It Can't Happen Here--Or Is It?

In 1935, as Fascism was on the rise in Europe, Sinclair Lewis wrote a novel, set primarily in Vermont, in fact, called  It Can't Happen Here.  In it, Lewis lays out in quite plausible detail how Fascism, totalitarianism, could fairly easily come to the US.  I'm not going to go into great detail regarding the plot because you should really read the book, but I hope you'll at least go to Wikipedia for a synopsis.  Even the brief overview oughta make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, particularly this: a fictional ... populist US Senator...is elected to the Presidency after promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and traditional values. After his election (he) takes total control of the government and imposes totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force...."

Paranoia, a wise man once said, strikes deep.  "Even paranoids," said poet Delmore Schwartz,  "have real enemies."  What I'm about to say fits into both of those views: it would be fairly easy, I think, to construct a narrative from the last 30-35 years of American history, which would show that such a process, a (relatively) bloodless coup, is exactly what we've been living through without realizing it.

Ronald Reagan, in the early stages of his dementia, began the process of packing the Supreme Court, after campaigning on the promise that he'd only nominate those opposed to abortion and so-called judicial activism.  Reagan elevated William Rehnquist to be Chief Justice, and gave us Antonin Scalia, probably the strongest weapon Conservatives have on the court,  Anthony Kennedy, often seen as a "swing vote," but one who usually comes down on the Conservative side, and Sandra Day O'Connor.

Bush I gave us "Silent Clarence" Thomas, who once went more than 7 years without asking a question during oral arguments before the Court. What the hell was he doing all that time? Thomas's main function seems to be to serve as Scalia's acolyte and sycophant.  From Bush II, to round out the packed lineup, we got new Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito, both solidly counted on to kowtow to Conservative wishes.

The five Justices appointed by Reagan and Bush I were the five votes who gave the 2000 presidential election to Bush II in a revolution without a shot being fired, despite his having lost by more than half a million votes in the popular balloting. Talk about "activist judges!" We all know what tragedies and horrors befell us under Bush II's "leadership," from his Administration's ignoring warnings about Al-Qaeda and bin Laden, thus making the 9/11 attacks possible, to his lying the country's way into the Iraqi war, to his hideous economic policies and deregulation, which culminated in the Great Recession.

Since then that Court has given us Citizens United, the worst decision in the history of decisions, declaring that "corporations are people," and thus making it easier for shadowy figures to buy or steal elections, and removing more power from the hands of real citizens.  Now they're gearing up to try to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, again acting in favor of corporations and at the expense(literally, given the cost of non-subsidized premiums) of the populace at large.

Congress, meanwhile, has had its own role in the silent coup, threatening repeatedly to shut down the government if they don't get their way on economic or social policies.  More egregious, perhaps, was John Boehner's recent invitation to Bebe Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress, totally giving the President the finger.  Most egregious was the recent open letter to the government of Iran, signed by 47 Republican Senators, including NH's Kelly Ayotte, which in essence was an open attempt to hijack power and usurp the President's standing and authority.  Both of these attempts have, thankfully, blown up in Republicans' faces, but the fact that they seemed to be acceptable options speaks volumes to Republicans' notion of and disdain for government and how our constitutional process was designed, and how it used to work.  It was predicated on a "loyal opposition," but it's apparent that that loyalty has changed, that it's no longer even grudgingly directed to the government, but to a small group of people's petty policies and megalomaniacal mission.

It's a common axiom that the first thing that dictators want to do is to disarm the citizenry, removing any possibility of a popular armed revolt against their authority.  But what if someone were clever enough to see that the opposite approach could be more fruitful?  In the last 35 years or so, the NRA has morphed from a fairly sensible organization dedicated to hunter safety and the actual preservation of open public land to hunt on into a rabid, zealous extremist group.  Over the objections of police and other law-enforcement agencies, groups you'd think would be the NRA's natural allies, but with the fervent and vociferous support of Conservative Republicans (Department of Redundancy Department, or what?) they've pushed through legislation to continually up the ante on armaments, from armor-piercing ammunition to assault weapons to RPGs to personal tactical nuclear weapons.  Okay, maybe not the last, but don't bet against 'em.  As we are all too well aware, the American citizenry is armed to the teeth and beyond, and most of 'em put their "X" in the Republican column--the one on the Right--on Voting Day.  Gun totin' Lefties like me are pretty rare, I daresay, and pitifully outgunned if there were to be some sort of internecine disagreement.  At any rate, there's a powerful, well-armed paramilitary presence in place, ready to enforce any policies their increasingly conservative puppeteers implement.

Wicked far fetched, you say?  I've finally and categorically gone 'round the bend?  Probably correct, on both counts.  But read the book, or the Cliff's Notes version, and look around.  Maybe we've been asleep and need to wake up.  Maybe, while we've been going about our business and assuming all is proceeding as it always has, within the rules and parameters we've been governed by for 239 years, something else is happening here.

This week's playlist:

Leroy And Bo's Totalitarian Showdown                             Mark Germino And The Sluggers
All You Fascists                                                                   Billy Bragg
Fascist Architecture                                                             Bruce Cockburn
Children Of The Revolution                                                Violent Femmes
Revolution                                                                            Bob Marley & The Wailers
Revolution                                                                            Eric Clapton
Revolution                                                                            The Pretenders
Revolution's Over                                                                 Phish
Revolution (Parts 1& 2)                                                       Nina Simone
Revolution 1                                                                         The Fabs
Revolution Of The Mind                                                      Garland Jeffreys
Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution                                                   Playing For Change
Revolution Blues                                                                  Neil Young
Are You Sleeping?                                                                Harry Nilsson
How Do You Sleep?                                                             John Lennon
I'm Only Sleeping                                                                 Fabs
I Don't Sleep, I Dream                                                          R.E.M.
Sleeping                                                                                The Band
Sleepwalk                                                                              Amos Garrett
Awakening                                                                            Lucinda Williams
Wake Up And Live                                                               Bob Marley & The Wailers
The Wake-Up Bomb                                                             R.E.M.
Wake Me                                                                               Jesse Winchester
Wake Me When It's Over                                                     Willie Nelson
When You Awake                                                                 The band
Wake Up                                                                               The Harpoonist and Axe Murderer
When You Gonna Wake Up                                                  Dylan
What Are Their Names                                                         David Crosby
For What It's Worth                                                               Buffalo Springfield

It's interesting:  these "revolution" songs are from the time when I was young, and we thought we were gonna be the ones revolting.  And of course lots of people thought we were revolting.  Now it looks like it's the other team that might be doing it.  I keep waiting for the Pendulum to swing back, but I'm afraid when it does it'll have a big blade attached....

See ya Tuesday from noon till two on 91.5 FM, wool.fm worldwide.