The price of freedom

I had posted a story about an account that made allusions to Nazi Germany to an email list. I was told in no uncertain terms that such references were, get this, "offensive." My initial response was to tell that person to "go Cheney yourself." The remainder of this post is my long response to all the emails posted on this topic.
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I'm not interested in what is or is not offensive. I'm interested in getting people to think far more critically about what is happening. Fascists, like cockroaches, operate best in the dark, not the light of day, until there are so many it no longer matters.

You're making the mistake of comparing what was happening in 1945 Germany versus 1933 to 1939. This isn't about Jews per se. It's about the way an entire country became so deluded and benighted as to exterminate millions and millions of human beings without it being popularly known until it was far too late to resist. Nazi Germany is simply the most obvious example to use to illustrate that point.

I can understand your doubts about what I see and read because it seems so impossible to be happening here. No, it's not going down in exactly the same way just as fascism was different in different parts of Europe. I only ask that you consider the information below. Please be advised that this is only a tiny sample of what goes into my observations.

For fascism:
http://www.bushflash.com/14.html <--a flash presentation
http://www.rense.com/general37/char.htm
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/red-state-fascism.html <--excellent commentary
http://www.remember.org/hist.root.what.html
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm
http://www.publiceye.org/eyes/whatfasc.html
http://www.themodernword.com/eco/eco_blackshirt.html
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Fascism.html <--the economic aspect, raises thorny issues
http://mondediplo.com/1998/04/01leader <--an international perspective
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2004/11/holiday-break.html

Trends in America:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7553.htm
http://cyberjournal.org/cj/rkm/WE/jun00Matrix.shtml <--ref'd by the article above
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/24/1731220 <--very important by Bill Moyers
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-25207.html <--don't skip this one

Religious aspect:
http://www.killingthebuddha.com/damn_nation/gospel_dubya.htm
http://www.harpers.org/JesusPlusNothing.html
http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/index.cfm?issue_ID=2458 <--an env. org in legacy to Rachel Carson about nukes
http://www.uuworld.org/2004/01/feature2.html <--how to understand fundamentalism
http://www.austinuu.org/sermons/2004/2004-04-25-TheCorporationsWillEatYourSoul.html
http://www.austinuu.org/sermons/2005/2005-05-22-TheCostofMoney.html
http://www.austinuu.org/sermons/ <--see all Davidson Loehr's sermons here (I really like this guy)

Propaganda:
http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/Media/Military.asp
http://www.prwatch.org/ <--might want to read "The Cows Have Come Home"
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Media_control_propaganda/Media_Control.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0252066162/qid=1126291471/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-4189791-4009438?v=glance&s=books <--book by Alex Carey

Recent happenings:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/9/6228/49117 <--ref's book by Sinclair Lewis "It Can't Happen Here" (1935)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/3/6/234719/6456 <--compilation of refs to recent fascist-like events or reports
http://respectfulofotters.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_respectfulofotters_archive.html#112619072250574124
http://blueowlsix.blogspot.com/ <--the story "Welcome to the Rockies..."
http://www.denverpost.com/carman/ci_3006502 <--source of the above post "Welcome to the Rockies..."
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3002350

FEMA & Concentration Camps:
http://www.freedomfiles.org/war/fema.htm <--extensive list of links and executive orders

While these executive orders can be taken neutrally and thought benign, I am less inclined to believe that the Bush administration is benign. Power is not inherently good or bad. The goodness or badness depends on its use, whether to protect and save lives, or, to commit murder.This is why eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.