I am more optimistic about our nation.

Vote for HILLARY to ensure our success.

Not one of these brownshirts can describe the origins of Neoconservatism, let alone the influences of Stauss and Trotsky on these fascist, elitist criminals.
The profound ignorance of many Americans (and their representatives) may well facilitate our undoing as a proud and Just nation.

2 Disdain for the importance of human rights. (abortion and euthanasia. )
3 . Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause. (Rush Limbaugh, Bush, Christians, etc)
6. A controlled mass media. (CNN, PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC, The AP)
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together. (Secular humanism)
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts. (should be changed to read Disdain and suppression of opposing views. read: fairness doctrine)
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption. (William Jefferson, Pelosi’s husband and military contracts, Harry Reid – land deals, Clinton – Norman Hsu – the list goes on…)
14. Fraudulent elections. (Registering dead and non-existent voters, eliminating absentee ballots from the military, physical attacks on opposing campaign headquarters…)

That reality only exists in the small world of George W. Bush, and the 17% of Americans who live with him there.

And it is a small world after all.

You said:

Has the current Administration increased government power at the expense of civil liberties? Yes. This always happens in times of war.

Please point to the Congressional declaration of war that you are talking about. Last I checked the Congress, and only Congress, can declare war. There is no “Declaration of War” by the United States of America currently in place; therefore no state of war exists.

Your claim that the increase in government power at the expense of civil liberties is justified because of a non-existent war is a direct example of tactic #7. Claiming to be at war is just another aspect of the propaganda used to support the unconstitutional actions of a fascist regime.

Chuck — how do you know? The president can declare anyone an enemy combatant for any reason and lock them away without being charged, without a laywer and without telling anyone. Surely you’re aware of the rendition carried out by the Bush and Clinton administrations. Some of those held in Guantanamo have been there 5 years without being charged. Imagine an American citizen being held under similar circumstances?

I will be curious to see how you feel about this expansion of presidenial power when Hillary Clinton takes the oath of office.

Yes, I have read all of PJ’s work including his many articles in National Lampoon. He is a thoughtful conservative. Might I suggest you read some of Molly Ivins work too, in particular, her coverage of the Texas State Legislature.

What is missing here, any sense of proportion whatsoever.

For instance, President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and other basic civil liberties in his struggle to maintain the Union. At the other end of the scale, Hitler and Stalin purposefully killed millions of people. (I was interested to note that Stalin’s Soviet Union was not listed under the list of guilty states, although I would argue that communism is a kind of religion when practiced by its followers.) In between these two extremes would be President Franklin Roosevelt’s wartime interning of U.S. citizens of Japanese-American heritage, as well as German-Americans, Italian-Americans, and a few thousand members of the American Bund, a U.S.-based branch of the Nazi Party. Of course, the Bush Administration hasn’t come even close to this latter action, not that one could tell by the hyperventilating on the Left.

Has the current Administration increased government power at the expense of civil liberties? Yes. This always happens in times of war. Do I like it? No. Neither did I like the attacks of 9/11, but they happened and now we have to deal with the aftermath. Are some of the security measures needed? Yes. Interestingly, the ones that are Constitutionally suspect are being challenged and debated as they should be. This is hardly suggestive of some police state as you (Dan Chmielewski) intimated in his first post on this blog.

As for the U.S. being patriotic and religious, we have always been thus; even Alexis de Tocqueville noted so in Democracy in America (points 1 and 8 in the original post).

As a counter to this, I think you should be more concerned with the national Democrats proposal to resurrect the “Fairness Doctrine” – now that is a major infringement on our First Amendment rights, is it not? It also fits restrictions on the mass media (#6).

Lastly, P.J. O’Rourke is great, I’ve read much of his work.

All the best,

Chuck DeVore
State Assemblyman, 70th District
http://www.ChuckDeVore.com