The Seven Pillars of Fascism - II

We covered the first factor on October 14, 2021. If you don't know what I mean, go read the first few paragraphs of that post and come back. Now we are up to the second in line:

  The fascist uses force or intimidation to coerce people to accept their political will.

2.     The fascist claim that they are victims and that their opponents are oppressors.

3.     The fascist creates a false scapegoat.

4.     The fascist seeks to divide and often uses race, ethnicity and/or religion to do it.

5.     The fascist gains control of critical social institutions, like the media, the police and the education system.

6.     The fascist is dishonest, and often uses fake crises or exaggerates them in order to more easily take or maintain power.

7.     The fascist takes complete control of the law and all facets of society within his or her reach – not just the reins of government.

    When I was growing up, the saying we were taught was "sticks and stones can break your bones, but names will never hurt me." Not that names didn't hurt then, they did, but we were taught that the beneficial thing to do was to "suck it up." Don't misunderstand - I did not grow up in "the greatest generation" or the days of Teddy Roosevelt imploring us to live the "vigorous life." It was already, at least where I lived, pretty wimpy, and I was no exception. But, it's gotten a lot worse.

    Now, kids are not taught to walk it off. No one would blame great champions like Simone Biles or Naomi Osaka for losing a tournament or choking after all the times they exceeded everyone else, but now they are part of the preaching of quitting because of what seems like stress under the guise of mental health, and kids are being taught, that's okay. Athletes, of course, have mental health problems like every other group and if they stop them from performing, then that's what happened and the rest of us have to move on, I'd hope, without castigating them or making them feel worse.  But, we don't have to admire them for it or celebrate it or think them especially courageous either. In the end, in sports, there is tremendous pressure for everyone and we should admire those who overcome it. Isn't that what we have always done?

    Even in football, what was the epitome of virile sports, they are starting to lean wimpy. I don't know about you, but I was a little shocked to hear that the openly gay defensive end for the Oakland Raiders (a team also once known for its virility), Carl Nassib, had to take a personal day after his coach was revealed to have made misogynistic and homophobic emails (some look like that, though I don't know the context they were made - many people say horrible things as jokes among their friends). Forget for a second that this is the same coach, the only one in the league, to have an openly gay player on his team (no less start him), but exactly why did Carl have so much to process? That's what the team said - he had to process it. It is not fun to be stigmatized or insulted by people because of who we are, which still happens every day in this world to most of us. You wouldn't think a comment made to Gruden's friend (the owner of the Washington Redskins) using the word "queers" (it is not always considered a slur, but it is when used in a derogative meaning) or stating his belief that there shouldn't be pressure to hire gay players would make a player take a day off of work. I get insulted every day just by my evalovin' gf - and that's personal.  Yes, I'd like to think Carl was tougher than that. Not because insults don't hurt, but because we are - or were - supposed to shrug them off. And when we can't, then we are defeated by them. Maybe it even gives homophobes (and there are plenty) reason to say - see, gays can't take it. I don't think Carl can say now that he doesn't think he's a victim. Because no one else had to take the day off.

    Most of the league is black, as is well known - about 2/3rds anyway. I guess some of them must support the need to have a "black national anthem" played at games (I've read it is every game) and be given their own holiday, known as Juneteenth, after the day in June, 1865 when Texas slaves were liberated. Why? Is there any other reasons than that these multi-millionaire athlete/celebrities still, despite their abilities, success and the lack of any roadblocks based on skin color, feel like victims, and they need to be consoled by their own holiday and song. I don't know why the other victims in the league don't get their own (forget whites, who now are actually victims, and certainly not the few Jews in the league, who are the no. 1 victims in the country of hate crimes, because, frankly, many people with political clout don't like them).

    Victimhood is big business today. BLM matter is entirely built on supposed victimhood. While no rational person with an inkling of historical knowledge could deny that blacks, probably along with American Indians (I know, I know, whatever I'm supposed to call them now) have been the biggest victims in American history. Of course they were. Now, quite the opposite. George Floyd's family, proved that with the 27 million they pocketed, if anyone had any doubt. Someone sent me a link to an article recently about the purveyor of so much nouveau hate and newspeak, Ibram X. Kendi, tweeted about white kids pretending they were minorities to get into school, before he scrubbed it, as it proved those white kids certainly think that minorities have a better chance than they do. Actually, it's common knowledge that many schools, including the top schools (Ivy League, etc.) do favor minorities. 

    But, it is hardly just BLM (who I've said over and over I do not think really represents blacks).  Sometimes it seems like every group wants to be a "victim" these days for whatever benefits it brings them. One of the reasons I stopped watching America's Got Talent before I stopped watching all tv was the prevalence of the contestants in who was the biggest victim. The last straw for me was when one contestant performed and as he was leaving the stage, remembered his instructions and yelled out - "And I was bullied!" 

    Last year some Antifa creature or another yelled out, "We don't want Biden. We want revenge." Leave aside the mental illness or ignorance that must arise before anyone would want to be Antifa, but "revenge?" It can only be because they are self-declared victims. Last year a few Asian-Americans were killed by a psychopath out to kill hookers (I know, I know, I'm not supposed to use that word either) even though the muttonhead himself said it had nothing to do with their ethnicity, but only their jobs.

    Whose left? There was a WAPO article a few years ago about which states had what hate crime protection. Among many others:

    7 states - the homeless

    5 states - the police (who, in some cities, yes, I'd say they were victims).

    4 states - political affiliations

    Utah had 18 categories including the military, emergency responders and school rivalry

But, that's nothing. The FBI keeps records for hate crimes against American, Indians or Alaska Natives (okay, call me ignorant, but what's the difference?), Arabs, Asians, Blacks Hispanics, Hawaiians/Islanders, whites, any other ethnicity not listed, Buddhists, Catholics, Russian and Greek Orthodox, other Christians or religions, Sikh, atheists and agnostics, Hindus, Islamic, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, or any other religion, gay, bisexual, heterosexual, transgender or non-conforming gender, or mix thereof, the mentally disabled, the physically disabled, men and women. 

Isn't that everybody?

But, I'm supposed to be talking about Fascism. Historically, fascists use their self-appointed status as victims to jump start their programs. Hitler was a master of playing the victim card: 

• The German nation was a victim of the Allied Powers who enforced an unjust peace on them at the end of WWI, taking their colonies and stripping them of their armed forces. Not surprisingly, German forced Russia to a very similar treaty when they sued for peace with Germany after their own revolution.

• Hitler used the real Reichstag Fire as an excuse why he needed emergency powers which he used to crush opposition.

• Hitler used the assassination of an German embassy official in France by a Jewish young man angry at the expulsion of his family from Germany (arguably, it was over a broken love affair between the official and himself) as an excuse for Kristallnacht and other anti-Jewish actions.

• Hitler claimed that Germans were being attacked in Austria, Czechoslovakia and then Poland when he wanted to attack or threaten those countries into submission. Attacks on Germans in Czechoslovakia were few, so Hitler sent his own troops in under a false flag to attack Germans.

• Hitler claimed that Germans were being attacked by Poles in the Polish Corridor (long story what that is, but Hitler wanted Poland out of it). He then faked a Polish attack on a German radio station on the border as a pretext to attack Poland.

    The Bolsheviks acted essentially the same, and despite the fact that the Nazis hated them, were actually a predecessor in a number of Nazi tactics. They not only used capitalists and Jews as scapegoats, but repeatedly used the threat of a Czarist reactionary attack as a predicate for the most horrible abuses (Lenin often gets a pass from history because Stalin's victims were so many, but he was also a cold-blooded murderer who couldn't care how many people died so long as he could make his warped society). The victimization claims worked well to a large degree on their less blood-thirsty socialist companion groups like the Social Democrats and Mensheviks, who thought better to have the violent Bolshies than the defeated Czarist forces. As bad as the Czarist system was, it was better than the Soviets.

    Sadly, the siren call of "I'm a victim" has grown. We can all think of ways to claim we are victims, but some do and some don't. Of course, there are real victims and even real groups that are victims. Ironically, how that is perceived has nothing to do with the narratives that get the attention.

    This was my first post of the new year. Back to fascism. It's not my preferred post. But it is a calling.

on

16th Holiday Spectacular

Man, I had to work a bit the past couple of months and it's good to wind down. It’s the season and time for my 16^th Annual Holiday Spectacular. Every year I try and write it as I go without a lot of premeditation (although someone nasty could argue that about all my posts).  I’m feeling movies this year. Actually, I did Tom Hanks last year, but add a few others here:

Dustin Hoffman's Ten Best movies:

The Graduate

Tootsie

Rain Man

Meet the Fockers

Lenny

Family Business

Kramer versus Kramer

All the President's Men

Midnight Cowboy

Wag the Dog

The Graduate is what made him famous and is iconic. I suppose younger people don't know it at all. At the time it was considered quite risque. Now, not so much. Tootsie, with Bill Murray as Dustin's roommate, was a hysterical comedy that was actually about something other than a bachelor party.  Wag the Dog is probably the least well-known film mentioned here and was a political movie he did with DeNiro and an all-star cast. I remember thinking it was a lot better than I had thought it would be. He was hysterical as Ben Stiller's father in Meet the Fockers. Family Business, with Sean Connery and Matthew Broderick, about three generations of criminals was a sleeper. I doubt Lenny is shown a lot anymore. It's about Lenny Bruce, the comedian who was arrested and sometimes banned for his performance (and comedians today should thank him), but also very good. I guess I should add the film Ishtar, starring Dustin and his real-life buddy, Warren Beatty, was one of the worst movies I ever saw.

Jack Nicholson’s Ten Best movies:

As Good as it Gets

Batman

The Shining

The Departed

Chinatown

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

A Few Good Men

Prizzi’s Honor

Terms of Endearment

The Two Jakes

Jack has been making movies since before I was born, sometime in the ‘50s. And, not surprisingly, not all of them are gems, but many were. His persona is so powerful that even when he’s not the lead or it’s an ensemble film, he usually steals it anyway, such as in Batman and A Few Good Men. Jack’s character doesn’t even have to be likeable for it to be unforgettable (unlike say, Tom Hanks, who is likeable in every film). For me, his performance in As Good as it Gets was his perfect lead role, but he may have been even better in Batman where he set the incredibly high standard for the Joker.

Top ten Westerns (Is it possible I’ve never done one yet?)

The Outlaw Josey Wales

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Tombstone

High Plains Drifter

Pale Rider

Fistful of Dollars

For a Few Dollars More

True Grit (John Wayne version)

Cat Ballou

Silverado

I can’t really choose between The Outlaw Josey Wales and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Both are brilliant films. TGTBATU probably set the standard while breaking all rules for Westerns. You have to give Sergio Leone credit for his Westerns on the list along with Eastwood. But Josey Wales is probably my favorite and has as good writing and performances as any more celebrated non-Westerns. The list, is, of course, mostly Eastwood. But, he made the best Westerns. True Grit is my favorite John Wayne movie. But, the remake with Jeff Bridges was really good too. I recommend both. Cat Ballou is unlike other great westerns. It’s a comedy starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin and in which Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole provide the chorus. I’d brag for it that it made the American Film Institute's top 10 Western list, but it is a horrible list clearly made by people who did not like Westerns and this is the only one of their ten I'd agree on. As for Tombstone, it is also a tremendous film, and I have long said that the Academy owes Val Kilmer an Oscar and I’m definitely not the only one who thinks so. 

Top Ten Denzel Washington Movies

Glory

Inside Man

Malcolm X

The Equalizer

Devil in a Blue Dress

The Taking of Pelham 123

Remember the Titans

The Preacher’s Wife

Philadelphia

Man on Fire

Notes: Everyone likes Denzel. Probably literally everyone. Philadelphia is the type of movie I normally wouldn’t like (it’s more Hank’s movie but I think it is one of Denzel’s best roles). Glory is an ensemble piece and Denzel was not yet famous. But, his portrayal of a resentful black soldier in the Civil War absolutely stole the movie. Man on Fire, Equalizer and Inside Man are simply great intelligent action hero movies (meaning not like most Stallone or Schwarzenegger or Norris movies - not that I don't love them too). And along with Ben Kingsley’s role as Gandhi, Denzel’s Malcolm X is probably the best historical portrait I’ve ever seen.

MUSIC

All that said, those movies and stars are not as important to this post as what comes next. For quite some time now in most every Holiday Spectaculars, I unveil my top 20 Xmas songs, now recognized throughout the universe as the "official" Christmas song list (let me have it). Every year it’s a little different, but this year there are a number of changes. I’m so excited, I really can’t wait (and it’s a lot more fun than writing about fascism all the time):

THE LIST

1. Fairytale of New York. I play this crazy Christmas song over and over again. It's by The Pogues, an English punk band, seemingly more Irish than English and an Irish singer, Kristy MacColl. The Pogues lead singer, Shane MacGowan melodic but very raspy voice is hypnotic with the right song. Frankly, other than this Xmas song and Rake at the Gates of Hell, I don't like them at all. But I really like this (though some might find it offensive).

2. New York City Christmas by Rob Thomas. Maybe I'm getting tired of the more traditional songs. This first appeared on my list a couple of years ago and has risen dramatically. 

3. Baby, it's cold outside. Still a favorite. I raved enough in past years about the idiocy of the woke, who claim it is a date rape song and won't say more except - Morons! 

2. Game of Bells. By the French trio L.E.D., who I think only have one mainstream hit. But, this combo of the theme from Game of Thrones and Silver Bells is great. 

 
3. Cool Yule.  Louis Armstrong sings a Steve Allen song. Almost everyday I listen and it's just as good.  

4. All I want for Xmas is you. I love this Vince Vaughn and the Vandals one-hit wonder. It was recorded before the Mariah Carey hit of the same name.

5. From a Distance. There are so many people I can't stand who are just outstanding performers. Bette Midler is one of them. I love her version.

 
6. Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Almost impossible not to sing the chorus if you are listening . . . and then for hours afterwards.

7. Joy to the World. I still think the greatest voice I've ever heard.   

8. Oiche Chiuin (I left off the Gaelic accent marks) is also one of my favorites. In English, it is Silent Night. There are many great recordings, but I recommend Enya's version. She is only my second favorite Gaelic musician, but she's awesome. My favorite Gaelic musician, the ethereal Aine Minogue, who rarely performs outside the Boston area in small venues has a wonderful instrumental version.

9.  Linus and Lucy (from a Charlie Brown Christmas – I think of it as a Christmas song). I never get tired of Vince Guaraldi's classic piano piece.

10. Christmas Eve, Siberian Sleigh Ride and Carol of the Bells. As with other years, I call a tie for three Trans-Siberian Orchestra pieces.  

11. Frosty the Snow Man (Jimmy Durante version ONLY).

12. I'll be home for Christmas. Many great versions, but right now I like the one by Joy Williams.

13. Christmas by Maria Carey. For the time being I like this one better than her All I want for Christmas is You. 

14. Christmas Time is Here. Daniela Andrade, a youtube breakout star, is one of my favorite singers these days. Maybe my favorite. Her version of this song could put me to sleep, and I mean that in a good way.  The all-too unknown Mary Fahl, an incredibly powerful singer, has one of my favorite versions too.

15. Ave Maria.  Usually I choose the version by Andrea Bocelli, which is great. But this year its Christina Perri. She isn't huge star, but I love her voice.

16.  We Wish You a Merry Christmas. I know I'm going a little Irish crazy but right now I want to hear the version by Celtic Women.

17. The Perfect Christmas. Version by the above mentioned angel-voiced Daniela Andrade.  I've been listening to her for some years now, but she grows on me stronger and stronger. Her year, obviously.

18. March of the Wooden Soldiers composed by Victor Herbert. The real name is March of the Toys, but since I know it from the movie, that's how I think of it.

19. White Christmas. But, not the Bing Crosby version from the movie Holiday Inn (not, as many think, the sequel, White Christmas). I love the Otis Redding version, made popular by the movie, Love Actually.

20.  Silent Night.  In English, right now, I like Martina McBride's version.

An American Christmas Tale:

You are probably familiar with the Harry Belafonte rendition of I heard the Bells on Christmas Eve. He did not write it, nor did any jingle writer. The words were originally written by the famous American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in a poem Christmas Bells, written on Christmas Day, 1863, after he learned his son, Charles, who had enlisted in the Union Army without notifying his father, in order to, if necessary, give his life for his country, had been wounded in the little-known Battle of Mine Run in Virginia a few weeks earlier. 

If the poem is too Christian or religious for you, try not to let it bother you. For me, at least, it is easy to look at art divorced from the religious trappings its creator may have intended. It may not be so for others. But, whether they want me to or not, I wish they could. I say to unto you in my most pseudo of faux-religious words - No one owns pretty lights, great music, movies or inspirational words once they are out in the world. 

Though not on my top twenty list, this song stirred me when I just knew it as a Belafonte (or Bing Crosby) song, and it does more so knowing what it meant to Longfellow. As the writer Ray Bradbury wrote in Something Wicked this Way Comes, it is "immensely moving, overwhelming, no matter what day or what month it was sung." It is ultimately about just what he wrote, peace on earth and the hope for the triumph of good over evil. Comforting words in difficult times. I actually hear Belafonte as I read them:

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,
    And wild and sweet
    The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
    Had rolled along
    The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
    A voice, a chime,
    A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
    And with the sound
    The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
    And made forlorn
    The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
    "For hate is strong,
    And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
    The Wrong shall fail,
    The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Thank you, Kyle!

 ‘Some are born great’ --

‘Some achieve greatness,’ --

‘And some have greatness thrust upon them.’

                                                      Shakespeare – Twelfth Night, Act III, Sc. IV

 

Thank you, Kyle.

No matter what fascists, stupid, confused people or those good people merely misled by our sick media, say, we thank you, are glad for, inspired by and admire you. And because of what you went through, you are entitled to have it laid upon you rather thick.

If you are wondering why we are thanking you, it’s this -

Because you reminded us that we have to support and be good to one another despite every effort to replace our morals with racism, anger, aggression and oppression – and yet, we don’t have to die or refrain from living our lives because others want that hate to reign.

Because when the jury sent out a beacon to the world with the message that there are good still good people among us who value truth and justice, it gave us hope.

Because when Binger’s “heroes” were busy destroying a town, you lived out what another hero long ago said to the worst possible man - “You do your worst -- and we will do our best” and went and washed graffiti off a schoolhouse.

Because, when even a stranger asked for your help to protect his property, you went and helped, despite knowing about the vicious mob that might hurt you or even kill you -- even now if they get a chance.

Because you understood that day that Binger’s “heroes” would kill you and you brought a gun, but selflessly gave away your personal armor.

Because, you were not threatening, though threats were all around you, despite the fact that you had a gun, and because you said “friendly, friendly, friendly,” because you were just that.

Because you brought a medical bag in order to help people in the midst of angry, vicious and even mentally ill people who would do you harm because you were doing good.

Because you showed restraint and mercy to those surrounding you who did not attack you and even some who did -- but then backed off.

Because you were viciously attacked and survived, then set upon by those who should protect you, and deserve every bit of good will you get.

Because when you were attacked by fascists (or whatever they want to call themselves), you defended yourself rather than rolled yourself up in a ball and acquiesced to dying being severely injured, possibly permanently - for the sake of the media and false narrative that only skin color matters and everyone with the wrong skin color must get out of the way or suffer the consequences.

Because we haven’t had the opportunity to feel this good about a public event since the day we learned that a small bit of justice was carried out for those who died in 9/11.

Because when the prosecutors lied and lied and lied about you, said you thought you were a cowboy, said you walked with a swagger, said you intended to kill – everything but the truth -- that you fought for your life, you persevered.

Because when those same prosecutors, who may have done some good in their life, lied about there being nothing to fear from that first insane assaulter charging at you - because he was short, as if a short man couldn’t harm you, or pretended that you weren’t ambushed – that you were the pursuer, you persevered.

Because these prosecutors, whose job it is to help protect victims, decided the arsonists and rapists and destroyers of our society were the victims and called those who would have killed you “heroes,” and you persevered.

Because these prosecutors, who seem to me the kind of people who would have prosecuted Jews in the Warsaw ghetto for killing in self-defense, should have refused the job the way decent humans do when asked to do something indecent, without risk to their own lives and well-being, rather than do everything they could – even rob you of constitutional rights to try and put you in jail for life, perhaps because they thought their job required it – perhaps worse.

Because when Binger, whatever good he has done in his life, is now known to us as a small, vicious and dangerous man, by watching him try to tear you apart on the stand, taunt you, mock you and trip you up with falsehoods and tricks, you persevered.

Because you’ve been made a part of a narrative created by modern-day racists and fascists that you have had no say in, because most of our media is lost to us.

Because there are many good people in this country, and perhaps a large part of the world, who hypnotized by the propaganda and what passes these days for journalists, believe that you are the bad person, and you will likely have to deal with that for the rest of your life.

Because we know you must suffer because the people in your life have to bear this with you, even if they do so lovingly and without complaint.

Because you helped expose once again what a divisive and small man the supposed “leader to the free world” is, who, without watching the trial, said he was “angry and concerned” at the verdict.

Because you, through your ordeal, reminded us how precious is justice, how important a fair trial is, how important strong judges are and jurors willing to face up their duties.

For all those and other reasons, thank you.

 ***

I know you didn’t want this, wish it never happened. So do most of us, though I expect people have different reasons why. But we also wish that the movement that seeks to wipe away Martin Luther King, Jr’s “dream,” that has asked us to be racist in the name of anti-racism, that embraces fascism in the name of anti-fascism and that thinks a right of self-defense is based on skin color, never happened. We wish many things, and this is what we got. There are no alternatives to change the past, only the future. I feel a little better about this world knowing people like you, this judge and jury, are in it.

I’d like to leave you with a poem that you may or may not have read before. Because you will still be lied about, have your reputation trampled upon, perhaps even physically attacked. And it would be deserved, but not wise, for you to get a big head over all of it. I send this poem to people and write about it again and again it because it inspires me like none other. It’s called If and it was written in 1910 by a famous British writer, Rudyard Kipling. It’s about the kinds of thing many parents probably don’t teach their kids anymore, as it is not about being a victim, canceling people or hate. I don’t pretend to meet the fine notions contained in it, but aspire to them, at least, no matter how many times I may fail. But, right now, though I don’t really know you, I suspect you already embody some of its finest notions, and I wish I could write so well as a tribute to you myself. Above all, stay humble, Kyle. There are monsters out there waiting to do it for you whether you deserve it or not.

If you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
    And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
    And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    ⁠And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
    ⁠Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
    If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
    With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
    ⁠And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son!