Walker must go! For a general strike in Wisconsin!

The World Socialist Web Site urges all of its readers and supporters in Wisconsin to download, distribute, and post this article as widely as possible, and to develop a campaign in the working class. A pdf version for printing is available here. The article can be shared on Facebook and Twitter.

3 March 2011

The budget presented by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on Tuesday has caused profound shock and outrage among workers throughout the state. It has now become clear to hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin workers and their families that they are confronted with a ruthless attempt to drastically lower their living standards, eviscerate crucial social services and benefits, and strip away their democratic rights.

Walker is demanding cuts of at least $1.5 billion from the state's budget to close a deficit that has been created, to a great extent, by his recent massive reduction of tax rates for large corporations.

These cuts include:

$1.25 billion in cuts to school aid and local government, including a reduction of more than $900 million in education funding statewide, which translates into a cut of approximately $500 per pupil.

$500 million in cuts from Medicaid, which finances critical state health programs for more than one million Wisconsin resid ents. The impact on low-income and uninsured adults and families with children will be devastating.

$250 million will be cut from funding for the University of Wisconsin. Moreover, as part of a scheme that will serve the interests of top corporations, the Madison branch of the University of Wisconsin will be carved off from the state system. This will gut the wages and workplace rights of 17,000 UW workers and lead to a sharp increase in college tuition costs over the next two years.

The Walker budget document is a declaration of war. His inclusion of further demands for the elimination of collective bargaining follows logically from his budget proposals. The cuts that he is calling for make a mockery of "bargaining," because his budget proposals require, by their very nature, the complete surrender by workers to his unilateral demands.

The oft-repeated position of union officials--that they are prepared to accept Walker's budget cuts if only he steps back from his demand for an end to collective bargaining--is not only cowardly, it represents a dangerous evasion of the political reality that exists in Wisconsin.

The term "collective bargaining" means nothing at all if unions are prepared to accept the dictates of state governments, which are acting in the interests of the capitalist bosses of the banks and industry. Collective bargaining did not emerge in the form of a permission slip granted by generous corporations to the workers. It w as wrested from the capitalist class in the course of decades of bitter conflict for social and democratic rights, in which countless thousands of workers' lives were lost. In the final analysis, collective bargaining existed only to the extent that workers were prepared to exercise the weapon of the strike to overcome the intransigence of the capitalist class and its political hirelings in local, state and federal government.

Walker's budget signifies in practice, if not yet in law, the collapse of collective bargaining. His administration is ramming a brutal and socially destructive budget down the throats of Wisconsin working people and their families.

How should the working class in Wisconsin respond to this political reality?

In recent days, there has been a growing realization among working people throughout Wisconsin that protests in the state capital are insufficient and that they must escalate their struggle.

Sentiment is building for a ge neral strike by the working class. Wisconsin workers, in ever greater numbers, are coming to realize that nothing short of a massive mobilization of their collective strength will be sufficient to beat back the attack of the Walker administration.

This sentiment is justified and corresponds to the political reality that exists in Wisconsin and, increasingly, throughout the United States. The collapse of collective bargaining--that is, the attempt of the state to impose, with the implicit threat of force, intolerable and unacceptable demands upon workers--has a profound objective significance. The ruling class is telling working people: "We do not negotiate. We demand. You must accept our terms."

This signifies, in effect, the end of compromise between the classes. The growing recognition of this political reality among workers lies behind the rising sentiment for a general strike.

It is necessary for workers who have come to this conclusion to build the momentum for a general strike. Talk about a general strike must turn toward its actual preparation.

In every work place, meetings should be called to discuss, debate and vote on a resolution for a general strike. Wherever substantial support exists for a general strike, rank-and-file committees, independent of union officials, should be formed to prepare for this action.

This movement should base the call for a general strike on the following demands:

* Total rejection of all economic concessions by the Wisconsin workers. Instead, social spending should be increased to meet the pressing problems created by three years of recession caused by the criminal speculative activities of the banks.

* Unequivocal rejection of any and all restrictions on the legal right of workers to negotiate and, when they so decide, strike to defend and improve their standard of living.

* For a substantial increase in taxes on corporate profits and the very rich to cover the budget deficit and the costs of new and essential social spending.

* For the immediate resignation of Governor Walker and his reactionary administration. Walker has deliberately made himself the political spearhead of the corporate attack on the working class and the use of dictatorial methods. The demand for his removal from office arises from the recognition that the struggle of Wisconsin workers against this budget is, in essence, a political struggle.

The call for Walker's removal does not imply a vote of confidence in the Democratic Party. Beyond the borders of Wisconsin there are Democratic Party governors and mayors who are calling for budget cuts no less draconian than those sought by Walker. The Obama administration is collaborating with the state governors and the Congress in Washington in the implementation of budget cuts that will wreak havoc on the lives of workers throughout the country.

However, inspired by the example set by Wi sconsin workers, the fight against the attacks on workers' rights will expand from state to state and across the country as a whole, in opposition to all the political representatives of the capitalist class.

Thus, the demand for Walker's removal raises the most important issue of all--the necessity for workers to create their own, independent, socialist alternative to the corporate-controlled Republican and Democratic parties.

The Socialist Equality Party supports and encourages the movement for a general strike against the Walker administration and its reactionary budget. The growing sentiment among workers that such action is necessary testifies to the intensity of social conflict in the United States. However, we urge workers to recognize that they are fighting not just one governor, but the capitalist class as a whole and the profit system upon which its rule is based.

David North

For more information on joining the Socialist Equality Party, click here. Attend the SEP/WSWS/ISSE regional conferences, The Fight for Socialism Today: www.fightforsocialism.org.

Rural American Progressive
In Unity is Strength

House Fails to Re-Authorize PATRIOT Act

The Washington Post reports that the House of Representatives fell seven votes short of "extending provisions of the Patriot Act. The bill, which would have reauthorized "key parts of the counter-terrorism surveillance law" that expire at the end of the month, "required a super-majority to pass under special rules reserved for non-controversial measures." Yet, it fell short under that rule, although a majority of House members voted to reauthorize it after 26 Republicans bucked their leadership, "eight of them freshman lawmakers elected in November's midterm elections." The vote tally, largely along party lines with most Democrats voting against it, "was 277 members in favor of extension, and 148 opposed."

WooHoo!

With rise of Egypt, Glenn Beck's popularity falls

by: Joe Sims

February 4 2011

In response to the Egyptian uprising, Glenn Beck is getting crazier and more extreme than ever with predictions of  a worldwide conflagration and implosion.

Beck's apocalyptic and deeply racist vision sees the rise of an Islamic "caliphate" or republic joined by "Marxists" in Europe and Asia. In his own words "When you take the Marxists and combine it with radicals of Islam ... the whole world starts to implode."

Interestingly, Beck's extremism coincides with a big drop in his January ratings - the largest dip for a cable TV show.  Deadline Hollywood writes, "In January, Beck's eponymous talk show posted the steepest ratings declines for any cable news program. Glenn Beck averaged 1.8 million viewers, down 39% vs. January 2010."

For younger viewers, the decline was even deeper. "In 25-54 [category], the drop was even bigger, 48%, to 397,000."

Notwithstanding Beck's  August event on the Washington mall, the TV performer and ideologue's popularity seems to have peeked two years ago in 2009 with 2.8 million viewers.

In recent months however, Beck, who called President Obama a racist,  has took a huge hit: first from civil rights groups, like colorofchange.org who organized a highly successful campaign to get advertisers to boycott his show - some 200 withdrew ads - and secondly from listeners who may have grown weary of his extremes - a factor that may paradoxically cause him to become even more acerbic.

The reason for this the drive for advertising dollars coupled with a decline in popularity of cable news shows. In this regard already two years ago commentator David Frum wrote "conservative talkers are responding to a collapse in advertising revenues. According to Scott Fybush, the proprietor of North East Radio Watch, talk radio has lost 30-40% of its ad revenues."

Frum continued, "In this environment, radio hosts believe that anger is their only path to survival."

Other cable shows have also shown a decline says, deadline.com .  "Also hard hit in January was Fox News' On the Record with Greta (1.5 million, down 36%; 333,000 in 25-54, down 49%). Other cable news channels with big ratings declines include CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 (595,000, down 34%; 174,000 in 25-54, down 43%) and CNN's Parker Spitzer (478,000, down 39% from last year when Campbell Brown was hosting the 8 PM hour; 125,000 in 25-54, down 46%)."

Last week, Jewish leaders took out an ad in Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal sharply criticizing Beck and other Fox News commentators' blasts at George Soros and comparisons of President Obama to Nazis.

Photo: Creative Commons

http://peoplesworld.org/with-rise-of-egypt-glenn-beck-s-popularity-falls/

For what it's worth, this is some of the best news that I have heard in a very long time. And it's not just that ratings for "Blowhard Beck" are in the toilet. There is simply no news outlet that is left to speak for... well, the left. And the fact that CNN programming is suffering right along with the rantings of a bona fide lunatic is evidence, in my mind, that even those who consider themselves "right" are getting fed up with the conservative corporate bile that the corporate owned propaganda machines are pumping out. When the majority of those who have been bred to believe that they are "conservative" are clearly losing interest in the "conservative" (read fascist) message, there is hope that sanity will prevail and isolate and shame those bigotted fear mongers into relative silence that will allow the rest of us to live in relative peace.

~Avelvet

UPDATE!!!! White Supremest Arkansas GOP Member Resigns under preasure

UPDATE!!!!
LITTLE ROCK, AR (AP) - The Arkansas GOP says a county-level party official who refused to cut his ties to a group that calls itself "pro-white" has resigned.

Arkansas Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb says John Casteel stepped down from his position in Jackson County on Wednesday after he chose not give up his membership to the Council of Conservative Citizens.

Webb told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Casteel said he felt his resignation was in the best interest of the Republican Party.

He added that the GOP appreciates Casteel's service to the party.

Casteel didn't respond to several messages left seeking comment. His e-mail address was listed as the contact for the Arkansas chapter of the council's website until earlier this week.

Arkansas: Jackson County GOP Chair Connected To White Supremacist Organization

31st January 2011

By ARDem
Blue Arkansas | January 31st, 2011

John Casteel, Chairman of the Jackson Co., Arkansas Republican Party

A special thanks goes out to Blue Arkansas writer La Voix for helping investigate this one. In fact, she's the one who first started digging around when she got wind of this story, immediately after finding a racist ad on Craig's List from the Council of Conservative Citizens:

White people have been notified that by the year 2050, European-Americans will be a minority in this country. For some reason, white people are supposed to be content with this prediction. The question is, why is minority status good for white people? For decades, other minorities have "empowered" themselves at white people's expense.

Other minorities have complained of discrimination from white people, and white people responded with integration, affirmative action, and other social programs designed to foster "equality." Have these programs worked? Are minorities satisfied with "equality"?

Think about it.

Minorities created organizations to promote their respective interests. The NAACP is not in the business of equality. The NAACP exists to advance blacks and empower them. La Raza exists to advance and empower latinos… even the ones here illegally. The ADL promotes the interest of Jews, even though Jews have prospered in this country as no where else. Shouldn't people of European background have an organization to protect OUR interests, and, yes, to secure privileges for OUR people?

The time is not far off when European-Americans will need to take collective, organized action on our own behalf… or we will all be minorities of ONE.

The Council of Conservative Citizens has been protecting and advancing the interests of European-Americans for over 20 years. Don't be a minority of one, visit us at our website. www.cofcc.org

(In case that ad gets deleted, we of course have the screen shot saved, see below.)

Well, while we couldn't determine who had posted the ad, we did get to digging around a bit to see just who was working to support the Council here in Arkansas and turned up something interesting. Now, let's not forget, this is the old White Citizen's Council renamed to seem lest threatening, the group that Haley Barbour got in trouble for speaking well of. Thing is, their agenda hasn't changed that much. Their website currently bemoans the fact that the South wasn't allowed to secede and keep its slaves, their statement of principles includes standing against "race mixing", and hell, they even feel the need to claim that George Washington Carver was a fraud in their section called "Black Invention Myths" where they basically try to dismiss the notion that any black person has ever contributed anything to our society, let alone technological advancement. In other words, it is beyond a doubt a white supremacist, racist, group. (That incidentally seems to like Ann Coulter, Pat Buchanan, and Ron Paul judging from the links to the side but that's beside the point …yet telling.) Anyway, while we couldn't determine who exactly posted the above mentioned article on the Little Rock Craig's List, we were able to find out this little bit of information.

The email to contact the Council of Conservatives Citizens in Arkansas is that of Jackson County Republican Chairman John Casteel, the same email address listed on the Arkansas GOP website for the Jackson County Republicans.

See:

(You can click on the above screenshots to make them larger.)

So yeah, sad to say, good old fashion racism is still alive in the USofA, and this is just one more bit of proof that it has a home in the Republican Party of Arkansas.

Original post on Craig's List:

http://bluearkansasblog.com/?p=5267

via: Anti-Fascist Encyclopedia

Who are the real extremists?

Steve Leigh looks at what's described as "extremism" by the mainstream--and why it turns out that those ideas are often threatening to the status quo.

January 20, 2011

I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction from being considered an extremist. Was not Jesus an extremist for love--"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you"...Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist--"This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist--"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice--or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?
-- Martin Luther King, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

IN THE wake of the tragedy in Tucson, Ariz., the media and the politicians have all been calling for a new "civility" in political debate. They have all denounced "extremism," which they connect with violence. But what is "extremism"? Is it really the cause of the problems that plague U.S. politics?

At its simplest, political extremism is just a set of ideas that is extremely different than the status quo. It is any political vision at considerable variance from the way the world is today.

Calling a solution or set of ideas "extremist" is considered the ultimate slam in politics in almost any age. To call something extremist is to take it off the table of rational political debate. As with other forms of name-calling, it replaces rational consideration of ideas with dismissive labeling. But if we look at it logically, calling something "extremist" should not be a value judgment.

Any idea, either extremist or moderate, can be good or bad.

What is extremist or moderate varies from age to age and place to place. Before the Revolutionary War, in 1770, anyone who called for independence from Great Britain, was a raging extremist, rebel and dangerous person. Yet by 1781, anyone wanting to go back under British rule would have been considered a traitor. In 1855, abolitionists were seen as crazy extremists. Yet by 1865, anyone wanting to restore slavery would have been called a hopeless reactionary.

In 1965, demanding immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam was beyond the pale of standard political debate. Yet by 1968, most people were for full withdrawal and, in 1975, the U.S. was out of Vietnam. In 1968, the issue of abortion was laughed at when raised in the presidential campaign. Yet by 1973, abortion rights had been legalized in the U.S.

Even the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.--who every politician now claims to venerate--was called a "trouble maker" and extremist, and was constantly harassed by the FBI. Examples like these could fill volumes.

read more

Rural American Progressive
In Unity is Strength

The Palin-ette is Un-invited to speak at Washinton University

The most amazing and refreshing thing happened in St. Louis, MO this past week. First, someone at Washington University decided that it would be a wonderful idea to invite Bristol Palin, daughter of former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, to speak during Washington University's Sexual Responsibility Week.

But, apparently, the student body, who's student generated funds were to be used to sponsor the event, thought that inviting a person who is the embodiment of the exact opposite of the topic to be discussed–on their dime–was less than ideal.

In fact, they hated it! Within 24 hours of the announcement of the invitation being extended to the Palin-ette, a Facebook page with a petition to prevent The junior Teabagger Princess from speaking had collected hundreds of signatures.

The day after the announcement, Saint Louis Today posted the following update:

Washington University in St. Louis says Bristol Palin won't be speaking there next month after all.

The decision comes after some students expressed outrage over Palin being paid with student-generated funds.

The daughter of former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin had been invited by the university's Student Health Advisory Committee to be part of a panel discussion on abstinence on Feb. 7. Bristol Palin became pregnant at 17 and is a single mom to a 2-year-old son.

It's not clear exactly how much she was to receive, but student leaders had approved spending $20,000 for the panel.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the university issued a statement Thursday night saying the advisory committee and Palin decided "the message that they intended on sharing would be overshadowed by controversy."

The Associated Press added:

"People are getting so angry because of the opposition to Palin's lack of expertise and the high cost she is charging," especially in light of budget cuts that have adversely affected other student activities, said Philip Thomas, the Washington University student who initiated the petition.

I often lament the fact that much of my home state of Missouri is too conservative for its collective well being. But it is refreshing and promising to note that, at least with the urban youth, they cannot be sold such a blatent lie as that which the Palin's pedal–that somehow, with their "common sense", "momma grizly", "soccer mom" mentality, they qualify as individuals that we should look to for cues on developing our own set of family and community values.

For my part, if I want to know what NOT to think or do, I should look to the Palin's for those cues. But I'll not support paying them for that information. They manage to insert themselves in our public discourse enough on their own for me to glean that information from them.

Generally, I try to ignore them. But I also try to ignore mesquitoes in the Mississippi River Delta summer evenings. That doesn't always work out, either.

• Posted by avelvet at 09:46:57 in General, News, U.S., State, Opinion
• http://ruralamericanprogressive.org/avelvet/
  

Rural American Progressive
In Unity is Strength

“God is a Fascist!”

I am ever amused by the seemingly oblivious! All one need do is read history to see what is happening in the world today. What I don't understand is the apparent predisposition of the "mob mentality" that is nationalism toward fascism. And I suppose that I never will. But it amazes me when people that I know personally who are generally well intentioned and "good" people are inclined toward fascist ideals and social interaction, including their exclusivity in their governmental affairs. In most cases these people espouse fascist ideals without even realizing it. And without exception they tend to accuse anyone who does not agree with their fascist tendencies to be fascists themselves!

The following story, taking history from the mid-19th Century forward, is a virtual blueprint of what is happening today in the U.S. and other parts of the world. The simple fact is, as history shows us, any time that capitalist business concerns have a hand in molding public policy the social structure that you end up with is authoritarian fascism and human rights crimes against the very people who help boost these concerns into power.

Talk about cutting your nose off in spite of your face...

"God is a Fascist!": The Ideology of Romanian Fascism

25th January 2011

Before the Christian Coalition: " … Romanian fascist ideology is, in many ways, similar to Western European fascism. … The [fundamentalist Christian] religious element of Romanian fascism was utilized by the Iron Guard to gain the support of the rural population of Romania where religious beliefs were the strongest. The Iron Guard used religious themes for most of their propaganda. … "

By Corinne Quinones | Claremont McKenna College

Economic, Socio-Political, and Intellectual Roots

Like most European fascist movements, Romanian fascism emerged out of the political, economic, and ideological crisises that followed World War I. However, the development of Romanian fascism is distinct from the development of fascism in Western Europe because of the unique political history of the Romanian state. Although Romania was granted independence in 1877, attempts to denationalize and politically and economically dominate Romania by the Turks, the Greeks, the Russians, and Western Europe contributed to the formation of a fascist ideology that was uniquely Romanian.

Economic Crisis

The economic crisises that followed World War I had a significant impact on the development of Romanian fascist ideology. The gradual transition of the Romanian economy during the 19th and 20th centuries from an agricultural base to a more capitalist structure resulted in high unemployment and the worsening of conditions for the peasantry, the working class, and the petty bourgeoisie. For example, illiteracy and infant mortality for the rural population of Romanian was among the highest in Europe. The centralization of capital in the hands of a few resulted in sharply defined social differentiation between the urban and rural populations. For example, the Romanian countryside, which contained a large proportion of the population, consumed only ten percent of all industrial products between 1936 and 1937, while the urban population consumed ninety percent. These economic conditions contributed to political unrest and dissatisfaction among the petty bourgeoisie (the main political base of the Iron Guard) and among conservative intellectuals, who questioned the efficacy of the capitalist model for Romania. The significant amount of foreign investment by Western European nations, particularly France and Britain, in Romania (foreign investment represented over thirty percent of the Romanian economy) and the tendency of Romanian economics and politics to be governed by foreign investment concerns contributed to a sense of hyper-nationalism and xenophobia in Romania. In addition, the failures of capitalist model were linked to Romanian Jews. The petty bourgeoisie, who were hit hard by the economic difficulties of the interwar period, blamed their predicament on the "capitalist" Jews and nurtured the virulent anti-Semitism that was to later characterize Romanian fascism.

The Crisis of Liberalism: "Government By Rotation"

The ineffective political organization of the Romanian state during the interwar period contributed to the development of fascism in Romania. The failure of Romanian parliamentary democracy was the result of inefficient and ineffective political institutions and fluctuating electoral laws. Romania's poorly structured electoral system and the habitual crushing of oppositional forces by violent and illegal means promoted a "government by rotation," in which no one party ever maintained an extended or strong hold in government. Consequently, Romania never fully experienced authentic parliamentary democracy despite the liberal democratic structure of its political system. The crisis of liberalism in Romanian politics contributed to the development of fascist and dictatorial tendencies. Foreign intervention in Romanian politics by the Western powers further cultivated hyper-nationalism and xenophobia. In particular, the intervention of Britain, Germany, and France in 1878 in order to enforce the abolition of religious discrimination against Romanian Jews linked the sentiments of nationalism, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism in Romania.

Romanian Conservative Thought: Eminescu and Cuza

The intellectual roots of Romanian fascist ideology can be traced back to late 19th and early 20th century conservative thinkers such as Mihai Eminescu and A.C. Cuza. Romanian conservative thought developed out of the social, political, and economic tensions in the 19th century. The failures of capitalism and liberal democracy in Romanian contributed to the development of proto fascist ideas that greatly influenced Romanian fascist ideology. The writings of the 19th century Romanian poet Eminescu inspired the development of Romanian fascist hyper-nationalism. Eminescu protested that 19th century Romania was governed by "French institutions, Jewish business, [and] Austrian industry." Eminescu expressed the socio-economic frustrations of the petty bourgeoisie by blaming the Romanian Jewish population for the problems of the Romanian nation. Eminescu asserted the classic fascist "Third Way" reasoning that rejected socialism as a "plaything made of foreign abstraction" and liberalism that had "transformed Romania into a quagmire into which the social sewage of the West and East is discharged." Eminescu expressed a nostalgic longing for the days of Romanian feudalism which, according to him, was a system of "the greatest freedom, of decentralization, of communal autonomy, of the independence of classes. Men were not equal and for that very reason they were free." In the 20th century, the ideas of A.C. Cuza, the intellectual vanguard of the Iron Guard, represented the conservatism that arose from the social tensions of the interwar period. Cuza's ideas inspired much of the anti-communism and anti-Semitism that was an integral part of Romanian fascist ideology. Cuza divided Romanian society into three classes, the rural class, the middle class, and the ruling class. He argued that this hierarchical system unified the nation, "the classes are stages in the development of the same nation . . . consequently, there could never be enmity between the classes." His critique of communism was based on the idea that "when class struggle enters into a society, it is a dangerous disease which leads the nation toward destruction." Cuza was also the intellectual architect of modern Romanian anti-Semitism. Cuza's anti-Semitism was based on the racist theories of Chamberlain and Drumont. To Cuza, Jews were a "foreign body" and the main source of Romania's socio-economic difficulties.

Characteristics of Romanian Fascist Ideology

Romanian fascist ideology is, in many ways, similar to Western European fascism. The essential components of fascist ideology – anti-communism, anti-Semitism, nationalism, mysticism, etc. – are all present in the ideology of the Iron Guard. However, there are many ways in which Romanian fascism is distinct, even unique, from fascist ideology in Europe. Romanian political history and the influence of Orthodox Christianity make Romanian fascist ideology relatively unusual. Here are several of the important and unique characteristics of Romanian fascism.

Anti-Communism and Anti-Semitism

The two central aspects of Romanian fascist ideology are anti-communism and anti-Semitism. Like most other fascist ideologies, the struggle against communism was the primary concern of Romanian fascists. Romanian fascists argued that communism was inherently incompatible with the "psychic structure of the Romanian people" and Romanian national interests. The vehement anti-communist of Romanian fascism can be traced to the persistent interference of Russia in the political affairs of Romania. To a certain extent, anti-communism and anti-Semitism were interrelated in Romanian fascist ideology. Communism was considered by many fascists a Jewish conspiracy. Fascist anti-Semitism in Romania was utilized by the Iron Guard to divert the attention of the petty bourgeoisie away from the social, economic, and political problems of the nation. Anti-Semitism in Romanian fascist ideology was particularly violent, racist, and a uniquely mass phenomenon. Jews were considered an "inferior and degenerate race" and were often blamed for the "alteration" of Romanian culture and the socio-economic problems of the nation. Romanian fascist ideology demanded a "plan for the total elimination of Jews" in Romania.

Nationalism

Nationalism was another important and unique component of Romanian fascist ideology. Romanian nationalism is characterized by its chauvinism, romanticism, and racism. Nationalism in Romanian fascist ideology was similar to the German concept of nation. Romanian fascists conceived the Romanian nation as having a "soul, a consciousness, an existential center." Nationality was embodied by the blood of the Romanian people and the soil of the Romanian nation. The cult of the Dacians, the proclaimed ancestors of the Romanian people, was similar to the Italian fascist cult of the Romans in that it supported the declarations of racial and cultural superiority by Romanian fascists. Imperialism was another component of Romanian nationalism and represented one of the solutions to the social, economic, and political difficulties of the Romanian nation. However, Romanian imperialism mainly constituted the expulsion or rejection of foreigners and foreign influences rather than the acquisition of additional territory.

Religion: "God is fascist!"

One of the unique characteristics of Romanian fascism is the incorporation of Orthodox Christianity into the political doctrine and structure of the Iron Guard. The religious element of Romanian fascism was utilized by the Iron Guard to gain the support of the rural population of Romania where religious beliefs were the strongest. The Iron Guard used religious themes for most of their propaganda. The widespread occurrence of "miracles" in Romania during the rise of the Iron Guard represented the utilization of religious propaganda to appeal to the superstitious rural population. In addition, Romanian fascists made use of collective prayers, religious chants, and processions in order to sway and influence the Romanian people. Orthodox Christianity was an essential component of Romanian fascist ideology because it was considered one of the most important elements of the "historical continuity" of the Romanian people. The Iron Guard was initially called the "Legion of the Archangel Michael" because it characterized the predestined character of the legionnaire movement.

Sources:

Hitchins, Keith. Rumania: 1866-1947. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994.

Ioanid, Radu. The Sword and the Archangel: Fascist Ideology in Romania. Translated by Peter Heinegg. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990.

Ronnett, Alexander E. Romanian Nationalism: The Legionary Movement. Translated by Vasile C. Barsan. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1995.

Seton-Watson, Hugh. Eastern Europe Between the Wars: 1918-1941. New York: Harper & Row, 1962.

Vago, Bela. The Shadow of the Swastika: The Rise of Fascism and Anti-Semitism in the Danube Basin, 1936-1939. London: Saxon House, 1975.

Volovici, Leon. Nationalist Ideology and Anti-Semitism: The Case of Romanian Intellectuals in the 1930s. Translated by Charles Koromos. New York: Pergamon Press, 1991.

Weber, Eugen. "Romania." The European Right: A Historical Profile, ed. Hans Rogger and Eugen Weber. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1965.

http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/hist/jpetropoulos/ironguard/ideology.htm

via: http://www.antifascistencyclopedia.com/allposts/god-is-a-fascist-the-ideology-of-romanian-fascism

Murder in Uganda -- Stop U.S. pastors from exporting bigotry

U.S. pastors are exporting bigotry to Uganda, with brutal results.

This is an issue close to my heart, because I've spent over a decade working for equality as a lay leader in my own church, and now, as acting director of HRC's Religion and Faith program – which helps religious leaders of all stripes speak out for equality and fight back when hatred is promoted in the name of religion.

On Thursday, that perversion of faith cost Ugandan gay rights advocate David Kato his life. He was bludgeoned to death in his home after his name was among those listed in an anti-gay magazine, under the headline "Hang them!"

Since at least 2009, radical U.S. Christian missionaries have added anti-gay conferences and workshops in Uganda to their anti-gay efforts in the U.S. – and now they're beginning to ordain ministers and build churches across East Africa focused almost entirely on preaching against homosexuality.

These American extremists didn't call for David's death. But they created a climate of hate that breeds violence – and they must stop and acknowledge they were wrong.

"Stop Exporting Hate." Sign our petition to Carl Ellis Jenkins, Lou Engle, and Scott Lively.

We'll deliver your signature to three men who have gone out of their way to promote hatred:

• Scott Lively of Massachusetts held an anti-gay conference in Uganda with two other U.S. pastors. A few months later, a bill was introduced in Uganda that would make homosexuality punishable by death.
• Lou Engle, a Missouri preacher whose rallies draw tens of thousands in the U.S., spoke at a rally in Uganda this year that focused on praying for the bill's passage. (Engle claims not to support some parts of the bill, but internal documents show he came to speak about "the threat of homosexuality," and defend the Ugandan government's efforts to "curb the growth of the vice using the law.")
• And Carl Ellis Jenkins of Georgia is presiding over a group that's opening 50 new churches in Uganda to "help clean up bad morals, including homosexuality" according to his staff.

They have been stirring up hostility in a country where homosexuality is already illegal, violent attacks are common, rape is used to 'cure' people of their sexual orientation – and a shocking law has been proposed that would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment or even death.

And they're in lockstep with some of the largest and wealthiest right-wing groups in the U.S. When the U.S. Congress considered a resolution denouncing the grotesque Ugandan death-penalty-for-gays bill, the extreme-right Family Research Council – now classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center – spent $25,000 lobbying to stop the resolution from passing.

Religion should never be used to spread hate. These men do not speak for me or the millions of diverse religious people who support equality not in spite of our faith, but because of it

That's what our Religion and Faith program is all about: helping people of faith from all different traditions speak out so we can reclaim the core religious values we hold dear in America.

At the heart of every religious tradition is love of humanity and love of creator – not hatred for our neighbors. Creating a climate of hate runs contrary to the very idea of faith – but that's exactly what the right wing in America is doing.

Tell missionaries and radical hate groups: "Stop exporting hate."

Whether or not we're people of faith, we cannot stay silent or stand idly by while a radical minority pushes a hateful agenda in God's name. Please stand with us and speak out today.

Sincerely,

Sharon Groves
Religion and Faith Program

Glen Beck inciting violence... again!

Glenn Beck's latest conspiracy theory target is a 78-year-old professor who, 45 years ago, published an article with her husband which posited that people overwhelming the welfare rolls could put enough stress on the system that it would force the need for certain reforms to help the poor.

The result? City University of New York professor and longtime advocate for the poor and working class, Frances Fox Piven has been receiving repeated death threats on online message boards and has personally received angry and violent emails.1

Beck has chosen to escalate these attacks even after the sad instance of political violence we recently experienced -- and are still recovering from -- in Arizona. Amidst calls to bring an end to incendiary, violence-causing rhetoric, Beck is doubling down, and if his network and advertisers simply sit back and watch, they must be held accountable for any violence this rhetoric may reap.

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Rural American Progressive
In Unity is Strength

Chinese police shoot protesting construction workers

By John Chan
25 January 2011

Hong Kong's Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported that last Sunday, riot police in China's Wuzhou City in the southwestern Guangxi province, opened fire on 100 construction workers demonstrating over unpaid wages.

The Information Centre said a local hospital officer had confirmed that about 20 people were sent to hospital, including five who sustained gunshot wounds. No deaths were reported. Chinese web sites circulated photos showing workers confronting the riot police before the shooting.

Workers from a residential construction site in Cangwu County had headed to Wuzhou City and staged a demonstration in front of the municipal government building. According to Japan's Kyodo news agency, the construction contractor owed workers one million yuan or $US151,000 in wages, but had fled to the adjacent Guangdong province after the construction was finished.

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Rural American Progressive
In Unity is Strength

Hold'em Accountable!

If people are going to be investigated for merely "following" Wikileaks on Facebook and Twitter, then perhaps there should be some investigations into Right Wing figures who openly support actual terrorists who are on an actual list of terrorist organizations who are actually declared such by our government.

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

You know it's getting bad when...

The bank in my home town, one of the few (think single digits!) remaining businesses, is closing its doors for good. It is no longer "profitable" for them to operate this branch. The nearest branches that will remain is 15 miles east or 20 miles west. You know the economy is in trouble when banks start closing branches.

Ironically, 30 miles north and 40 miles south, there is literally a bank on every corner (and a church just across the street from it).

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Alan
Missouri, United States of Amerika

Rural American Progressive
In Unity is Strength

Questioning Authority

I'd just like to state for the record that while I appear to exhibit glee when I point out instances where I believe "the establishment" (to include military, law enforcement, corrections, judicial, etc.) has crossed the line and has shown the evil side of its collective persona, I actually do so with profound sadness. Let me be clear: while I do not necessarily believe that ALL men and women in uniform and positions of authority are bad, there is no doubt that there are bad people in these positions.

I have seen uniformed personnel strike people with batons for no apparent reason with my own eyes simply because they could on more than one occasion. And let's face it, the "war on drugs", particularly the war on pot, is a drain on precious resources and makes "criminals" out of millions every year. Marijuana arrests and prosecutions clog our legal system and crowd our correctional institutions needlessly. "Forty-one percent of the U.S. population" have tried marijuana. That makes nearly half of the U.S. population criminals! (And I have personal knowledge that some of that 41% were the very people who arrest others for the same thing!) "Forty-six percent of respondents … say they support allowing states to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol."

But enough about pot. That is not the subject of this piece. (Though, in the interest of full disclosure I had two simple possession charges of less than a gram each time when I was a youth, in 1977-78. So, while I feel strongly about this, I use this issue as an example of "law enforcement" gone awry).

I have also had a handful of people with whom I had meaningful friendships who were police officers, deputy sheriffs, and corrections officers. I know there are good people who do these jobs. And, yes these jobs are necessary. But I have seen a lot more "authority figures" abuse their authority than the few with whom I grew to respect and care for. And not coincidentally, my respect for them grew out of their respect for me. (Hint, hint.)

I served in the United States Marine Corps. Though, we jokingly referred to it as "Uncle Sam's Misguided Children" (see: U.S. Marine Major General Smedley Darlington Butler's "War is a Racket" . And KNOW that Smedley Butler was one of Our Nation's foremost war hero's! He was actually invited by Corporate interests to overthrow the Government of the United States! And he said no. That alone makes him a leader to be emulated.) While I served, I observed that not ALL orders were "lawful" orders. And it is each service member's obligation to make the distinction. If you were ordered to shoot and kill unarmed civilians, it fell upon you to determine that this was an unlawful order. The Nuremburg Trials is history's testament that "following orders" is no defense to unlawful actions.

And I feel that a police officer "just enforcing the law" when the law is obviously and clearly flawed is not acting in the interest of the law.

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."

Albert Einstein

We, as Americans, should be ready and willing to disregard, condemn, and prosecute those who while in the service of this country in any capacity violate the Constitution and the tenets which made this society a great nation.

"Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.
…

"If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go; perchance it will wear smooth — certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn."

Henry David Thoreau

I am a rare bird indeed: a southern former US Marine, and a former Republican (I voted for Ronald Regan… sorry about that), a product of a fundamentalist Christian upbringing, who has converted to Buddhism and have radical left political leanings. I am NOT a revolutionary, though I believe that revolution is the only thing that will wrest our freedom away from the Corporate NON-entities who now hold our freedom in their iron fists and the richest 2% who hold everything ELSE in their iron fists. Though, AS a Buddhist, I can only observe and hope for the least number of casualties and collateral damage… at the hands of both sides of the conflict to come. "What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn."

"One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist" works the other way around: "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". I'm quite certain that the King of England viewed George Washington and his band of merry men as "terrorists", though I don't believe that connotation had yet been conceived. And there was a time, not that long ago when a U.S. Representative named Charlie Wilson trained and armed "freedom fighters" called The Taliban.

"History is written by the victors."

Winston Churchill

Our American dilemma is simply that we cannot decide which version of history we wish to be recorded. Therefore, we change it when it suits us. The masses are so dumbed down from "Survivor" and "Dancing with the Stars" (Oh, and my personal favorite: "Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader"). So, why not just rewrite recent history? Who'll notice?

In my world, in which I realize that I share with very few people, it is far more expedient to suspect authority, to disbelieve and suspect the rich, to constantly be aware that "they would like to lock me up for life for ANY reason", and to watch for those very few who prove me wrong by proving their humanity than it is to automatically suspect a few "leftists" or "revolutionaries" because those terms are not in vogue and to CHOOSE to give those in the greatest position to infringe upon our basic human rights, and from all appearances the inclination to do so, the benefit of the doubt.

If you want both sides of the story before you decide that "Power" is abusing their power before you decide who is right or wrong you will likely have no opinion on a multitude of injustices. Very few paid any attention to Jews during World War II (and no one else even TALKED about it). Few took up the banner of the Native American or the African American, and "respectable" people just didn't talk about such things.

If you are waiting for Dick Cheney to tell his side of "enhanced interrogations" (otherwise known as torture), you're in for a long wait. Well, actually he already has stated his position: it was "legal, sanctioned, and NOT torture" … regardless of what ANYBODY else thinks!

To request to hear the side of law enforcement before you decide that they went overboard with their "law enforcement" is to close your eyes and follow blindly. You are already a slave. Wear your designation "Slave" proudly. I will always suspect authority of wrong doing unless anyone can prove to me otherwise.

"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority."

Lord Acton (1834-1902) English historian

When everyone else is right will I be all that is left?
Rural American Progressive 
In Unity is Strength

GOP Senator Kills Whistleblower Protection Bill on Last Day of Congress

By Rick Piltz
Climate Science Watch | December 24, 2010

A single Republican Senator, using the egregious parliamentary tactic of placing an anonymous 'hold' without having the integrity to offer a public justification, killed a major whistleblower protection bill that reform advocates have worked on for 12 years, and that had overwhelming bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. This Senator must be exposed and subjected to relentless political opposition for this betrayal of the public interest. The Democrats, if they are fit to govern, must abolish the secret hold on the first day of the incoming Congress.

The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act was a package of badly needed reforms that would restore meaningful whistleblower rights to federal government employees who blow the whistle on waste, fraud, or abuse in the federal government. Among its many contributions to the public interest, the legislation would have created specific protection for scientific freedom, making it an abuse of authority to censor, obstruct dissemination, or misrepresent the results of federal research — a protection for which the need is clear.

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Rural American Progressive
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U.N. Investigating Bradley Manning’s Detainment

Posted by Erin on December 27, 2010

The United Nations office for torture issues in Geneva is now investigating a complaint that the U.S.is torturing Bradley Manning. Manning is the detained Army private suspected of giving classified documents to WikiLeaks. He has been held in solitary confinement for seven months despite being an exemplary prisoner. Many experts believe that being held in solitary confinement for an extended period of time does constitute torture. The U.N. said it received a complaint from one of Manning's supporters alleging conditions at the brig amount to torture. According to the U.N., the complaint received alleges that Manning's physical and mental health are deteriorating in the face of continual solitary confinement. The office of Manfred Nowak, special lawyer on torture based in Geneva, confirmed that they are investigating the report. A spokesman for the Marines denied mistreating Manning, telling the AP he is being kept safe, secure and ready for trial.

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Rural American Progressive
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The New York Times backs the attack on WikiLeaks

By Alex Lantier
28 December 2010

With a brief Christmas Day editorial, "Banks and WikiLeaks," the New York Times editorial page finally broke its silence on the official campaign targeting WikiLeaks, the news site that has published leaked US diplomatic cables. The Times did so, however, only to give its backhanded support for the campaign, led by the Obama administration, against WikiLeaks.

The Times has maintained a complete silence in the face of the threats of prosecution against the web site, which have escalated in the wake of the leak of hundreds of thousands of State Department documents. It has said nothing about the calls for Julian Assange—the organization's founder—to be arrested, declared an enemy combatant and even assassinated.

Its first editorial on the persecution of WikiLeaks came at the bottom of the editorial page on Saturday. This obscure position itself highlights the newspaper's tacit support for the campaign against WikiLeaks.

Acknowledging that WikiLeaks "has not been convicted of a crime," the Times writes that "the financial industry is trying to shut it down." It cites the decision by Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and Bank of America to refuse to process transactions and donations involving WikiLeaks.

The editorial makes clear, however, that the Times has no principled objections to this attack on democratic rights and freedom of the press—which essentially amounts to a threat by US banks to strangle any news organization that falls afoul of Washington. Indeed, the New York Times apparently believes the banks should have such powers.

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In Unity is Strength

--
Alan
Missouri, United States of Amerika

Rural American Progressive
In Unity is Strength

Drug export banned in the U.K., executions delayed in the U.S.

Monday, December 27 2010 @ 01:17 PM EST

You can't kill by lethal injection without sodium thiopental, used to put the victims in a coma before two poisons are administered to kill them. So when the sole American provider ran out of its supply, states like Arizona and California turned to a British company that manufactured the same drug. But Change.org members lobbied British Business Minister Vincent Cable via his personal email address, and successfully compelled him to ban the sale under an old law that forbids the export of "execution equipment" like guillotines. Executions across the U.S. continue to be delayed because of the shortage.

by James Clark

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Rural American Progressive
In Unity is Strength

I agree with the "Tea Party"...

Yes. As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with Sarah Palin on one thing (and one thing only):

Mainstream Media is definitely lame. And Lamestream Media is a good name for them.

"Why?", you may ask. Well, I'll tell you.

For two decades I have clamored about the need for another political party to emerge and be recognized. And for much longer than that there have been a whole host of other political parties in existence in the United States. There are the Libertarians, the Greens, the Socialists, the Communists, the Anarchists, and many more. When I envisioned a "third party", I actually envisioned one with some common sense--some interest in fairness and their common man. Something more forward thinking than the capitalists who currently run our nation and its economy.

But what did our Lame Stream Media pick up for us as a "viable third party"? You guessed it. The Tea Party: an organization that is so hauntingly similar to the National Socialist Party of Germany from which the Nazi's were spawned. THIS is what they think is a "viable" third party! Not a party interested in equal rights. Not a party interested in health care for all. Not a party that is interested in reinvesting in America. Fascists. Haters. War mongers. That are the values of the organization that the media believes is worthy of their attention, the platform from which to shout their vile filled bilge, the free public megaphone of their 27/7 coverage.

The Tea Party.

That's who the media believes deserves their promotion. Haters.

That is exactly why I not only support the Turn Off Fox Campaign, but also no longer watch HLN, CNN, MSNBC, nor any of the other corporate backed cable news networks. Nor do I lend any credence to the New York Times, Washington Post, nor any other corporate backed news outlets.

If you have not noticed a theme in my discretion here I will point it out to you. Fascism is a government which, if not outright owned by corporations and industry, caters specifically and wholly to corporate and industry interests and needs. The single most important strategy for these special interests to maintain their control over the masses is to keep the masses afraid of each other.

The "divide and conquer" strategy is at least as old as Sun Tzu's "Art of War". And the mindless masses buy off into the illusion of the perceived threat that we each hold for each other. Until we realize who the enemy truly is, fascism, we will be doomed to live in bondage and fear.

I, for one, choose not to live under this delusion.

By all means, tax the poor!

This article at Huffington Post is a real piece of work. In fact, Senator Dick Lugar (yet another "Dick"), the author of the post, and the vast majority of the commenters on that article are ALL "special people". As in, they will be competing in the Special Olympics for the mentally challenged.

I get so sick and tired of each time the wealthy, corporations, and the politicians screw the pooch and leave our country and economy in shambles, each time they decide that they need desperately to balance the budget to make up for their transgressions, the thought of actually correcting their own behavior never even enters into their mind and certainly not the conversation! But the very FIRST thing that comes up is what they so woefully call "entitlement programs". And along with that terminology comes a perceived misrepresentation of it as "welfare" or some kind of government hand out which was never earned and is somehow coming out of the pockets of the working poor (there is no middle class any more, regardless of what poor people think of themselves. If you don't make 150-200k per year, you are frigging poor).

But if this perception is correct, which in my case it most certainly is not, I'd like to know what these morons think all of that FICA tax that was held out of my paycheck for all of those years that I DID work was all about. I'll tell you: THAT WAS MY SOCIAL SECURITY! That was the money that the government took out of my check to set back for me in case I became unable to work or retired. And that is what happened, I became unable to work. So, as far as I am concerned, that meager check that I receive each month that is a fraction of what working people make each week, IS MY OWN MONEY TO BEGIN WITH! And I would appreciate it very much if the cock suckers running this country would leave it the hell alone!

However, when these idiots in Washington get caught with their hand in the till while spending recklessly, they blame people like me and expect US to suck it up and pay for their mistakes by cutting the benefits that were set back for us out of our own money.

One day YOU TOO will become sick, disabled, or old and you will be forced to rely on Social Security. Hell, even John McCain is on Social Security! So, don't say you won't. If you do, I call you out right now as a liar. So, each time you attack Social Security benefits being paid out as the source of all the nations woes, just remember: Social Security itself is solvent and the only thing that is placing it in any jeopardy at all is the gluttonous morons in Dick City who can't keep their hands out of it. This BROKE ASS country has borrowed from the Social Security reserve for so long that all Social Security HAS any more is PAPER. Worthless Paper with the United States name on the IOU!

I haven't had a cost of living adjustment in TWO YEARS while the average cost of living has risen 8% in the same time frame. And now you want to reduce my benefits over a period of time? You people have a twisted way of trying to explain things so you don't look like the amoral trolls that you are. But I see it clearly and plainly. You talk of reducing my cost of living increases. Well, I have news for you: a reduction from 0 is a cut. And no matter HOW you spin it, you are talking about raising the retirement age.

This shit make me mad. Do you REALLY THINK that we can't see what you are doing? You are protecting your own wealth by making the poorest among us shoulder the cost of your mistakes.

You fucks.