The difficulty we have in convincing Americans that the Republican Party

[KlatooBNikto]

of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are evil men bent on imposing tyranny on the U.S. and tear our Constitution to shreds is because Americans think of themselves as a people who are good and moral incapable of the perpetrating the kind of evil we have hung the Nazis for during WWII. What is more we think of our elected rulers as virtuous men, totally incorruptible, unlike the rulers of other countries.This exceptionalism stands in the way of clear eyed thinking that would say that our rulers can be just as venal and our soldiers are capable of committing atrocities given the right circumstances.Unless we start identifying ourslves as part of the broader humanity and shed our exceptionalist mentality, we will continue to support men like Bush.

[hlthe2b]

1. Just as the German People thought of themselves in 1939.....

Denial runs similarly deep among Americans...

[demnan]

2. Good post and point

and not only this, but when people do realize the Republicans have selfish goals, their response is, "oh I'm sure the Democrats are just as bad". And who can blame them, when the Democrats have by in large sat back and let things happen without speaking out.

I have a good friend who has worked for and with the Agency for years and idolizes G.H. Bush. There is almost nothing I can say to convince her of the evil of George W. She thinks the Democrats would be just as bad. She doesn't believe that going to war in Iraq is wrong. There is nothing I can say to convince her, though I try. I send her emails with links to information she doesn't read, etc., etc.

Some people will never understand.

[BanzaiBonnie]

3. But everyone KNOWS

it could never happen here!

We aren't like those other people. You know, Germans. They were stupid and easily duped.

(I'm of heavy German descent so don't get yer panties in a bunch, anyone who thinks I'm not being sarcastic)

And there's the rub. No one likes to think they can be made the fool. And when they have invested so much trust in * and have been taken advantage of, well that's more than some can bear.

It might help if some of us could refrain from saying, "I told you so." I know, it's difficult, because some of us saw it so clearly from either the start, or early on.

* legacy? Traitor to his country!

[baldguy]

5. It can't happen here!

That's why they have Gitmo.

[LynnTheDem]

4. America uber alles.

The chest-thumping "we're the best we're the greatest" continues, while Cuba has a far higher literacy rate & far better medical than America does; while Canada continues to outshine America in technology; while Asia continues to outstrip America on economy; while America continues to drop down the list for personal freedoms; while America's 3rd world powergrid erodes...

While America takes food from American babies and increases military spending.

Welcome back, boys, to the USSA.

[mmonk]

6. The difficultyis

they now control for the most part, what Americans rely on for information. Therefore, anything we say comes off as a conspiracy theory perpetrated by radicals (in their view). I think the country has to become really bad off before they wake up.

[ChairOne]

7. Interesting, but I disagree almost 100%...

I think a vast swath of the American people, both politicians and citizens, have been waiting for an excuse, a cover, for acting evil. Today they've got it - gays and terrorism. It's not racism, it's common-sense self-defense. It's not bigotry, it's protecting a hallowed long-standing institution. It's not creationism, it's science - why do you hate science?

What it is, is a cover, a smokescreen, a device allowing Americans to perpetrate evil under the blanket of plausible deniability.

Your line of thought is that Americans are naive. I think they walk into republican policies eyes-open and purposefully. They *want* to be bad, they *want* to be mean, and they *want* to be stupid.

Exactly *why* so many Americans want all this is for another post...