Fascism or Liberal Nightmares?

"The answer in each case is this American-led incarnation of Fascism, the Neocon quasi-religious movement, which has even put out strategy papers stating that they seek global hegemony. The unmistakable conclusion is that this movement is, in its psychological depths, profoundly attracted to the archetype of evil that Jung has described, and increasingly influenced by its power and essence."

From "24" the leap is made to American fascism. Not only is this inappropriate in the analysis of contemporary Imperial America, but it leads to isolation, adventurism and defeatism in the popular movement against US militarism. There is no United front Against Fascism. If indeed that is the issue, there is only resistance against fascism. Every tactic, every action, every move would be defined in the overturning of a fascist regime by any and all means. The morality of politics in opposing fascism becomes redefined and action becomes the priority. The model of Dietrich Bonhoeffer comes to mind in this regard. click here http://www.holocaust-heroes.com/bonhoeffer.html

This does not represent the strategic imperative in this day-and-age. Without the institutionalization of the fascist regime, without the integration of the culture with the political goals for expansionism and attacks on national minorities, without the dismantling of political opposition, the term fascism is nothing more than a "boogey-man". American history is replete with instances of attacks on political groups, deportations of political activists, and military interventions. But in themselves these maneuvers did not signify a qualitative change in the nature of the American system.

The opposition to the current administration requires more than hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth. It takes an independent political party capable of proceeding from its own analysis and strategy to expand the paradigm of political engagement in this nation. So far I see few liberals stepping forward to work on a new project to empower the people and establish leadership with an agenda to change America and provide for the people and restore the environment. All I see is them crushing the Green project and acting in collusion to deny the right of political representation to those who categorically reject the collusion of the two parties for world domination and environmental destruction.

As to Jack Bauer, he clearly is slipping into the fog of dementia and psychotic behavior. Even righties can pick up the clues. But, what's he got to do with the war in Iraq? Let's engage in organizing broad strata of American people and not slip into the netherland of television fantasy.

by Martin Zehr (36 articles, 2 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 77 comments) on Saturday, February 17, 2007 at 11:57:51 AM
 

Bauer as Icon

Zola,

I think you are missing the point about Jack Bauer. He is primarily an icon that serves to justify the War on Terror. Many of our troops identify with him and the false reality he represents, even elevating his character to the level of the archetypal hero against evil. Bauer is the Fox version of John Wayne and helps maintain the drumbeat of war against "cosmic evil", which is part of the whole emotional nexus driving the Neocon movement. Bauer and "24" are an animated war and recruiting poster that seduces countless Americans into their ranks, a potent tool of the Fascist propaganda apparatus that we must confront. We must remember that millions of Americans' perception of reality is based on television programing.

by Mac McKinney (42 articles, 60 quicklinks, 142 diaries, 966 comments) on Saturday, February 17, 2007 at 12:56:56 PM
 

24 as reality

"Bauer and "24" are an animated war and recruiting poster that seduces countless Americans into their ranks, a potent tool of the Fascist propaganda apparatus that we must confront. We must remember that millions of Americans' perception of reality is based on television programing."

I guess that means our servicemen are seeing their dads kill their brothers, are going out and shooting their boss in the head, are shooting their comrades to protect a Palestinian leader, and biting the throats of their enemies. Chill, LA is still here and hasn't been hit by a nuclear bomb to my knowledge. John Wayne did not cause the Vietnam war anymore then Jack Bauer led the invasion of Iraq. If anyone is presuming reality to be based on a TV show, it appears to be you.

Enjoy the show. Try guilt-tripping when there is some real crime being committed. Otherwise, you are just trying to limit artistic license and free speech.

by Martin Zehr (36 articles, 2 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 77 comments) on Saturday, February 17, 2007 at 5:44:31 PM
 

John Wayne is More Than a Can Opener

Dear Zola,

You must be a fiction screen writer. Please do not take my metaphors and write scripts for them. Did I say anything about John Wayne causing the Vietnam war? No. Did I say Bauer led the invasion of Iraq? No. Did I say we should censor and boycott 24 and take it off the air? No. However, the Pentagon thinks 24 is so negative that they are the ones trying to censor its content, not me. That's irony. I did say that we should confront Murdoch's propaganda machine, of which 24 is a part. That is obvious.

I also said that 24 sucks because it feeds the War on Terror mindset and fantasies and promotes torture and sadism. The Pentagon agrees on at least the last count. Although the Pentagon loves war propaganda, they don't want it to get so degenerate that the troops are going off the deep end, which they are. I guess you could make the case that there's at least a little criminality going on there at Fox, wouldn't you say?, especially since Murdoch himself has admitted he's been framing Iraq to fit his viewpoint, which was basically to invade and control it.

Have you any idea how much the military eats up and depends on war movies and macho-steroid TV? I'll tell you a little anecdote about my experience in Marine Corps boot camp in 1975. We would hear John Wayne's name invoked at least ten times a day. His image had assumed the proportions of the Greek god of war, to the point that I was almost surprised that we didn't say prayers to him. Even the frigging field can openers were named after him. No, John Wayne didn't start the Vietnam War, but he probably helped prolong it. And when it wasn't John Wayne, it was something else. When I had to report to the hospital overnight with a severe cold, all they were showing for hours was WWII Victory at Sea serials. When you are 17, 18 or 19 years old, you eat all this stuff up.

By the way, American troops are committing crimes left and right, if not in the Middle East, then when they return home with their heads so totally screwed up that they turn on their wives, girlfriends, neighbors, whomever. They are also killing themselves. We had one vet in my area so messed up he broke into a home at gunpoint and terrorized a family for hours before the police subdued him. He thought he was back in Iraq, searching one of those Haji families for guns and insurgents. Imagine what they go through.

But the real issue here is that Jack Bauer was not the point of my article. He was just a segue into a discussion about Wilhelm Reich's analysis of the dynamics of Fascism. That was the heart of my article. Did you even read that?

by Mac McKinney (42 articles, 60 quicklinks, 142 diaries, 966 comments) on Saturday, February 17, 2007 at 11:01:26 PM
 

Media Matters Website on Jack Bauer

Here is the headliner article on the Media Matters Website from February 2nd:

"Conservatives continue to use Fox's 24 to support hawkish policies

Summary: Cal Thomas is the latest conservative figure to use the TV show 24 to forecast a nuclear attack on the United States. Conservatives have also looked to the TV series for justification of aggressive interrogation procedures....."

This article details how pervasive the personna and ruthlessness he represents have become in the Right-wing media, intelligencia (a misnomer), and power structure. Bauer is basically now a metaphor for rationalized torture. For the full article, please see: http://mediamatters.org/items/200702020015

by Mac McKinney (42 articles, 60 quicklinks, 142 diaries, 966 comments) on Sunday, February 18, 2007 at 2:41:30 PM
 

WOW

At least the millennial War On Women (WOW) is going very well. The fact that 80% of the casualties of modern warfare are women is no mere coincidence; unfortunate collateral damage rather than the actual target. The hatred of woman is intrinsic to death-worshipping Western civilization.

"Slowly, it dawned on me that nothing was more important than stopping violence toward women - that the desecration of women indicated the failure of human beings to honor and protect life and that this failing would, if we did not correct it, be the end of us all. I do not think I am being extreme. When you rape, beat, maim, mutilate, burn, bury, and terrorize women, you destroy the essential life energy on the planet. You force what is meant to be open, trusting, nurturing, creative, and alive to be bent, infertile, and broken.
Remembering V-Day: A Young Nun Defends "The Vagina Monologues"
By Sr. Mary Eve
t r u t h o u t | Guest Contributor
Wednesday 14 February 2007

Even the most progressive/liberal of men are loathe to face the shame and guilt they would have to endure to rid themselves of their own unconscious fear and hatred of women that has caused our vile and bloody history, escalating right along with the strides women have made beginning in the early 20th century. Refusal to face their own misogyny is also based on the necessity of realizing how easily men have been played like trout, sexually manipulated by The Man for sooo long, gelded indeed.

Modern woman is caught between the patriarchal pincers of sexual repression and pornography, thought of as opposite ends of a spectrum when they are in fact merely the two sides of the coin of the realm: misogyny.

Thank you for this article. It goes to the root (how radical* of you) of the sickness of our patriarchal, global societies. NOTHING is more important than stopping violence against women.

by Mar (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 155 comments) on Monday, February 19, 2007 at 12:19:24 PM
 

The War on Women

Hi Mar,

I would have liked to discuss the role of women under Fascism, but simply didn't have the space left. But Wilhelm Reich clearly saw how the suppression of women is central to patriarchal culture in general and to Fascism in particular. The latter blatantly enshrines motherhood and creates an antithesis between woman as a child-bearing machine for the State and being a sexual being. Hitler himself had a neurotic fixation on motherhood.

Reich stated that "Sexually awakened women, affirmed and recognized as such, would mean the complete collapse of authoritarian ideology." This is why the Nazis espoused "Kirche, Küche, Kinder". This is why the American Establishment refused to ever ratify the ERA. That might have finally broken the patriarchal camel's back. And the sexual revolution was only partially incorporated. So now we have the phenomenon of the Religious Right trying to reinstate Kirche, Küche, Kinder in America, striking first in the Southern Bible Belt, while those women getting elected to positions of power are all to often enthralled to the patriarchal value system, war, exploitation, inequality, and on and on.

by Mac McKinney (42 articles, 60 quicklinks, 142 diaries, 966 comments) on Monday, February 19, 2007 at 10:30:09 PM
 

Bandini Mountain

Yeah well, women are pretty used to not having any space left for them even though without them, nobody would be occupying any space, would they?

As for the values of those women who are elected being little different from the patriarch's, a little something happened last November you may have overlooked, easily done since there is little to no mention of it anywhere: women threw da bums out with their votes, not men. Openly feminist women were elected to office. Sorry they haven't overthrown facist patriarchy yet, but it may take a little more than a few weeks to clean the house of Bandini Mountain.

by Mar (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 155 comments) on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 10:01:55 AM
 

Yes There Are Feminist Politicians

Mar,

If I was going to write in any depth on the reality of women under Fascism, that would really take another full article to do it justice. I was already hitting close to 3000 words when I stopped, which is my upper limit.

I am glad openly feminist politicians have been elected, but all the debate is still being framed by the Right-wing, about how to have less abortions, not protect abortions, about how to improve the National Security State and Empire, not get rid of them, about how to protect Israel unconditionally, not criticize its Imperialist policies, about how to redecorate Capitalism, not transform it. We all have a long ways to go. Personally I think women will have to lead the way, but it seems a clear path is still in the development stage. And most importantly, the Divine Feminine is still waiting in the wings for a spiritual revolution to blossom on a grand scale.

by Mac McKinney (42 articles, 60 quicklinks, 142 diaries, 966 comments) on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 12:20:32 PM
 

OK

Just testing. You pass.

by Mar (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 155 comments) on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 7:16:00 PM
 

Forgot...

...I wanted to add, my Divine is beyond feminine or masculine; male or female; mother or father. Time humans grew up and got past a gendered concept of the Sacred and quit yearning for a mommy- or daddy-god.

by Mar (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 155 comments) on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 7:58:49 PM
 

Cheney and human sacrifice

Very good article overall - and in fact torture experts as well as Pentagon officers have been to see the director of '24' (Surnouw) asking him to stop misleading the public and the troops about torture - but to no avail (see the recent New Yorker magazine expose of Surnouw).

 One friendly correction about Cheney and human sacrifice: the human beings sacrificed at the stone altar will not be 'evil-doers' but American soldiers. The dynamic of ultra-nationalism at work here requires (in addition to the targets of our violence) assent to sacrificing our own blood and kin for the sake of the nation.  (On this dynamic, see the important book, Blood sacrifice and the nation : totem rituals and the American flag, by Carolyn Marvin and David W. Ingle.)

How much longer before we have Dick Cheney atop a stone altar in front of the Washington Monument, cutting out the throbbing heart of a spread-eagled, ceremonial "evil-doer" with an obsidian knife? Watch out world! America requires continuous, voluminous human sacrifice to satiate its bloodthirsty gods. Who will be next?

by Eugene Holland (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 9:39:13 AM