Economic Fascism

Banned-Books.com

"Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines fascism as "a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized, autocratic government." This stands in stark contrast to the classical liberal idea that individuals have natural rights that pre-exist government; that government derives its "just powers" only through the consent of the governed; and that the principal function of government is to protect the lives, liberties, and properties of its citizens, not to aggrandize the state...

...The essence of fascism, therefore, is that government should be the master, not the servant, of the people. Think about this. Does anyone in America really believe that this is not what we have now? Are Internal Revenue Service agents really our "servants"? Is compulsory "national service" for young people, which now exists in numerous states and is part of a federally funded program, not a classic example of coercing individuals to serve the state? Isn't the whole idea behind the massive regulation and regimentation of American industry and society the notion that individuals should be forced to behave in ways defined by a small governmental elite? When the nation's premier health-care reformer recently declared that heart bypass surgery on a 92-year-old man was "a waste of resources," wasn't that the epitome of the fascist ideal-that the state, not individuals, should decide whose life is worthwhile, and whose is a "waste"?

The U.S. Constitution was written by individuals who believed in the classical liberal philosophy of individual rights and sought to protect those rights from governmental encroachment. But since the fascist/collectivist philosophy has been so influential, policy reforms over the past half century have all but abolished many of these rights by simply ignoring many of the provisions in the Constitution that were designed to protect them. " (Emphasis Mine.)

And here We have the central discourse of Our time: the confrontation of a growing government "elite" ripping the Constitution to shreds in order to "protect the U.S.", a thinly-veiled variant of "We had to destroy the village in order to save it."

With this, I close Jenius Jots. What started as a personal forum to simply point out topics and events I don't cover in Gil The Jenius was quickly deemed a "citizen-journalism" effort by several people whose opinions I deeply respect. Even with that accolade, I have to end the effort, for I believe the effort--this experiment--has run its course.

Through no foresight or prescience of Mine, Jenius Jots has bracketed the most astounding and significant election of My lifetime, possibly of all time, and has seen the most dramatic economic crisis of almost 80 years unleashed as a result of almost two decades of unfettered greed. And it currently stands athwart a Middle East crisis that proves that no country, no religion, no group of people holds a monopoly on truth and righteousness.

Like many other blogs, this one disappears quietly, the narrow window of time it covered growing narrower with each passing day. But it remains as a record of observation and opinion, of choice and attention, of thoughtful time invested to tap you on the shoulder and say "Have you seen this?"

May you see much more.

Israel Commiting a War Crime in Gaza - allvoices.com

"This war has caused a humanitarian crisis of the order not seen since Milosovic-led Serbians killed and maimed thousands of Bosnians in the 1990s. It is no different from Saddam Hussein bombing Kurds in Northern Iraq. Heck, it is no different from Darfur where Africans are being singled out and killed due to their ethnicity and religion. Will the world stand up and charge the Israeli Prime Minister with War Crimes in Gaza? Will we, as citizens of the world, have the strength to take him to International Court of Justice and make him pay for his actions against helpless and powerless Gaza citizens?"

Statment Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The DHS Fiscal Year 2009 Budget

"It’s interesting - I went through one of those symbolic checkpoints in the state of New York driving back here. It was about 125 miles from the border. In a car with license plate one on it from Vermont. With little letters underneath it that said US Senate. We were stopped and ordered to get out of the car and prove my citizenship. And I said “what authority are you acting under?” and one of your agents pointed to his gun and said “that’s all the authority I need.” Encouraging way to enter our country." (Emphasis Mine.)

The Raw Story | Cheney: Bush's actions legal if not impeached

"If you don't get punished, you didn't go anything wrong, right?

That's the message Vice President Dick Cheney gave in an interview with CBS' Bob Schieffer on Sunday, suggesting that a president's actions are legal if those actions didn't result in his impeachment.

Asked by Schieffer if he believed that anything the president does in time of war is legal, Cheney said there is 'historic precedent of taking action that you wouldn't take in peacetime.'"

Let's take this hyena's argument at face value. If an illegal action (or more than one) is taken and not prosecuted to resolution (dismissal or punishment), the action remains illegal (against the law), but its consequences--what the law needs to be and remain enforced--are nullified; therefore the law is also nullified. I could be splitting hairs here, but isn't a nullified law the same as acceptance of the once-illegal action(s) as legal, if only in the sense that no prosecution and/or punishment are to be attached to them?

So no, Dick, if you don't get punished, it's not that you "didn't do anything wrong": you most certainly did. What it does mean is that the will and integrity needed to enforce the law and punish your skanky-whore ass opted to pass rather than act. And that makes two wrongs, which We know--or should know--never make a right.

The Raw Story | Mukasey's recommendation of exec privilege to hide Cheney transcript revealed

"The seven-page letter (pdf), dated July 15, argues that disclosure of such records would hinder future presidents' ability to receive guidance from their advisers because Cheney's conversations detailed internal White House deliberations. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee requested the transcripts along with other documents related to its investigation into the leak of former CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity.

A bipartisan committee report has already determined the claim was inappropriate, and a separate report (pdf), that the committee has delayed voting on recommends holding Mukasey in contempt of Congress. It's unclear if the committee will ever vote on that report; a spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday."

Would They Be Planning to Use Troops Against Americans If They WEREN'T Stealing Our Money?

Alex Jones' Infowars.com:

Here's the complete post (minus hyperlinks on every "this"):

"Political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso Charles Boehmer points out that “The military was not called out during the Great Depression….”

So why is the military planning on how to crush civil protest in regards to the current economic crisis (see this, this, this, this, this and this)?

Is it because the theft - via “bailouts” and other hanky-panky by Treasury, the Fed and others - of hard-earned taxpayer wealth isso obvious that the military expects Americans to revolt?

The other potential explanation is that the military has been told that this financial crisis could be much, much worse than the Great Depression.

So which is it? The obviousness of the theft or the severity of the crisis?

My guess . . . both."

The Iraq War Is Now Illegal - The Daily Beast

"Bush allowed the UN mandate to expire on December 31 without requesting a renewal. At precisely one second after midnight, Congress’ authorization of the war expired along with this mandate.

Bush is trying to fill the legal vacuum with the new Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) he signed with the Iraqis. But the president’s agreement is unconstitutional, since it lacks the approval of Congress. Bush even refused to allow Congress access to the terms of the deal. By contrast, Prime Minister al-Maliki followed his constitution and submitted the agreement for parliamentary approval. While the Iraqi parliament debated its terms, leading members of Congress were obliged to obtain unofficial English translations of texts published by the Arab press...

...Indeed, it (the SOFA) goes far beyond any sensible interpretation of the president’s power as commander in chief. For example, the SOFA creates a joint US-Iraq committee and gives it, not the president, broad control over the use of American combat troops. It thereby asserts the authority to restrict President Obama’s powers as commander in chief throughout most of his first term in office. But under the Constitution, no president can unilaterally limit his successor’s authority over the military." (Emphasis Mine.)

Yes, you read that right: U.S. of part of A. troops under foreign command, while ostensibly on a U.S.-based mission. The murderous moron and his hyena cabal are up to their old tricks. Why he hasn't been taken out by public outrage is beyond Me.

Guantánamo: a hellhole where torture scandals shook the world’s trust in US justice - Times Online

"Today, as the Bush Administration and the incoming Obama team join forces to try to persuade Britain and its European allies to help to close Guantánamo, it seems fair to conclude that the facility has been a disaster for President Bush and America. The very mention of its name has become shorthand for all the extrajudicial excesses, mistakes and torture scandals that have so sullied America’s once cherished reputation as a beacon of freedom and justice. 

Opening the facility seemed a justified move to many Americans in the early days of the War on Terror. But the Bush Administration was creating a monster that has eroded America’s moral authority, and a prison full of foreigners – many of whom have been cleared for release but have nowhere to go."

Military intelligence... Postal service... U.S. justice... Oxymorons all, with emphasis on "morons"...

Cheney's Legacy of Deception

The Nation.com

"That lame-duck Cheney was bellowing his claim of innocence in a series of friendly interviews should have been expected. For he, like the president he served, can use the self-proclaimed "global war on terror" as a convenient cover for eight years of treachery on all fronts: "If you think about what Abraham Lincoln did during the Civil War, what FDR did during World War II; they went far beyond anything we've done in a global war on terror." 

Actually, neither of those presidents authorized the waterboarding of prisoners or the other explicit acts of torture approved by this administration largely under the vice president's direction. But the true absurdity of Cheney's self-defense is in placing the nebulous war on terror at the same level of threat as the civil war that tore apart this country or the Nazi military machine that rumbled unstoppable across most of Europe, augmented by the military might of Japan. 

The invocation of a "global war on terror" is a big-lie propaganda device that has no grounding in reality. The proof that "terrorism" does not exist as an enemy identifiable by commonality of structure, purpose and leadership comparable to the World War II Axis or the Confederacy can be found in its use as a target to justify the invasion of Iraq. An invasion billed as a response to the 9/11 attacks, which had nothing to do with Iraq. 

The Bush administration, with Cheney in the lead, did not so much fight the danger of terrorism as exploit it for partisan political purpose. The record is quite clear that the administration was asleep at the switch before 9/11, blithely ignoring stark warnings of an impending attack. But the hoary warmongering after 9/11 afforded a convenient distraction from the economic problems at home. As I asked in a column on June 26, 2002: 'Has the war on terrorism become the modern equivalent of the Roman circus, drawing the people's attention away from the failures of those who rule them? Corporate America is a shambles because deregulation, the mantra of our president and his party, has proved to be a license to steal.'"

The Existentialist Cowboy: The US Army Document That Proves the US is the World's Number One Sponsor of World Terrorism

"In a 'manual' which is officially to be released only to 'students from foreign countries on a case-by-case basis only', the US Army outlines a program of what it now calls 'irregular warfare', in fact US state sponsored terrorism, insurgency, and PSYOPS. 

1-21. Waging protracted IW depends on building global capability and capacity. IW will not be won by the United States alone but rather through combined efforts with multinational partners. Combined IW [Irregular Warfare, euphemism for TERRORISM] will require the joint force to establish a long-term sustained presence in numerous countries to build partner capability and capacity. This capability and capacity extends U.S. operational reach, multiplies forces available, and provides increased options for defeating adversaries. The constituent activities of IW are: 

* Insurgency.
* COIN. (counterinsurgency)
* UW. (unconventional warfare)
* Terrorism
* CT. (counterterrorism)
* FID. (foreign internal defense)
* Stability, security, transition, and reconstruction (SSTR) operations.
* Strategic communication (SC).
* PSYOP. (psychological operations)
* Civil-military operations (CMO).
* Information operations (IO).
* Intelligence and counterintelligence (CI) activities.
* Transnational criminal activities, including narco-trafficking, illicit arms dealing, and illegal financial transactions that support or sustain IW. 
* Law enforcement activities focused on countering irregular adversaries.

1-22. The above list of operations and activities can be conducted within IW;
...
--Headquarters, Department of the Army, Army Special Operations Forces Unconventional Warfare, September 2008[PDF]" (Some Emphasis Mine.)

Read this list carefully. It defines what the U.S. of part of A. armed forces are now engaging in and will engage in to "fight" terrorism. With terrorism. With crime. With extensive violations of domestic and international law and open disregard for a foreign nation's sovereignty.

Is this the operations manual of a democratic country that purportedly stands for a moral and political high ground? Or is this the guidebook of a rogue state? 

The U.S. of part of A. spends more on its military than the next 15 countries combined. What does that kind of money and a rogue state combined mean?

The Noose Tightens | Newsweek.com

"But for those interested in tougher sanctions, one other possibility looms. Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights and author of 'The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld,' points out that over 20 countries now have universal jurisdiction laws that would allow them to indict U.S. officials for torture if America doesn't do it itself. A few such cases were attempted in recent years but were dropped, reportedly under U.S. pressure. Now the Obama administration may be less likely to stand in their way. This doesn't mean it will extradite Cheney and Co. to stand trial abroad. But at the very least, the threat of such suits could soon force Bush aides to think twice before buying plane tickets. 'The world is getting smaller for these guys,' says Ratner, 'and they'll have to check with their lawyers very carefully before they travel.' Jail time it isn't—but it may be some justice nonetheless."

Here's an idea for President-elect Obama: Send those 20 or so countries tons of foreign aid money (it's not like We give a damn about debt, do We?) and let them do Our dirty work for Us. 

It's not like you're really going to do anything right about this, eh, Mr. President-elect? Why don't you surprise Me, okay?

The Raw Story | Report: Military may have to quell domestic violence from economic collapse

"Deepening economic strife in the US could lead to civil unrest and violence that would require military intervention, warns a new report from the US Army War College.

'Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security,' writes Nathan Freier, a 20-year Army veteran and visiting professor at the college.

A copy of the 44-page report, 'Known Unknowns: Unconventional 'Strategic Shocks' in Defense Strategy Development,' can be downloaded here. Freier notes that his report expresses only his own views and does not represent US policy, but it's certain that his recommendations have come before at least some Defense Department officials."

Have you noticed how the tone of the story has changed, from a sense of "WTF?" to "Here's a topic for discussion."

Here's My response: This is wrong, very wrong and absolutely wrong. There is NO justification for prepping and implementing a military force within U.S. soil to serve as a watchdog, an armed-to-the-teeth watchdog, whose sole purpose is to impose the government's will--it's will--on the people.

The Memory Hole -- The Anti-war Speech That Earned Eugene Debs 10 Years in Prison

"They have always taught and trained you to believe it to be your patriotic duty to go to war and to have yourselves slaughtered at their command. But in all the history of the world you, the people, have never had a voice in declaring war, and strange as it certainly appears, no war by any nation in any age has ever been declared by the people. 

And here let me emphasize the fact--and it cannot be repeated too often--that the working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish the corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they alone make peace. Yours not to reason why; Yours but to do and die. That is their motto and we object on the part of the awakening workers of this nation. If war is right let it be declared by the people. You who have your lives to lose, you certainly above all others have the right to decide the momentous issue of war or peace... 

You need at this time especially to know that you are fit for something better than slavery and cannon fodder. You need to know that you were not created to work and produce and impoverish yourself to enrich an idle exploiter. You need to know that you have a mind to improve, a soul to develop, and a manhood to sustain... 

They are continually talking about your patriotic duty. It is not their but your patriotic duty that they are concerned about. There is a decided difference. Their patriotic duty never takes them to the firing line or chucks them into the trenches." (Emphasis Mine.)

This speech, so sadly relevant today, was given by Eugene Debs on June 16th, 1918. For it, he was prosecuted under the Sedition Act, sentenced to 10 years in prison and stripped of his U.S. of part of A. citizenship.

Lest you wonder, the Sedition Act was repealed in 1921, but under the murderous moron's regime, you can be arrested simply under suspicion of anti-war activities (considered to be "domestic terrorism") and unlike Debs in 1918, you would now have no recourse to protection in a civil court... because habeas corpus no longer applies.

Happy New Year.

CBS newsman's $70m lawsuit likely to deal Bush legacy a new blow | World news | The Observer

"Eight weeks before the 2004 presidential poll, Rather broadcast a story based on newly discovered documents which appeared to show that Bush, whose service in the Texas Air National Guard ensured that he did not have to fight in Vietnam, had barely turned up even for basic duty. After an outcry from the White House and conservative bloggers who claimed that the report had been based on falsified documents, CBS retracted the story, saying that the documents' authenticity could not be verified. Rather, who had been with CBS for decades and was one of the most familiar faces in American journalism, was fired by the network the day after the 2004 election.

He claims breach of contract against CBS. He has already spent $2m on his case, which is likely to go to court early next year. Rather contends not only that his report was true - "What the documents stated has never been denied, by the president or anyone around him," he says - but that CBS succumbed to political pressure from conservatives to get the report discredited and to have him fired. He also claims that a panel set up by CBS to investigate the story was packed with conservatives in an effort to placate the White House. Part of the reason for that, he suggests, was that Viacom, a sister company of CBS, knew that it would have important broadcasting regulatory issues to deal with during Bush's second term."

Yup, there's a long tradition of shooting the messenger...in corrupt regimes...

Chycho.com - Analysis and discussion about the world we live in.

"'A year ago, Homeland Security gave security clearances to nine New York City fire chiefs and began sharing intelligence with them. Even before that, fire department personnel were being taught ‘to identify material or behaviour that may indicate terrorist activities’ and were also ‘told to be alert for a person who is hostile, uncooperative or expressing hate or discontent with the United States.’”

Fahrenheit 451 is not a work of fiction anymore."

Is Cheney betting on Economic Collapse?

InformationClearinghouse.com:

"Cheney has dumped another (estimated) $10 to $25 million in a European bond fund which tells us that he is counting on a steadily weakening dollar. So, while working class Americans are loosing ground to inflation and rising energy costs, Darth Cheney will be enhancing his wealth in “Old Europe”. As Blackburn sagely notes, “Not all ‘bad news’ is bad for everybody.”

This should put to rest once and for all the foolish notion that the “Bush Economic Plan” is anything more than a scam aimed at looting the public till. The whole deal is intended to shift the nation's wealth from one class to another. It’s also clear that Bush-Cheney couldn’t have carried this off without the tacit approval of the thieves at the Federal Reserve who engineered the low-interest rate boondoggle to put the American people to sleep while they picked their pockets." (Emphasis Mine.)

After the fact paranoid conspiracy theory crap? No. The post quoted is dated 07/04/06 and it quotes a Kiplinger Magazine interview with the Dick dated May 17th, 2006.

Your turn.

Press reports document criminality of US financial elite

IntelDaily.com:

"Among the executives remunerated in the millions, even as many of their companies began to report losses from the subprime mortgage collapse, were:

* John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch, who was awarded $83 million. His firm, now merged into Bank of America, received $10 billion in TARP money.

* Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, who took home $54 million. Goldman Sachs spread around $242 million to its top five executives. It has received $10 billion in TARP funds.

* Richard D. Fairbank, the head of Capital One Financial Corp., who was paid $17 million. Capital One was given $3.56 billion in TARP money.

* Bank of New York Mellon CEO Robert P. Kelly, who was paid $8.6 million. His firm received $3 billion from TARP.

Another Associated Press article, published Monday, documents the refusal of the banks to reveal what they have done with the billions in taxpayer funds they have received. The AP put questionnaires to 21 banks that each received more than $1 billion in the government bailout, posing four questions: 'How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what's the plan for the rest?'

According to the AP, not a single bank provided specific answers." (Emphasis Mine.)

From this same article:

"In a fundamental sense, the entire economy has become a gigantic Ponzi scheme. Now the vast edifice of paper values is collapsing, posing either a revolutionary transformation of economic life on socialist foundations, or the ruination of the working class and broad sections of the middle class.

The ill-gotten gains of the financial aristocracy must be confiscated and used to provide for the needs of the people. No rational and humane solution to the deepening economic crisis is possible without the working class politically settling accounts with the present-day "Ancien Regime" of Wall Street swindlers and their political accomplices." (Emphasis Mine.)

Ruth Marcus Should Know Better | The LA Progressive

"The whole point of war crime trials is not just punishing the guilty but also to expose truth, put banality on public display, shame perpetrators and the citizens who enabled them, and warn future generations against making the same mistake. Even today, people still look back on the Nazi and Imperial Japanese era and wonder, 'How could it happen? People must have known. Why didn’t they stop it?'

The world, but especially America, needs both the lesson and catharsis of all five of these in a trial following the eight years of Bush and Cheney’s rocky horror real life show. No future generation should have to look back on this time and ask the same question as it experiences a historical re-run." (Emphasis Mine.)

FutureStorm: Why Is The U.S. Military Preparing For Massive Civil Disorder?

"A new report from the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute says that the U.S. military must quickly prepare for massive civil unrest that could be precipitated by an “unforeseen economic collapse”.

The following is a quote from this stunning report: “DoD might be forced by circumstances to put its broad resources at the disposal of civil authorities to contain and reverse violent threats to domestic tranquility. Under the most extreme circumstances, this might include use of military force against hostile groups inside the United States.'

This comes on the heels of a recent report that the Department of Defense plans to deploy 20,000 uniformed troops for operations inside the United States by 2011."

Here's an in-your-face look at this fascist trend: Martial Law -- Practice Makes Perfect Dictatorship.

The Existentialist Cowboy: The Movement to Try George W. Bush et al for War Crimes

"Wishing to rebuke the unpunished war crimes of dictators like Saddam Hussein, in 1996 a Republican-dominated Congress passed the War Crimes Act without a dissenting vote. It defined a 'war crime' as any 'grave breach' of the Geneva Conventions. It thereby advanced a global trend of mutual reinforcement between national and international law.

The War Crimes Act was little noticed until the disclosure of Alberto Gonzales's infamous 2002 'torture memo.' Gonzales, then serving as presidential counsel, advised President Bush to declare that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to people the United States captured in Afghanistan. That, Gonzales wrote, 'substantially reduced the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act.'" (Emphasis Mine.)

From The Nation, Bush Aims to Kill War Crimes Act

Note the irony: the Act was passed to punish the likes of Hussein, and it may well serve to take down the likes of the murderous moron and his hyena cabal.