by Jack
Try to imagine it’s 1933, you’re a member of the Nazi Party and you believe in some of the basic principles of the party, fascism/socialism, a strong bureaucratic chain of command, and of course you are also strongly anti-communism and a you have strong feeling of nationalist pride. But, you also have this radical element within the party that is pushing a more extreme agenda along with bigotry. There’s been occasions where these extremists have turned violent and done acts of terrorism.
You have a choice, do you drop out of the party because you are a moderate and you don’t go along with this hardcore junk or do you stay faithful, choosing to work within the party to reform it? You can rationalize that the vast majority of your members are not radical Nazi’s, so why do away with a good thing when only a small part is objectionable? Let’s say you decide to stay, and by 1935 the radicals have greatly increased in number and intensity. They are becoming more organized and as they do you find yourself increasingly uneasy to speak up against their extremism and violence.
The current political environment is disturbing, but it is what it is, what can you do? If you speak out radicals might paint you as disloyal to the party, or worse that you are supporting your enemies, those Great Satan’s empires outside your borders. You’re not happy about this or the direction the party is going, but moderates are still vastly in the majority, even though many in leadership positions are moving to more extreme positions. Their constant rhetoric is having a major shift in opinion polls too and it has an effect on your opinion too. After repeatedly hearting these speeches, it appears the enemies of your party are truly evil and menacing and out to destroy you!
By 1939 war has broken out with the enemies of the State. Patriotism is running at an all time high and to not back the war effort now is touted as being against God and country. It’s akin to going against your friends and family in the military, those brave soldiers fighting on your behalf. What else can you do but go along for the time being and hope for better. And while this drama unfolds the majority of Nazis are still moderates, they’re still against the violence and would like to find another way, but they have no voice.
Unfortunately, the war drags on for 6 more years. Horrible things are done in the desperate pursuit of victory, millions upon million of innocent people die along with the combatants because the falling bombs and artillery do not discriminate. The war ends amid the massive deaths, heartbreak, chaos and ruin of what once was a great society. And the irony in hindsight is, the majority of the Party members were moderate people, but their voices were often silenced by fear and peer pressure.
Now my question: Do you think people will ever learn from history or are we all doomed to repeat it? See Fascism on the Rise – Where Will America Stand? (And where will the moderates of the world stand? )
” … and by 1935 the radicals have greatly increased in number and intensity. They are becoming more organized and as they do you find yourself increasingly uneasy to speak up against their extremism and violence.”
The Tea Party? Wow.
“If you speak out radicals might paint you as disloyal to the party, ….”
Those poor maligned RINOs, right?
But I have to say, I question your fear of this coming apocalypse. I have to say, you seem to rather relish it. And this is a problem. Because if you do, and if you have a lot of company, it will be possible for the powers to engineer an apocalypse. You made Iraq war possible, remember.
So let’s just chill … if we possibly can.
Libby, I would love to chill and I have on many occasions, but as a country we can’t do that unilaterally and expect good results. You do realize that one of the best ways to preserve the peace is through a strong military that backs up of diplomatic missions should they fail.
Amen Libby
History tells us we are doomed to repeat. I see two things that could help the situation a bit:
1. Better education. a well educated citizenry is better equipped to support good candidates and sound policy.
2. Better Media. We need journalists and media that do their jobs, bringing the facts to the public.
Maybe three:
3. Exposure of those who scheme to control the narrative disseminating misleading or manipulated information, data and evidence to push an agenda.
Tina, education is the most obvious answer and when it’s done right it works. However, our higher education system seems to be loaded with radicals. Why are people like the Weather Underground bombers teaching our children? Why is an avowed communist like Angela Davis still teaching?
OMG and the new creationist text books?
Radicals? Ya mean like the Bundy Militia? The Koch bros buying Universities and dictating Ayn Rand economics being taught?
Science and math built this country and it is the enemy to who?
Critical thinking and facts are what are necessary to create a better education system.
Here this guy has shown actual pages from the tea party backed textbooks… religion not science….
Talk about dumbing down the citizens
http://www.11points.com/Books/11_Eye-Opening_Highlights_From_a_Creationist_Science_Textbook
Let’s not try to make America a 3rd world country please we are already there!
Megan Kelly interviews radical Bill Ayers, unrepentant terrorist and Obama “acquaintance” and campaign supporter who’s teaching our college students.
Part 1:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=kelly+file+bill+ayers+part+1&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=59D3A26CD6D8E4E110E559D3A26CD6D8E4E110E5
Part 2:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bill+ayers+megan+kelly&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=4CC71BD33AAE48967FA84CC71BD33AAE48967FA8
Education indeed. Each new generation has to learn, sometimes the hard way. That is why Karl Marx included education in his communist manifesto.
““When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he’d learned in seven years.”
–Mark Twain
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
–Ronald Reagan
“Now my question: Do you think people will ever learn from history or are we all doomed to repeat it?”
It has already repeated, and we have already forgotten.
Government forces, dressed in black uniforms, coal-skuttle style helmets, and armed with sub-machine guns assaulted a religious group in their compound. A brief but intense fire fight ensued. The government forces temporarily withdrew with their wounded. They later returned with armored vehicles and destroyed the compound and most of the inhabitants.
April, 1943 Warsaw Ghetto.
February, 1993 Waco, Texas.
#1 Libby:
The Tea Party isn’t the radicals trying to over through this country they are the ones trying to remind the radicals in the WH and in the OWS movement that our Constitution is a set of laws that needs to be followed by everyone and not violated at whim to achieve a political agenda to “transform” this country from the great nation it was to a third-world rate nation in the future.
The TP participants chant, “enough and less government involvement,” while the OWS participants chant, “give me more, take it from the wealthy and more government involvement.”
Anyone who can’t see the similarities between the Nazi radicals and OWS radicals is either living in a dream state of denial or a supporter of both groups.
Remember it was the Tea Party groups who tried to speak out, but the strong arm of this administration used the IRS to shut them up. (I know you’re about to scream, “There’s no proof this administration was involved.” I’ll believe that when Lois Lerner reverses her 5th Amendment shield from personal prosecution for wrong doings.)
Fox news is a foreign owned news station and no more than a mouthpiece
Rupert Murdoch owns the largest amt of shares and the Prince of saudi is the 2nd largest share holder…
Radicals? No Americans… All people matter
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal owns a 7 percent stake in News Corp — the parent company of Fox News — making him the largest shareholder outside the family of News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch. Alwaleed has grown close with the Murdoch enterprise, recently endorsing James Murdoch to succeed his father and creating a content-sharing agreement with Fox News for his own media conglomerate, Rotana.
Most conservatives would prefer that Talal not have any potential influence over any news media in the USA.
“The Tea Party isn’t the radicals trying to over through this country ….”
Peggy, Jack was imagining another situation where a radical faction gained control of a political party … first … and then a nation. Does this not describe the Tea Party v. Republican Establishment?
And I’m waiting to hear whether he did, indeed, mean to draw a sympathetic comparison between the two. Seems obvious to me … but you’re right, it’s not real clear that Jack meant to do such a thing.
Wildly intriguing either way. Jack?
Libby, I only meant my article to be thought provoking and draw some parallels how things are going today. You can find the parallels in many places…we need to look too. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
“Most conservatives would prefer that Talal not have any potential influence over any news media in the USA.”
Not “most conservatives”, … you. Believe it or not, there are political conservatives on this planet who are a whole lot more knowledgeable about the situation than you. They realize that ISIS and the Saudis are, as an ideological matter, enemies. It’s only you who cannot do political complexities. A Muslim is a Muslim … that’s all you know … which again, makes you much too vulnerable to apocalypse engineers. So just … turn the TV off … go read a book or something.
Interesting take, Tina.
Wow, there are so many screws loose in this in this thread that it is hard to know where to begin.
One at a time:
“The Tea Party?”
Asinine cheap shot with no basis in reality.
“OMG and the new creationist text books?”
Which “new” creationist text books? In what context are they being taught in public K-12 (if they are at all)? What is wrong with informing students about the philosophy of creationism or intelligent design? What do you fear? Cannot students be exposed to and discuss creationism and evolution ideas, hypotheses, and theories, or must creationism be suppressed in order to please you and your anti-open-discussion brown shirted, goose-steeping, repressive Nazis-posing-as-liberals ilk?
“The Koch bros buying Universities and dictating Ayn Rand economics being taught?”
What universities are owned and controlled by Koch brothers and what economics department dictates Ayn Rand, who was not an economist but rather a novelist who extolled the benefits of capitalism and for whom government was nothing more than licensed robbery and altruism just an excuse for power-grabbing. (In which she was largely correct)? Please be specific.
“Critical thinking and facts are what are necessary to create a better education system. ” You might want to try that sometime.
“Fox news is a foreign owned news station and no more than a mouthpiece.” Actually Fox is a news and opinion organization who just happen to be far more successful than an insignificant and moronic flyspeck like you. Get over it.
Out of the moron loop “Most conservatives would prefer that Talal not have any potential influence over any news media in the USA.” Agreed.
“Does this not describe the Tea Party v. Republican Establishment?” Sheesh, what a load of specious ideological dogma from a left wing hack.
#12: Unintelligible, rambling garbage from a nitwit.
Post all media has foreign influence these days, Gore sold to Al jazerra, Rt is Russian…
MSNBC is comcast
Libby correct! You are awesome today!
“Awesome” Wow, at that level it’s not much of a compliment.
Aw, come on, Jack … tell. You didn’t think that’s what you were doing, did you? … describing the TP/Repug debacle?
You thought you were waxing poetic about us “fascist progressives”, didn’t you?
But you see it … don’t you? It’s there, right?
Oh, this is fun.
And you are going to have to describe this radical progressive faction to me. You will go on about Alinsky and Ayers, but one’s dead and the other does not front any organized national movement I’ve ever heard of.
Epic Fail… Hello Fascism? has no Party they are in both…
privatize everything? let corporations control everything? what party is that?
Employers in control of peoples healthcare what party is that?
Romney is a corporatist, the Bush’s, the Clinton’s, again EPIC FAIL!
The Bankers run the country and have us by the gonads. Who says the markets need to be deregulated? Yea there is a crash brewing.
Bottom line Citizens United which was based off a previous SCOTUS case mistake is the ticket to fascism.
But wait have ya read the TPP doc leaks yet? That will threaten our Sovereignty to a global tribunal corporate court
If you have not read the TPP leaks then do not pin fascism on anybody 11 years in the making through all party administrations
read the darn TPP and look at the nail in the coffin, Both parties will pass fast track in the middle of the night
But wait the biggest fascists? Who funds the Tea party? Who started the US Tea Party? 3 generations of the same politics which are now embraced by the Tea party.
People have to get rid of the money in politics and take a look.
What about Peace in our country for our people?
Jack a look at history will reveal this countries ties to the Nazi party, when it comes to bankers they often fund both sides of a war…
Look even Prescott Bush was busted……
Liberty needs our people to be honest and admit our past mistakes.
Liberty means getting the foreign money out of our elections
Take a look at the Nazi Playbook and look at the parallels to some of the playbooks being used in our political system
Epic fail boy — Imagine you are not a Nazi. 😀