Fascism and Tyranny: Look Those Up, Too

They’re marching us to a brand of non-violent fascism. Or to put it another way, they’re marching us to 1984. Big Brother … Like it or not, fascism is on the rise.
-Glenn Beck, April 2009

To Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and others warning of the rise of totalitarianism in America:

Do you know what 'irony' is? Let me put it this way: YOUR OWN SUCCESS REFUTES YOUR ARGUMENTS. If America were a tyranny, your vicious attacks on the government would get you shot in the head - or, if fortunate, "disappeared" to some bleak internment hellscape.

Have you ever actually *read* 1984, Glenn? Do you know what Big Brother would do to someone as critical of the government as yourself? I'll give you a hint: it involves your face, a narrow, enclosed space, and some very hungry rats.

You see, tyranny cannot tolerate dissent. That's what makes it a tyranny. You, however, are strongly - even excessively - critical of the government, and instead of being beaten, tortured, and killed, you are enjoying money, fame, and success.

Q.E.D. Thank you for proving yourselves wrong.

Where was your alarmist shrieking about tyranny during the Bush administration? Obama's bailouts and healthcare reform smack of totalitarianism, but secret prisons, mandated torture, and warrantless arrests and wiretaps - just healthy aspects of any free, democratic society?

Go buy a dictionary - you've got a lot to look up. Start with the letter 'i': 'irony', 'inconsistency,' and 'imbecilic'.

Socialism: Look It Up

For months, opponents of the Obama administration - from top Republicans, to jowlsey radio hosts, to participants in modern-day "tea parties" - have accused the Democrats of bringing "socialism" to America.

As Paul Krugman pointed out a few days ago, nowadays "the charge of socialism is being thrown around only because “liberal” doesn’t seem to carry the punch it used to."

Since this word has gained such currency in recent political discourse, it might be worthwhile to, you know, actually... LOOK IT UP.

From Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry:
so·cial·ism
Pronunciation:
\ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\
Function:
noun
Date:
1837

1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

Not one of the above definitions fit the current government. From bailouts to healthcare reform, nothing the Democrats are doing involves "governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution"; nor are we abolishing private property; nor are we transitioning to communism (despite the apocalyptic howling of the right-wing pundits).

With all the hot air coming out of Fox News and the "tea parties" it's been instigating, it's easy to forget that Americans - even now - have one of the lightest tax burdens of any first-world country. And that as a percentage of GDP, our federal government is smaller than those of most European countries. And that we have a lower minimum wage and fewer employee benefits than most other first-world countries.

Socialism? Are you kidding?

From Politico:

Misaligned Meccan mosques make muslims mad

BBC: Mecca mosques "wrongly aligned"

Some 200 mosques in Islam's holiest city, Mecca, point the wrong way for prayers, reports from Saudi Arabia say.

[P]eople looking down from recently built high-rises in Mecca found the niches in many older mosques were not pointing directly towards the Kaaba.

Some worshippers are said to be anxious about the validity of their prayers.

"Anxious about the validity of their prayers." Like someone worrying about her luck because she threw a pinch of salt over the wrong shoulder.

So, does Allah break out a protractor, and reject your prayers if your orientation is a few degrees off? What about all those people far away from Mecca who just pray toward the Middle East - what if they overshoot and their prayers land in India? Can Vishnu sign for them, and send them to Allah's forwarding address?

A hard world to be ludicrous in

Kurt Vonnegut's novel Mother Night is the fictional memoirs of an American, Howard Campbell, who works as an Allied spy in Goebbel's propaganda ministry under the Third Reich. While working as a spy, he creates a good deal of propaganda for the Nazis, and a central question of the book is whether, in doing so, he did more harm than good.

At one point he writes the following, which refers to Nazism but which could just as easily apply to any religious or political system of dogmatic belief:

I had hoped, as a broadcaster, to be merely ludicrous, but this is a hard world to be ludicrous in, with so many human beings reluctant to laugh, so incapable of thought, so eager to believe and snarl and hate. So many people wanted to believe me!

Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile.

- Mother Night, Ch. 29