Read this speech:

"I ask, which leader is it today that has the vision, the willpower, and yes, the backbone to best protect us?

The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight.

There is but one man to whom I am willing to entrust our future and that man's name is George W. Bush.

There are some crazy men who would kill us if they could. So George W. Bush has told us: 'All private plans, all private lives, have been in a sense repealed by an overriding public danger.'

But where is the national unity in this country when we need it most?

Now, while young Americans are dying in the sand in Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats manic obsession to bring down our Commander-In-Cheif.

What has happened to the nation I've spent my life working in?

I can remember when Democrats believed that it was the duty of America to fight for freedom over tyranny.

Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Americans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter. But not today.

Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.

And nothing makes me madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.

Tell that to the Afghans, and Iraqi's who have been freed because George W. Bushr led an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the millions of men, women, and children who are free today from the Tigress to the Euphrates, from Kandahar to the Hindu Kush, because George W. Bush built a military of liberators, not occupiers.

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad; they preserve it for us here at home.

Right now, the world just cannot afford an indecisive America. Fainthearted, self-indulgence will put at risk all we care about in this world.

In this hour of danger, our President has had the courage to stand up. And I am proud to stand up with him.

God bless this great country and God bless George W. Bush."


Sounds like something from a neo-conservative right? Or maybe from Zell Miller? Nope. I changed the names. Here is the ORIGINAL SPEECH, given by Joseph Goebbels, in 1939.

"I ask, which leader is it today that has the vision, the willpower, and yes, the backbone to best protect us?

The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight.

There is but one man to whom I am willing to entrust our future and that man's name is Adolph Hitler.

There are some crazy men who would kill us if they could. So Adolph Hitler has told us: 'All private plans, all private lives, have been in a sense repealed by an overriding public danger.'

But where is the national unity in this country when we need it most?

Now, while young Germans are dying in the mud in Czechoslovakia and the mountains of Poland, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Social Democrats manic obsession to bring down our Fuhrer.

What has happened to the nation I've spent my life working in?

I can remember when Social Democrats believed that it was the duty of Germany to fight for freedom over tyranny.

Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Germans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter. But not today.

Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Social Democratic leaders see Germany as an occupier, not a liberator.

And nothing makes me madder than someone calling German troops occupiers rather than liberators.

Tell that to the Czechs, Poles, Frenchmen, and Belgians who have been freed because Adolph Hitler led an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the millions of men, women, and children who are free today from the Baltics to the Crimea, from Poland to the Balkans, because Adolph Hitler built a military of liberators, not occupiers.

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the German soldier. And our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad; they preserve it for us here at home.

Right now, the world just cannot afford an indecisive Germany. Fainthearted, self-indulgence will put at risk all we care about in this world.

In this hour of danger, our Fuhrer has had the courage to stand up. And I am proud to stand up with him.

God bless this great country and God bless Adolph Hitler."



Frightening.

Boy, that gives me the chills!  Very clever, and a most apt comparison, ElDuderino!
:o :o :o

Thanks. It is frightening.

My uncle whom I discuss politics with a lot has said the political enviroment in the United States is the same kind that allowed that government to rise in 1930's Germany. I was a bit skeptical of that, but I don't know now. I can only hope for the best.

As I say, this election is a referendum on fascism versus democracy.  The Right has successfully conducted a fascistic propaganda campaign with all the trappings of fascist campaigns earlier in the 20th century.  It has worked. 
I don't understand this "majority" voice who prefer the "strong leader" in loco parentis.  However, I do know nationalism and the cult of the personality gives people a great deal of comfort and reassurance in uncertain times.
The political fascist mentality goes hand in hand with the religious fundamentalist mentality.  We give unquestioning allegience to God and in turn God protects us from harm and provides us with abundance.  If you are poor or hurt, it is due to your lack of faith, as God can do no wrong.  In the political sphere, "God" is not Bush.  "God" is American nationalism and "free market" ideology.  Thus, we blame liberals who question the nationalistic doctrines for the failures of the doctrine, and we blame the poor and the outcast for their failures to adhere to the grace-giving doctrine, in this case "personal responsibility."
I did not grow up in a church-going household.  I do not know what it is like to put unquestioning faith in anything...not even my own parents.  I don't say that is all a good thing.  My upbringing was a hell from which I never recovered, however, it gave ma skeptical consciousness about authority.
In the fundamentalist-nationalist zeitgeist, questioning the messages so oft repeated is tantamount to blasphemy.  Rush says it, I believe it, that settles it.
Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and the Wall Street Journal are part of the propaganda ministry.

One thing about fascism that those who lived through fascist take-overs uniformly say, "we didn't see it coming." 
Your fascist pundits be they Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, or Dennis Miller will poo-poo liberal admonitions about the Patriot Act, for instance.  They will say, "Who is being spied on?  Nobody is being spied on.  The Patriot Act is there to protect us from terrorists.  The government isn't interested in surveilling innocent citizens.  There has to be a good reason for the government to apply the Patrot Act..." 
Look, if you read the constitution of the Soviet Union, you would see very clearly that all accused are entitled to a fair trial.  When Soviet citizens found themselves in the torture rooms in the recesses of the Kremlin, they would say, "If only Comrade Stalin knew..."

That speech was frightening alright---until you realize that George W. Bush hasn't (yet?) killed 6 million Muslims and Hitler definitely killed 6 million Euro Jewish people. Your comparison's of Bush and Hitler do not hold up water. I am disappointed in that the two of you would compare any President (or any American) to bloodthirsty tyrants like Hitler and Goebels. If I were a liberal, I would try to look to the 2008 elections and hope Dick Cheney doesn't get elected, not try to slam Nazi comparisons to our current President. This election seems to be a done deal, and you have only your own Democratic Party to blame.

I am not a Democrat, I support Kerry because he is the only real alternative to Bush.

And I cannot predict a winner, I will wait for election day.

But Maxwell brings up some great points. I see this election as Fascism vs. Democracy.

I realised a long time ago that any hope I had for Kerry winning this election, or more specifically, Bush losing this election, were false. It's just not in the cards. Every empire has a climax in its history and it comes right before the fall. We are approaching that climax.


I began to make the post 9/11 America - Nazi Germany connection a couple years ago when I walked the downtown streets of a few different cities and found flag after flag hanging barely one foot apart from one another for at least a mile and I was reminded of old pictures of Berlin in the 30s where the streets were lined with Hagenkreuze (nazi flags bearing the swastika). Of course ever since then it's been becoming all to clear that that's exactly where we're headed. And Indy Gent, there was a lot more to the Third Reich than the Holocaust. There was a fanatically patriotic state where the questioning of authority was reprehensible, and where propaganda machines were well oiled. The Right wing has the citizens of this country so blinded with patriotism and so fearful of terrorism that they can do whatever they want... and anyone who questions them is branded as un-American by the media and thus by legions of radical patriots. It frightens me, almost to the point where I thank goodness that I was born with dual citizenship (US/CANADA) and that I have an opportunity to flea while I still can.

Call me a coward or a traitor, I don't care. I have two nations to keep up with and I've all but given up on this place, the problem is too big for me. And as big as it is, I have the sovereignty of my other country to worry about, AND I AM WORRIED, and I have been for years. I would die before I saw Canada become the 51st state, and it could happen so easily because it isn't like Canada has the capacity to defend itself against the US in the event that the US government decides it wants the vast resources in Canada for themselves. It would only take a good bullshhh story like the one for Iraq. If you didn't know, Canada is sitting upon the largest supply of oil outside of the middle-east. It's very crude, but nothing that can't be refined. Given the very enviromentally concerned attitude of the general Canadian population, it will never be easy for the US to get our hands on it all... at least from a sovereign Canada.

My fears may be irrational, but I am not the only one who is concerned. And I've digressed major here.

I realised a long time ago that any hope I had for Kerry winning this election, or more specifically, Bush losing this election, were false. It's just not in the cards. Every empire has a climax in its history and it comes right before the fall. We are approaching that climax.
Is it the climax?  The climax may have been the year 2001.  We had the inauguration of an un-elected president and the terrorist attacks that catalyzed the police state and the perpetual war againse the undefeatable enemy ("terror").
We may now be waiting for the fascist program to gradually take control.  The governmen knows they cannot coerce a docile fascist state over night.

I used to joke with friends about staying close to the border, but I don't joke anymore, and they
don't laugh when I say it.  I keep my passport in order and although I hope to weather this storm
I hope I am able to guage if it does become a serious situation.  I am very serious.

That speech was frightening alright---until you realize that George W. Bush hasn't (yet?) killed 6 million Muslims and Hitler definitely killed 6 million Euro Jewish people. Your comparison's of Bush and Hitler do not hold up water.

At the time when the above speech was made, Hitler hadn't started killing Jews: and the scariest thing about it, IMO, was not the comparison of Bush with Hitler (that ain't one that's worth following up), but the correlations between the Third Reich propaganda-spouting state-control machine and what's currently developing over there at the moment.

Did you at any time while reading it think "this is putting things too strongly" or "this person too excessively biased to be credible"?  No, it seemed very much the sort of thing that someone might be saying now.  Admittedly, Goebbels was not just good at his job - he was the first real evangelical spin-doctor: it would not surprise me in the least to find that pretty much all modern parties have studied his methods and speeches.  Without Goebbels to make it seem rational, even sensible, Hitler's vision of the Third Reich would never have come about.

But I don't believe the same kind of facist dictatorship could come about in the US, mainly because of where we are now: the freedom of communication that the internet and modern telecommunications give us; the global nature of television broadcasting; all this means that the man in the street has a chance to find out what is going on much more than was possible in 40s Germany; and however pervasive the right-wing media are, they cannot be controlled in the same way as then.

Having said that, there are always people who will unthinkingly swallow this kind of message, and it does not pay to be complacent about erosion of civil liberties when some nasty bugbear is touted as an enemy to freedom and our way of life - the price of freedom being eternal vigilance and all that.

What really scares me is that many in this country do not see what this administration and all its cronies are doing. They don't see which way this country is heading and it is not good. Yes, I see the coralation between Nazi Germany and the U.S. today. I also see the coralation between the U.S. and the Roman Empire. Yes, the U.S. is acting like an empire and empires ALWAYS fall. If someone was to ask ANYONE in this country what the U.S. stands for, they answer that is most likely to be given is "Freedom." But, our freedoms are at risk which most people don't realize (which I really can't understand why). The Patriot Act is so unaptly named it is pathitic. Give something a good name and people won't see what it really is. When the freedoms that are guaranteed in the Constitution are taken away, what do have? Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion all in the First Admendment are being threatened. I'm not afraid of the terrorists that this admistration warns us about. I'm afraid of the terrorists in Washington threatening our freedoms.  I wish the American public will wake up, open their eyes and see this. Yes, I'm scared. VERY scared! Everyone should be.




Cat

Although your points are well taken, it doesn't mean there is any correlation between the US and Nazi-Germany. If that were true, Bush would have had Colin Powell or Cheney killed, as Hitler and his loyalists did to Goebels. It hasn't happened yet, and I pray to God that it is not in His will to do that. But as long as we have term limits for the President and three branches of Government, we really don't have a thing to worry about, do we?

Although your points are well taken, it doesn't mean there is any correlation between the US and Nazi-Germany. If that were true, Bush would have had Colin Powell or Cheney killed, as Hitler and his loyalists did to Goebels. It hasn't happened yet, and I pray to God that it is not in His will to do that. But as long as we have term limits for the President and three branches of Government, we really don't have a thing to worry about, do we?



Yeah we do. This admistration is trying to diminish the checks and balances that were put in place in the Constitution so we would not have a dictator/emperor/king. Granted it was the Congress that gave him the right to declare war on Iraq-which according to the Constitution, it is Congress that declares war. I wouldn't put it past this admistration to call off the election because of "security". I also wouldn't put it past them if they win the election, they will try to push through an admendment that will eliminate term limits. Also, whoever win the election just may have to appoint at least 3 members of the Supreme Court. (Even though three of them have talked about retiring, it is amazing that they haven't as of yet. HMMMMM). Look at what is going on in the Supreme Court now. Cheney's duck-hunting buddy, Scila refuses to remove himself from a hearing about Cheney because of conflict-of-interest. He says that there isn't a conflict but yet, they are buddies. This is the kind of thing that we can expect and it will only get worse if there is another four years of this. The ones who will pay are you and I and the entire American public.



Cat

So what makes today's Democrats different from Bush and the Republicans? IMHO, if Kerry is elected, then look for him to totally disband the military so when foreign terrorists invade American soil again, we can't even defend ourselves. Kerry would also tax the middle class to death, declare a war on Christianity, and will probably cheat on his wife like good ol' Bill. Then no nation will look favorably on us again. Is there any reason that Hillary C. won't to the same thing as W. Bush if she is President? Any Party has it's tyrannical moments.




Yeah we do. This admistration is trying to diminish the checks and balances that were put in place in the Constitution so we would not have a dictator/emperor/king. Granted it was the Congress that gave him the right to declare war on Iraq-which according to the Constitution, it is Congress that declares war. I wouldn't put it past this admistration to call off the election because of "security". I also wouldn't put it past them if they win the election, they will try to push through an admendment that will eliminate term limits. Also, whoever win the election just may have to appoint at least 3 members of the Supreme Court. (Even though three of them have talked about retiring, it is amazing that they haven't as of yet. HMMMMM). Look at what is going on in the Supreme Court now. Cheney's duck-hunting buddy, Scila refuses to remove himself from a hearing about Cheney because of conflict-of-interest. He says that there isn't a conflict but yet, they are buddies. This is the kind of thing that we can expect and it will only get worse if there is another four years of this. The ones who will pay are you and I and the entire American public.



Cat

So what makes today's Democrats different from Bush and the Republicans? IMHO, if Kerry is elected, then look for him to totally disband the military so when foreign terrorists invade American soil again, we can't even defend ourselves. Kerry would also tax the middle class to death, declare a war on Christianity, and will probably cheat on his wife like good ol' Bill. Then no nation will look favorably on us again. Is there any reason that Hillary C. won't to the same thing as W. Bush if she is President? Any Party has it's tyrannical moments.





I disagree with you, Indy. I don't think that Kerry will disband the military but I think if Bush is elected, he will reinstate the draft. I think the way Bush has "led" the military has been a farce to say the least. People going into combat situations without the necessary equipment. And about "protecting" this nation. What about our ports? Bush has not done anything to protect those. He would rather deport someone like Cat Stevens because he is a Muslim. I think Kerry will manage things differently than Dubya has which in my eyes is a good thing because the way things are going now is not good.

You don't think that Bush has taxed the middle class? Most of his tax cuts go to the upper class. The middle class are paying more now than they did before. Kerry said he would NOT raise taxes on the middle class. Of course, I do understand about campaign promises but there is only one way to see if they are true to their word.

Kerry is not going to declair war on Christianity, like Bush has done with Islam. Kerry does believe in freedom of religion-that is religion for ALL not just freedom for just Christians and everyone who practices any other religion, need not apply.

And about Kerry cheating on his wife, to me this is not an issue-that is between him and his wife. And how do you that Dubya hasn't cheated on Laura? Again, a non-issue as it should have been with Clinton. And Hillary is NOT running for pres.




Cat

The speech IS scary, and the substitution seems to mne to reflect the attitude of many die-hard Bush supporters, who believe their man can do no wrong.  That is the really scary part.  I do believe we are heading toward facsism in this country under BUsh, at high speed.  Dangerous times my friends.

The speech IS scary, and the substitution seems to mne to reflect the attitude of many die-hard Bush supporters, who believe their man can do no wrong.  That is the really scary part.  I do believe we are heading toward facsism in this country under BUsh, at high speed.  Dangerous times my friends.

In the fascist news media, Bush CAN do wrong when he fails to go far enough to the Right!

I see your point Carlos. What is frightening is the simularity in rhetoric.

Is anyone familar with the book/movie called "The Wave".



No fiction ... The Wave is based on the real experience of a high school class in Palo Alto, CA (USA), in April 1967. History teacher Ron Jones came up with a seemingly innocent classroom experiment to explain his students why in the 1930's and 40's many (young) Germans were so under the spell of Adolf Hitler that they allowed or even helped the systematic murdering of millions of innocent Jews.
The experiment was successful beyond expectation: after only a few weeks, a movement called 'The Wave' had been founded, whose members at first sought for community-feeling and a healthy working-discipline, but soon after started to see the movement and it's mysterious leader as purposes in themselves. Those opposing the movement became enemies, life-long friends were seperated from each other. Worse still, criticism was met with aggression and intimidation. For some time, it seemed that Jones had lost control of his experiment, and was caught in it's momentum himself. Finally, he ended the nightmare by confronting the students with their leader, the man they had been following with such vigour. Many cried and all were shocked when they learned that it was Hitler, or Mussolini, or any other dictator responsible for many deaths....



http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/3145/wave.html


If you have not read or seen the movie-I HIGHLY recommend it.



Cat

I fear we in the US are caught in The Wave at this moment.  Many years ago Gary Wills, in Nixon Agonistes wrote "the center cannot hold".  How right he was.  If things go on as they are, I can forsee another civil war in this country.  Guess I better get an assault rifle.