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Politics : foreign affairs, unchaperoned -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: marcos who wrote (114)	1/28/2004 4:50:47 PM
From: Thomas M.	Respond to of 261

That's not entirely fair to FaultLine, imho No, it was actually being charitable. I posted purely matter-of-fact posts, which were met with emotional tirades. FL variously sided with the tiraders or said that both sides were too heated. Later, FL openly stated he was looking for an excuse to ban me, and then he did when that excuse did not pop up. My opinion of him is that he is not so much biased as he is dim. Tom

To: marcos who wrote (114)	1/29/2004 5:33:31 PM
From: Thomas M.	Respond to of 261

Just to give an idea of FL's bias, proposing genocide merits a one week suspension. LOL! siliconinvestor.com

To: marcos who wrote (114)	1/29/2004 5:38:30 PM
From: Thomas M.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 261

That's not entirely fair to FaultLine, imho . It gets even better! Ish calls for genocide of the entire Muslim world: Message 19263317 Again, a one-week suspension. And FL adds this commentary: Ish isn't a bad guy. Actually, he's a pretty good one. Completely agree ROFL! Tom

To: marcos who wrote (114)	2/3/2004 5:19:52 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 261

Although [Judeo]fascism would mean total ruin of the American dream, it could hardly come suddenly --let alone in any precisely predictable year. This is one of the reasons I cannot go along with the old-fashioned Marxist picture of capitalism or imperialism dropping the fig leaf or the mask. This imagery suggests a process not much longer than a striptease. It reinforces the apocalyptic vision of a quick collapse of capitalist democracy --whether "not with a bang but a whimper," as T. S. Eliot put it, or with "dancing to a frenzied drum" as in the words of William Butler Yeats. In my judgment, rather, one of the greatest dangers is the slow process through which [Judeo]fascism would come into being. For a large part of the population the changes would be unnoticed. Even those most alive to the danger may see only part of the picture --until it is too late. For most people, as with historians and social scientists, 20-20 vision on fundamental change comes only with hindsight. And by that time, with the evidence at last clearly visible, the new serfdom might have long since arrived. ... in the movement toward [Judeo]fascism, any sudden forward thrust at one level could be followed by a consolidating pause or temporary withdrawal at another level. Every step toward greater repression might be accompanied by some superficial reform, every expansionist step abroad by some new payoff at home, every well-publicized shocker (like the massacres at Jackson State, Kent State, and [the OKC mass bombing], the [Iraqi WMDs] scandal or the revelations of FBI or CIA [wrongdoings before 911]) by other steps of less visibility but equal or possibly greater significance, such as large welfare payments to multinational banks and industrial conglomerates. At all stages the fundamental directions of change would be obscured by a series of Hobson's choices, of public issues defined in terms of clear-cut crossroads --one leading to the frying pan and the other to the fire. Opportunities would thus be provided for learned debate and earnest conflict over the choice among alternative roads to serfdom . . . The unifying element in this unfolding logic is the capital-accumulation imperative of the world's leading capitalist forces, creatively adjusted to meet the challenges of the many crises I have outlined. This is quite different from the catch-up imperatives of the Italian, German, and Japanese leaders after World War I. Nor would its working out necessarily require a charismatic dictator, one-party rule, glorification of the State, dissolution of legislatures, termination of multiparty elections, ultranationalism, or attacks on rationality [e.g. creationism]. As illustrated in the following oversimplified outline, which also points up the difference between [paleo]fascism and [Judeo]fascism, the following eight chapters summarize the many levels of change at which the trends toward [Judeo]fascism are already visible. Despite the sharp differences from [paleo]fascism, there are also some basic similarities. In each, a powerful oligarchy operates outside of, as well as through, the state. Each subverts constitutional government. Each suppresses rising demands for wider participation in decision making, the enforcement and enlargement of human rights, and genuine democracy. Each uses informational control and ideological flimflam to get lower and middle-class support for plans to expand the capital and power of the oligarchy and provide suitable rewards for political, professional, scientific, and cultural supporters. A major difference is that under [Judeo]fascism Big Government would do less pillaging of, and more pillaging for, Big Business. With much more integration than ever before among transnational corporations, Big Business would run less risk of control by any one state and enjoy more subservience by many states. In turn, stronger government support of transnational corporations, such as the large group of American companies with major holdings in [Russia], requires the active fostering of all latent conflicts among those segments of the American population that may object to this kind of foreign venture. It requires an Establishment with lower levels so extensive that few people or groups can attain significant power outside it, so flexible that many (perhaps most) dissenters and would-be revolutionaries can be incorporated within it. Above all, [Judeo]fascism in any First World country today would use sophisticated control technologies far beyond the ken of the [paleo]fascists. [...] thirdworldtraveler.com