Friday, October 29, 2004
Waking up and smelling the coffee
I'm no longer alone in my fears that Bush-Rove Republicanism is on the road to a particularly American Nationalist/Evangelical form of fascism. The Pledge of Allegiance to Bush being recited at Bush campaign events has opened a lot of eyes, as Brad de Long surveys.
I don't joke about fascism (or communism for that matter). I use the word carefully. And I'm very afraid that it could lie in our country's future.
Thankfully, like many such movements, I don't think this one could make it without its figurehead. Thinking about Bush in this way does clear some stuff up. Back when he was running for president the first time, he pompously spoke about leadership qualities as if he were the world's greatest expert on the subject ("A leader leads" is my favorite). The only experience Bush had that came close to leadership was the part time job of Texas Governor, a position less powerful than Lt. Governor, of all things. After 9/11, Bush rewrote the history of the event to make himself---a man who spent August on vacation and the morning of 9/11 reading My Pet Goat---as the hero. His own convention claimed Bush's most important accomplishment was comforting and rallying the nation from the ruins of the WTC. When things go wrong--on the economy, Iraq, you name it---Bush blames his enemies, his underlings, his supporters; anyone but himself. And bereft of accomplishments, his reelection campaign is centered on his claims to be a great, strong, and steady leader.
This man is running for the position of Il Duce. He always has been, but he and his backers are so unaware of this historical significance of the cult of personality strategy that none of us saw the signs until he'd been in office two years.
We need to send a message this kind of shit doesn't play in America. Then we need a Republican Krushchev to stand up and repudiate the Bush style of governance. I want the party of Lincoln back. But I'd settle for the party of Eisenhower, or Bush Sr.
I don't joke about fascism (or communism for that matter). I use the word carefully. And I'm very afraid that it could lie in our country's future.
Thankfully, like many such movements, I don't think this one could make it without its figurehead. Thinking about Bush in this way does clear some stuff up. Back when he was running for president the first time, he pompously spoke about leadership qualities as if he were the world's greatest expert on the subject ("A leader leads" is my favorite). The only experience Bush had that came close to leadership was the part time job of Texas Governor, a position less powerful than Lt. Governor, of all things. After 9/11, Bush rewrote the history of the event to make himself---a man who spent August on vacation and the morning of 9/11 reading My Pet Goat---as the hero. His own convention claimed Bush's most important accomplishment was comforting and rallying the nation from the ruins of the WTC. When things go wrong--on the economy, Iraq, you name it---Bush blames his enemies, his underlings, his supporters; anyone but himself. And bereft of accomplishments, his reelection campaign is centered on his claims to be a great, strong, and steady leader.
This man is running for the position of Il Duce. He always has been, but he and his backers are so unaware of this historical significance of the cult of personality strategy that none of us saw the signs until he'd been in office two years.
We need to send a message this kind of shit doesn't play in America. Then we need a Republican Krushchev to stand up and repudiate the Bush style of governance. I want the party of Lincoln back. But I'd settle for the party of Eisenhower, or Bush Sr.
