01 September 2006

Political Fridays

OoooK. I admit I'm not a political scientist major, and I truly am not the most informed person in the world. Most of the time I don't care very much about politics, but lately (with the high temperatures all over the world, the war that was 'won' but is still taking lives, the continued terrorist threats...) I've been thinking more and more about our government, it's reputation, and it's personal history.

Heading through my daily dose of blogs, I came across the following video on Blurbomat. The video was a reaction to this speech by Donald Rumsfeld.



Assuming you've skimmed the speech and watched the video: I looked up the term fascism just to better inform myself of it's true definition. I find that since it's more of an abstract description, it's hard to pin down the true meaning.

I looked at Wikipedia:
"Fascism is also typified by totalitarian attempts to impose state control over all aspects of life: political, social, cultural, and economic. The fascist state regulates and controls (as opposed to nationalizing) the means of production. Fascism exalts the nation, state, or race as superior to the individuals, institutions, or groups composing it. Fascism uses explicit populist rhetoric; calls for a heroic mass effort to restore past greatness; and demands loyalty to a single leader, often to the point of a cult of personality."

Dictionary.com:
"1.(sometimes initial capital letter) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
2.(sometimes initial capital letter) the philosophy, principles, or methods of fascism.
3.(initial capital letter) a fascist movement, esp. the one established by Mussolini in Italy 1922–43."

Remember.org:
"Fascists particularly loathed the social theories of the French Revolution and its slogan: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."

*** Liberty from oppressive government intervention in the daily lives of its citizens, from illicit searches and seizures, from enforced religious values, from intimidation and arrest for dissenters; and liberty to cast a vote in a system in which the majority ruled but the minority retained certain inalienable rights.

*** Equality in the sense of civic equality, egalitarianism, the notion that while people differ, they all should stand equal in the eyes of the law.

*** Fraternity in the sense of the brotherhood of mankind. That all women and men, the old and the young, the infirm and the healthy, the rich and the poor, share a spark of humanity that must be cherished on a level above that of the law, and that binds us all together in a manner that continuously re-affirms and celebrates life.

This is what fascism as an ideology was reacting against_and its support came primarily from desperate people anxious and angry over their perception that their social and economic position was sinking and frustrated with the constant risk of chaos, uncertainty and inefficiency implicit in a modern democracy based on these principles. Fascism is the antithesis of democracy. We fought a war against it not half a century ago; millions perished as victims of fascism and champions of liberty."


I know that's a lot to read; apologies. But taking from those three places (I'm at work, so I can't do a true library search), I've pretty much figured out what facism is. I guess the statement "fascism is the antithesis of democracy" speaks loudest.

I understand that our current administration believes that fascism is what we are fighting when we're fighting the 'War on Terror.' But I find it increasingly hard to believe that the current administration doesn't see that they themselves are giving off the aura of "forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism." God forbid a newspaper or magazine criticize the government's job; of course that means they (the newspaper) don't have the nation's best interest in mind. "Liberty from oppressive government intervention in the daily lives of its citizens, from illicit searches and seizures, from enforced religious values, from intimidation and arrest for dissenters." By all means, Government, please tap whatever you'd like, and make sure you keep those crazy homosexuals from marrying--they can't be serious anyway, since the Bible says it's wrong.

I have several people in my life who are conservatives, and that's great. An all liberal government can be just as harmful as a our current conservatively biased one. I think the answer is to get some moderates in power--at least they're used to hearing both sides of a story before making a decision. I know I'm not the first to say any of this, so I know you may feel like you've heard it all before. But since I usually keep my mouth shut about these things, I thought I could snag a little air time.

You can probably tell that I'm not politically minded, but is that such a bad thing? I only speak up every once in a while; I'm more concerned with whether or not my Astros or Cowboys are winning.

I decided to post all of this mainly because Keith Obermann's speech moved me--even when I had my 'work' face on.

I promise my next post will be more entertaining.

29 August 2006

Hilarious

So I went to my very first Dallas Cowboys game this weekend, and I have some pictures, but for now I just want to send you here: Star Trek sings Knights of the Round Table.

I promise it's worth your while.

Oh what the heck, here's one picture from this weekend.