and began killing the inmates ofmental institutions.

Thissorry history suggests one of the sources of fascism: a failure toblame the guilty parties for military defeat and, instead, seekingscapegoats. This unjustified exoneration of the leaders of World WarI is, of course, at the same time an exoneration of the German peopleitself. They had trusted in their leaders; they were eager to fightfor them. They could not have blamed the Kaiser or Hindenburg withoutconfessing their own foolishness in trusting these leaders. They hadapproved of the war. They entered it enthusiastically. Now theywanted to forget that and so they blamed the Jews and others.

Allthis is a long time ago and would not be worth talking about, if thesame thing were not happening in the US today. Ever since World WarII we have been losing wars – Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, andAfghanistan. Some people keep posting stories on the Internet thatour soldiers in Korea and in Vietnam were hurt by the rules ofengagement. They were fighting “with one hand tied behind theirback.” In the local newspaper letter column the same story beginsto appear about the Iraq war: we could have won had the diplomats notprevented the military from waging a non-holds-barred fight.

Innone of these cases have Americans blamed the leaders that got usinto those wars. We enthusiastically elected John F. Kennedy andignored the saber rattling and Cold War rhetoric of his inauguralspeech in 1960. We elected Lyndon Johnson. Henry Kissinger one ofthe chief architects of the Vietnam war is still around and remains arespected celebrity. His responsibility for the debacle of Vietnam isnot often mentioned. When George Bush stole the election in 2000, noone went out into the streets as Russians are doing today over adoubtful parliamentary election. Bush was reelected in 2004 (althoughnot without some serious questions). He had widespread support amongthe people. No one has mentioned the possibility of blaming him or VPCheney, or Rumsfeld, or Wolfowitz or any of that gang of super brainswho got us into the Iraq war.

Thereason for this reluctance is clear: if we blame our leaders we haveto blame ourselves for electing or at least accepting them. Theordinary citizen who supports his or her government in time of warhas to bear some responsibility if the war is lost. Americans, likethe Germans in the last century, do not want to take responsibilityfor the terrible damage we have done to other people and to ourselvesin a series of failed military adventures.

Itis much more comfortable to persecute people of color, to try toconceal their contribution to America and to American culture, tomake their life as miserable as possible, to try to prevent them fromexercising their citizenship rights.

Speakingof poor people who get some help from the government, Rush Limbaugh,a prophet of the far right, said that he too had been poor and hadbeen fired from jobs: “But I didn't blame anyone else for myproblems. I knew that if I didn't try to solve them on my own or withthe help of friends or family members, no one else was going to takecare of me." Taking responsibility for oneself is thoroughlyAmerican.

Exceptwhen it comes to taking responsibility for military defeats, forfailure and misery. Then we turn to fascism, and look for scapegoatsamong the people who bear a disproportionate burden of living in theUnited States.

2012-01-22T13:28:00.000-05:00

TheNazis are coming! The Nazis are coming!

RushLimbaugh, the voice of the far right, likes to call his opponentsNazis. That's a bad joke because fascism is today widely infecting American politics, especially on the right. Fascism standsfor racism. It stands for contempt for First Amendment rights. Itstands for a politics springing from irrational prejudice. WhileLimbaugh and his ilk pretend to defend individual liberties, they infact want to use the power of the government to enforce strict mindcontrol and uniformity of political convictions.

TheTucsonArizonaschooldistrict,underpressurefromtheArizonastatelegislature,hasshutdowntheprogramsforethnicstudies,includingMexicanAmericanstudies.Ithasissuedalonglistofbooksthatwillbebannedfromschoolsandtheirlibraries.ThelistcontainsmostlydistinguishedChicanoandnativeAmericanwriters.ButthelistalsocontainsShakespeare'sTempest,Thoreau'sCivilDisobedience,booksbyIsabelAllende,GloriaAnzaldua,PaoloFreire,bellhooks,JonathanKozol,RonTakakiandHowardZinn.ChildrenintheTucsonschooldistrictwillbebrainwashedbygovernmentdecreetobelievethattherearenoracialproblemsinTucson,inthestateofArizona,orinthecountry.AstheGermanNazisdecidedthatJewishcitizenswerenotGermansanymoreandexcludedthemfrompubliclife(beforekillingmanyofthem)sotheTucsonschooldistrictislettingitbeknownthatonlywhiteArizonansareeffectivelycitizensandareAmericans.

On Martin Luther King Day, theSouth Carolina NAACP held a demonstration in front of the Statehouseto protest the legislation passed in more than 30 states that demandsphoto IDs for voting. It is widely believed that this requirement foridentification cards puts an undue burden on the poor, the elderly,and on people of color. It is perceived by many as a repeat ofliteracy tests for voting or the poll tax. It is one more way toreduce the number of votes of black Americans. It is animated byracist hatred.

At the same time the state ofAlabama passed a new anti-immigrant law, that tops any other similarlaw in its fanatic hatred for Hispanic immigrants, especially if theyhave no papers. The measure prohibits undocumented immigrants fromentering into "business transactions" with the state."Business transactions" are broadly defined. Some state andlocal agencies have barred undocumented immigrants from signing upfor utilities such as water, prohibited them from living in mobilehomes they own and said they cannot renew licenses for their smallbusinesses.

The law also denies bail to anyundocumented immigrant arrested for any offense; requires police tocheck immigration status during traffic stops; and denies courtprotection to immigrants who have had a contract, such as anemployment contract or a lease, violated, the organization said.

In addition, the law makes it acrime for U.S. citizens or legal residents to knowingly assistundocumented immigrants. It demands of every immigrant that theyalways carry identity papers on their person. One of the firstvictims of this new law was a Mercedes-Benz executive who wasarrested for not having identity papers on him and as a consequencespent a night in jail.

This tremendous outpouring ofhatred for people who are different (from whites) is reallyfrightening.

I spent my early childhoodyears in Nazi Germany. Finally making it to the US, I thought I wassafe. But now they come again with their hate, their contempt fortraditional US freedoms, their fanaticism.

Wake up America! The Nazis arealready here.

2012-01-17T14:52:00.001-05:00

Thecostofwar

ThepresidenthasnotquitedeclaredvictorybutvariousgeneralshavebeenquotedinthenewsassayingthattheyleaveIraqhavingdoneagoodjob.

Noonewantstotalkaboutthecostsofwar.Themediaclaimabout4500Americandead.Noonementionsthemanymoreinjured,hauntedbynightmares,strugglingwithanxiety,andunabletofindtheirwaybackintocivilianlife.

Noonementionsthatwhatwegotforourtroubleisthatabout2%oftheIraqisregardAmericantroopsasliberators.

ButAmericanlossesare,atleast,beingmentioned.ThelossesoftheIraqipeopleareprettywellunknown.Nooneseemstobeinterested.Ittakesconsiderableefforttofindbitsandpiecesofthathorrifyingrecord.

Butherearesomepieces:

EstimatesoftheIraqiswhodiedasaconsequenceofmilitaryactionvaryfrom100,000to600,000persons.Thenumberofinjuredisusuallymultiplesofthenumberofdead.Wecouldestimatenumbersupwardof 1millionormanymore.

Manyoftheinjuredwerechildrenwhofoundandplayedwithunexplodedclusterbombs.Manycivilianswereinjuredorkilledatcheckpoints.TheU.S.ArmyexplainedthatittookthemawhiletoputupsignsinArabicfordriverstostopatthecheckpoint.Beforethatdriversjusttriedtodrivethroughandgotkilled.

AsignificantnumberofIraqisweretorturedinprisonorheldforlongperiodsoftime.

ManychildrenareleftwithPTSD,withnightmaresandterribleanxieties.Theincrediblebrutalityofwarwhichleavesadultsoldierspsychologicallydamagedhasthatmuchmoreterrifyingeffectsonchildren.

About41/2millionIraqishavebeenforcedfromtheirhomes.Almost2millionleftthecountry;theremaining2½millionlefttheirhomesforalessdangerouspartofthecountry.Youcanjustimaginethemassivedisruptionofpeople'slives.Manyofthemcannotreturnbecausetheirhousesaredamagedorbecausetheycannotfindwork.

BeforethefirstGulfWar,SaddamHusseinhadinvestedalargeamountofoilmoney inmodernwaterandsewagesystems,inroadsandschools.AfterthemassivebombingduringthefirstGulfWarandtheperiodicbombingsinyearsbetween1991andthesecondGulfWar,andfinallyduringthislastnineyears,Iraqiinfrastructureisinruins.InBaghdadlessthanhalfthechildrengotoschool.Waterandelectricityareavailableforafewhoursaday.

TheUSgovernmentpaidParsonsconstruction– alsoinvolvedinBoston'sBigDig–torebuild142schools.Parsonstookthemoneyandbuilt20schools. (We complain about corruption in the Iraqi government.)

AccordingtotheInternationalMonetaryFund$25billionwillbeneededtorebuildIraq.AccordingtotheLosAngelesTimesseveralhundredbillionsofdollarswillbeneededtorepairthedamage.

Amongthedamagethatneedstoberepairedis removingunexplodedlandminesandshellcasingsmadeoutofdepleteduranium(thatisstillradioactive).

Muchdamagecannotberepaired.NotonlydidtheUSmilitaryallowtheplunderingoftheIraqimuseums.ButUStroopsbuilttheirencampmentsontopofarchaeologicalsitesanddidirreparabledamagetoBabylonianantiquities.

Beforeofthesewarsstarted,Iraqhadmorethan1000healthclinicsandalmost200hospitals.Atleasthalfofthesearedamagedandneedtoberepairedorcompletelyrebuilt.

TheIraqi parliament is even more dysfunctional than the current USCongress. It is not clear that we have brought a functioningdemocracy, of any kind, to Iraq.

Thisisclearlyonlyapartofthestory.HowmanyIraqisseethe US leave andsay:“Ajobwelldone”?

2012-01-08T21:28:00.001-05:00

Lies,lies,lies.

Americalivesbyliesandself-deception.

PeoplewillrepeatoverandoverthatourtroopsinIraqandAfghanistanwerefightingtoprotectAmericanfreedoms.ButSaddamHusseindidnotattackus.Weattackedhimfirstin1991andagain in2003.WhatthreatisAfghanistantoAmericanfreedom– comparedtotheauthorsoftheUSAPatriotAct,ortherabidright-winggroupsthattrytointerferewithwomen'sfreedoms,withfreedomofspeechandexpression?

Thetruthisthatthesetwowarshavenevermadeanysenseandpeoplewouldratherbelieveaglaringfalsehoodthanadmitthat.

WhataboutVietnam?WasCommunistNorthVietnamnotathreattoourfreedoms?OurDr.Strangelove,HenryKissinger,andhisilkwantedtopersuadeusof that.Buthistoryhasprovenhimcompletelymistaken.Todaytheformer CommunistNorthrunsallofVietnam. But thathasnotaffectedyourormyfreedoms.

“Unitedwestand.“

That'sanother myth that we hold on to for dear life. In recent days we havehad distressing evidence of how false that belief is.

ConsidertheDemocratsandtheRepublicansinCongresswhohavenotbeenabletoagreeonhardlyanythingforseveralyears.

Considerthe20%ofAmericanwomenwho,accordingtoarecentgovernmentreport,havebeenraped– halfofthemyoungerthan17.Or consider the25%ofAmericanwomenwhohavebeenseriouslyassaultedbyhusbands,boyfriends,orotherfamilymembers.

Thedayafterthenewsgot out ofthismassiveand sustained assaultonwomen,theNYTimesreportedaJusticeDepartmentprobeintothetoconductof JoeArpaio,SheriffofMaricopaCountyinArizona.ItseemsthatSheriffhasbeenconductingaconcertedcampaigntostopLatinodrivers fortrafficviolations.Latinoinmateshavebeenmistreatedinjailwhen theydidnotspeakEnglish.The Sheriff had waged a definite war against Latinos.

Atthesametime,theSheriff'sDepartmentwaslaxinpursuingcomplaintsaboutsexualattacksandrapes,especiallythose involving Latinawomen.

Raceandgendercontinuetodivideusinfundamentalways.Warsarebeingfoughtforreasonsthatfewofuscanunderstand.

“Americaistherichestcountryintheworld.”

Peoplekeep repeating that one too. But today the government revealed that50% of all Americans are either below the poverty line or low income.That does not sound like a rich country to me.

ManyAmericansdonothesitatetosaythatours isthegreatestcountryintheworld.Butthatistrueonlyinafantasyworld.Intherealworld,wehavelostcontrolofourgovernmentthatengagesinwarsnooneunderstands.Ourcitizensaredividedintogroupsthattrytheirbesttoinjurethemembersofothergroups.Wearelivinginthemidstofavirtual civilwar.Wearerapidlyslidingintopoverty.

Itis time that we faced the facts. As long as we deceive ourselves intothinking how great things are in America, we will not do anything tosolve our problems. Every day that we live inthatselfdeceivedfantasyworldbrings us closer to the day when the myths and self-deceptions are nolonger sustainable. But then the time will be long past for solvingany of our problems.

2011-12-27T11:15:00.000-05:00

AtYear's End

Lookingat politics, both at home and abroad, it is all too easy to becometotally negative. Where ever we look, we see the power-hungry, thegreedy ones mouth empty pieties while oppressing those weaker thanthemselves. Everywhere we see cruelty, committed without hesitation,in the name of religious faith and the teachings of sacredScriptures, or in the name of freedom and equality.

Whileall this is true, the last year has given us reasons for hope. Whilecorporate leaders and government strongmen (and women) have savagedordinary people, rebellion has raised its shining head all over theArab world, all over the United States, and Europe, and Australia.The latest news shows tent cities springing up in a number of Israelicities.

Thehypocritical platitudes of world leaders have deceived no one: thehomeless, the unemployed, the working people whose money buys lessand less of the promised middle-class consumption goods, the youngpeople who can no longer afford to get an education, the old whoafter a life of hard work find themselves impoverished – all haveseen the rapid increase of inequality. They have seen, at the sametime, that no one cares for their plight. Politicians want to getreelected and that is all they care about.

Butnow the victims of our so-called leaders are speaking out. In NorthAfrica and the Middle East they have been fighting back and havegiven their lives for greater freedom and self-determination. TheOccupiers all over the world have taken upon them discomfort for thesake of speaking out clearly about injustice and politicaloppression. We must not only hope that these protests will continuein the new year but must do our best to support them in what ever waywe can.

Lookat this paragraph written by Occupiers in Worcester Massachusetts:

"Atsuch an important point in our history, now is not the time to seekto restore normality. Now is not the time to be conservative. Do nothold back!… Don't beg for reforms. Insist on your dreams. Thinkbig! Look around you for inspiration of how things could be. Now isthe moment to ask yourself how you would like the world to be notwhat the would settle for. It can be totally different."

Nowis not the time to think about what is "practical." We mustsupport the Occupiers by taking their and our dreams seriously andstriving for the impossible.

2011-12-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

TheIraqwarisover.

HaveyoueverseenanyfilmfootageofthecelebrationsattheendofWorldWarII?Ofstrangershuggingandkissing,ofanentirecountryjubilant,throwingonehugeparty?

Inrecentdays,thepresidenthasbeengivingsomesoberspeechesabouttheendoftheIraqwarafternineyearsoffighting.Ihavenotheardofanyspontaneouspubliccelebrations.Ihavenotseenhugebannerheadlinesinthepaper.

Aneerie silence hangs of America. A war is over. Many died. Many morecame home seriously hurt. Many families are suffering. But theirpains are their own. They are not losses suffered by the nationbecause the war was not a war fought by America. It was a warconducted by the military, not by the nation. It was a war initiatedby a small clique of men in the Executive.

Usually,warshavewinnersandlosers.ThePresidenthasnot,asfarasIcantell, saidthatwewonthiswar.HetalksabouthowweleaveIraqabletotakecareofitself,asanewsovereignnation.Butthereisnotalkaboutwinning.TherearenoexplanationsofwhywefoughtinIraqfornineyears. The father of asoldier who died says: A war that you can just walk away from cannothave been very important.

Welostcloseto4500AmericansinIraq.Iraqilossesarehugeandestimatesdifferwidely.ThePresidentsaysthattheUSspent$1trilliononthiswar.OtherspointoutthatifwecountinthecostofcaringfortheveteransinjuredinIraq,andofsendingotherveteranstoschool,andpayinginterestonthemoneyweborrowedtopayforthiswar,thecostiscloserto$3trillions.

Ordinarycitizenspaidthosecosts.Congresswasbarelyinvolvedbecausetheynevergottodecidewhetherwewouldgotowarornot.Theyjustpassedyearlybudgetstopaythebills.ThewarwastheprojectofasmallcliqueintheExecutive—Rumsfeld,Wolfowitz,Cheney.

Citizensclearlywerenotinvolved.Beforethewarstarted,inFebruaryof2003,1millionAmericansandsomewherebetween15and30millionpeoplearoundtheworlddemonstratedagainstthewar.Ourgovernmentpaidnoattention.

Twoyearsafterthebeginningofthewar,60%ofthepopulationthoughtthatwehadenteredthiswaronfaultyinformation.AmajorityofAmericanswantedustoleaveIraq.Thegovernmentpaidnoattention.ManyAmericansactivelydemonstratedtheirdisagreementwiththiswar.Thegovernmentdidnotcare.

LifeintheUSwentonasbefore.Wewenttowork,wecamehometobewithfamilyandfriends.Wewentshopping.Hereandthere,ifahometownsoldierdied,therewasastoryinthepaperaboutourheroes.Butfortherest,lifecontinued asifnothingwashappening.

Whatcanwelearnfromallthis?Thegovernment,especiallytheexecutive,ismoredistantfromordinarycitizensthaneverbefore.Thegovernmentcansendsoldierstofightabroadinawarthatmakesnoclearsense,thathasnoclearenemies,thathasnocleargoals,awarthat,intheend,wedon'tknowwhetherwewonorlost.Thegovernmentcanengageinmilitaryadventuresthatnoonecanquiteunderstand.Butitmakesnodifferencetous.

Noone raises their voice against the officials who started that war orwho conducted it, often quite ineptly. There is no call forinvestigations, let alone indictments for those responsible. In themidst of a vigorous and much discussed presidential campaign, the warin Iraq, now ended, and the war in Afghanistan, still daily demandingits victims on all sides, is not a topic of conversation.

Weelectedthegovernmentsthat conducted the war in Iraq.Buttheyclearlyarenotconsideringthemselvestherepresentativesofthepeople.Theyareengagedintheir own projectswhichwepayforbutotherwisearenotinvolvedin.Theywilldowhatevertheywant,forthesortofunintelligibleandbizarrereasonsthatmovedthemtoinvadeIraq.Theywillnotpayattentiontocitizenswhodisagree.

FuturegenerationswilllookbackontheIraqwarasanewlowinthedownwardpathofAmericandemocracy.

2011-12-16T11:17:00.000-05:00

Season's Greetings

http://youtu.be/ws0WSNRpy3g

2011-12-15T09:16:00.000-05:00

Lovethatbank!

DoyourememberthosepostersofBarackObamawith the legend “HOPE” atthebottom?

Whoevermade those posters madeamistake.Thelegendshouldhaveread“BANKS.”

Wehaveknownthisforalongtime:thecurrentadministrationlikesbanksawholelot.Butinthelastfewdayswehavefoundouthowmuchthisadministrationlovesbanks.Itturnsoutthatstartingin2008TheFederalReserveBanklentlargeamountsofmoneytoavarietyofverylargebanks—ononedaytheylentout1.3trillion.TheymusthavethoughtthatthiswouldnotlookgoodwhileordinaryAmericansweresuffering,becausetheyfoughtreallyhardtokeepthewholethingsecret.Thebanksgotloansatverylowinterestandthenputitinaccountsthatpaidhigherinterest.Result:thebanksmade$13billion.

Whatarefriendsfor?

Anotherinterestingquestion:whosemoneywastheFedlendingtothebiggestbanks?

ThenextdayweheardthattheSECsettledwithCitibankfor$285millionsinpenaltiesforconvertingsub-primemortgagesintosecurities,sellingthosesecuritiestoinvestorswithouttellingthemthattheywereaveryriskyinvestment.Then,thebanksmadebetsthattheseinvestorswouldlosetheirshirts.TheinvestorsdidlosetheirshirtandCitibankmadeatidyprofit.Thatlookssuspiciouslylikefraud.IfyouandIdidstufflikethatwewouldfindourselvesinfrontofajudge.ButnotCitibank.TheirfriendsattheSECallowedthemtopayafinewithoutadmittinganywrongdoing.Unfortunatelytheyranintoajudgewhothoughtthatthiswasabittoomuchandsherefusedtoacceptthedeal.ButtheSECseemedfinewithit.Other big banks have since then been allowed to pay fines withoutadmitting wrongdoing for similar scuzzy maneuvers.

Today,theAttorneyGeneralofMassachusettsfiledsuitagainstBankofAmericaandfourotherBIGbanksforforeclosingonloansthattheydidnotown,forpromisingtomodifysomeloansandthenforeclosinganywaywithoutmodifying.Theyarealsoaccusedofhavingsomeonesignforeclosurepaperswithoutevenlookingatthemorcheckingthattheyareaccurate.

Thisisastateaction.Thebanks'friendsintheFederalGovernmentarelyinglow.

Theyareprobablytoobusytryingtothinkupotherwaystheycanhelpthebanksmakemoremoney.

Suchgenerousandunselfishfriendshipistrulytouching.