Whom do the Republicans fear the most?

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

Poll question: Whom do the Republicans fear the most?

[benburch]

1. Truth is toxic to Fascists.

And if you don't think this lot are Fascists, you aren't paying attention.

[Sapere_Aude]

29. huh?

last time i checked they Fascists were National Socialists...

The Bush white house it the most anti-socialist government i have ever seen.

bad... not fascist.

[benburch]

30. Fascists only CALLED themselves socialists...

They turned the operation of government over to the corporations. They established a scapegoat class to blame all problems on. They destroyed personal freedoms. The started wars to secure their domestic political power.

Look again at Bush and tell me that you do not see Mussolini?

------------------

Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism
By Dr. Lawrence Britt
5-28-3

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
 
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
 
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
 
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
 
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
 
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
 
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
 
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
 
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
 
9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
 
10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
 
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
 
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
 
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
 
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

[Griffy]

36. IF ONLY WE TAUGHT THIS TO KIDS!!! expose PROPAGANNON! nt

[Mr_Spock]

32. I beg you to watch the video at the bottom of my sig - then tell me

they aren't marching down the path to fascism. I dare you.

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

2. Spongebob (nt)

[eagler]

3. Trouble is as long as we don't have a Fairness Doctrine that

allows us some parity on talk radio the majority of the public will remain uninformed.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. somebody stealing their money

[azndndude]

5. GOD for destroying MOTHER EARTH!!!!

[blindpig]

19. if only you were right

but their god allows his creation to be destroyed friviously and then consigns the majority of the crown of his creation to everlasting torment.

I cannot accept that this is the ways that reality is organized.

[cyclezealot]

6. I voted Howard Dean or any other truth teller.

Reason...We need messengers going over the media...They will supress the news and black ball messengers such as Dean..Is there a way about our bought and paid for media..
Any one see Bill Maher tonight...Robin Williams, Joe Biden were guests...Maher asked Biden..
How is it that Repugs can make Something out of nothing and how Democrats can make Nothing out of something...

[shawcomm]

7. brown people

[me b zola]

22. You didn't get the memo?

Regressives love brown people, it is us who want to oppress them! Forget all of those pesky facts about who fought, & continues to fight for civil rights. No, the new 'reality' is that we opposed a yes woman to shrub who lied under oath (no, silly, not about a bj, about national security!). Isn't it obvious, we're racists? Oh, and don't forget the torturer,um, I mean our AG. He's a Chicano whom we wanted to keep from office as chief law enforcer, it must be our racism again.

Oh, and finially, the Iraqis. We are most definately racists because of the sham, uh I mean, election. The fact that delivering "democracy" around the world was not what the Senate on for going to war, and killing God knows how many, is not the point. We must definately hate brown people for our demand that this war for oil sham end.


Forget history, even recent racists comments and policies by the gop. They love brown people.
Put your logic to rest. There is no place for it in this brave new world.

[EFerrari]

8. Jon Stewart n/t

[Wilms]

9. Themselves

Especially the really wretched ones.

Worse, they project it on to us.

[nuxvomica]

14. *ding* *ding* *ding*

We have a winner!

[KG]

10. me.

democrats, too. they both know i ain't buying what they're selling.

[livvy]

11. Truth

Lies, fraud, and illegal activities are what keep them above water. If the public was aware of their deeds, they would be sunk. I could be wrong, but I think most people love this country more than they do the nitwit and his vile crew. If they knew and understood their agenda, they would not tolerate it.

[lonestarnot]

15. I wish you were right, but the brainwash runs very deeply. He could

drop bunker busters on their houses and they would still stick up for this bitch. I've never seen anything similar but for Hitler.

[livvy]

21. I know what you mean.

It is frightening that some are so devoted, very much like many during the Hitler horrors. Did you see this article? It goes along with the devoted, worship bunch. It's an article from Salon:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/02/19/cpac/

<snip>It's a good thing I went to the Conservative Political Action Conference this year. Otherwise I never would have known that, despite the findings of the authoritative David Kay report and every reputable media outlet on earth, the United States actually discovered weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, vindicating all of George W. Bush's pre-war predictions. The revelation came not from some crank at Free Republic or hustler from Talon News, but from a congressman surrounded by men from the highest echelons of American government. No wonder the attendees all seemed to believe him.
The crowd at CPAC's Thursday night banquet, held at D.C.'s Ronald Reagan Building, was full of right-wing stars. Among those seated at the long presidential table at the head of the room were Henry Hyde, chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, Dore Gold, foreign policy advisor to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and NRA president Kayne Robinson. Vice President Dick Cheney, a regular CPAC speaker, gave the keynote address. California Rep. Chris Cox had the honor of introducing him, and he took the opportunity to mock the Democrats whose hatred of America led them to get Iraq so horribly wrong.<snip>
It's not only liberals who have noticed that Bush's most committed followers are caught up in the fact-filtering force field of a personality cult. In January, Paul Craig Roberts, assistant secretary of the treasury during the Reagan administration and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal's far-right editorial page, published a damning column in the progressive Z Magazine about fascist tendencies in the conservative movement. "In the ranks of the new conservatives, however, I see and experience much hate. It comes to me in violently worded, ignorant and irrational emails from self-professed conservatives who literally worship George Bush," he wrote. "Even Christians have fallen into idolatry. There appears to be a large number of Americans who are prepared to kill anyone for George Bush … Like Brownshirts, the new conservatives take personally any criticism of their leader and his policies. To be a critic is to be an enemy."<more>
Someone started a thread on the article in Editorials earlier today. This is what fuels the devoted's beliefs. It's sickening!

on edit:Here's the link to the DU thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x107425

[lonestarnot]

12. "Now look what you've done... I'm melting you fool, I'm melting..." WWW

[Jamastiene]

13. Education

of the majority in this country is what they fear most. If the majority of America's citizens are ever educated AND informed, it'll be a death nail to the Republicans. They won't be able to run to fringe issues and get people to vote their own jobs away because they are afraid of gay people, women with their own opinions and giving up their precious Uzis.

[me b zola]

24. I believe we are seeing the equivalent to book burning

Education has,IMO, been targeted by the reichwing. The insistence of introducing non-science theories into science classrooms for me is chilling. Someone has a thread yesterday about the hostility in our PUBLIC schools toward science.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3128372

The rolling of eyes from Kansas students when science is discussed. We should all be concerned.

For any Dems who believe that ID is innocent and we shouldn't concern ourselves with this being passed off as science, please look further into the issue. I am a Catholic grandmother of (now) three grandchildren).

[baldguy]

16. Who do they scream about the most?

That's who they fear - a true independant news media.

[dandrhesse]

17. there is no other explanation for the obscene amounts of money

spent to control the media. He who controls the information, in turn controls the thought process. That is why it is imperative that we keep at it until people know the truth.

[Califooyah Operative]

18. All of the above and then some......nt

[Tesla]

20. They don't even fear God

They think they are untouchable.
All they have to do is act like it never happened, and the sheeple will believe it!
I have seen it over and over with this administration.

On the show "Rumsfeld's War" the other night it showed time after time that man should have been let go, but he remains.

He is untouchable......so far

[Califooyah Operative]

23. That's a good documentary,

it's interesting the part about cheney, and how he was in charge of helping bush pic a vice president, and what do you know...

[ananda]

25. hilary?

I voted for Dean as most feared by Reeptile limbics.

On first thought, my reaction to Hilary as a contender was why, when she's more like a Pub than a Dem philosophically.. but maybe that answers the question.

Sue

[Ironpost]

26. I would say they are scared to death of us. (those informed)

[gordianot]

28. Absolutely right.

I have heard this personally from a Republican operative. The Internet is being blamed for all opposition to Republican issues. He said people need to listen more closely to news and avoid the exaggerations of the Internet. This person is an old school acquaintance and was at one time a friend. I count NO Republicans as friends, and in recent months actively enjoy baiting them on their own issues. I am sure this jerk feels I share similar views.

[grace0418]

27. Keeping people ignorant and fixated on idiotic things

like "Gay marriage is bad!" and "(insert name here) hates freedom!" seems to be the top priority at BushCo. If it's their top priority, then a nation of informed citizens must be their greatest fear.

[SomewhereOutThere424]

31. The second coming of Christ

Because then they lose the backing power of their god, Jesus isn't going to stand by and allow the greatest destruction of man and animal alike be put into his name. However, regardless if that is going to happen; they're also locked into believing it by their own faith, so perhaps they're trying to destroy the world before it happens *shrugs*

For a second guess? Dick Cheney. He doesn't run the country with brains.

[DU GrovelBot]

33. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

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[Mr_Spock]

34. I think they fear GorovelBot the most

It's awful scary :D

[bvar22]

35. Right now, the Republicans FEAR...

...liberals who have a voice and following OUTSIDE the CorpoMedia.
They FEAR Michael Moore more than they fear anyone in the Democratic Party.

Michael Moore, Bruce Springstein, and a handful of others in the Arts & Entertainment industry can still reach large groups of people with a unifying message of TRUTH. The Democratic Party would be wise to EMBRACE these heroes instead of trying to distance themselves in a futile and cowardly attempt to sneak away and avoid being noticed.

AFAIK, Michael Moore is the ONLY PRIVATE CITIZEN to be singled out and ATTACKED from the podium of a National Convention!

The Fascist Party (oops, I mean republicans) also FEAR several organizations that have developed the ability to reach large numbers through the InterNet. Move On and DFA are a couple.

[benny05]

37. someone pleasant

and who doesn't appear arrogant while explaining that we have choices with our money. We can support many people at once for healthcare for some tax rollbacks, or we can take it out of our own pockets and not be able to put money into either SS or personal accounts.

Dean, Gore, and Edwards (and possibly Clark, don't know him very well) could say this.

[orpupilofnature57]

38. Spirit of '76.