“When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross”…Sinclair Lewis. I do not know what this man was drinking at the time, but this is a false statement. It has been stated frequently on another blog. Think about the following statements!
This country was founded on the belief in God, and in the rights and freedoms of all people. We were also given the freedom of speech and religion. We were given the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (in writing and made into law) to safe guard those rights and freedoms. We were guaranteed this freedom of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. “In God We Trust” was engraved on public buildings in Washington, DC, and also on our money. Our American Flag and the Eagle were symbols of these freedoms. Is this fascism? Take the time to read our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and then make your decision if you believe in these laws.
Fascism or anything else you would like to call it, Socialism, Marxism, or Communism, it is all the same. And how does it come? Not by waving flags or clinging to a Bible. It sneaks in, in the dark of night clad in silken slippers, and so quiet no one hears it. It starts out slowly and eats away at the core of everything this country stands for.
Are the people attending and standing up at the Tea Parties and waving the American Flag, demanding that the government protect our rights as Americans, being un-American? I do not think so. We do not want our government intruding on our rights and freedoms. We do not want Cap and Trade that will bankrupt this country, we do not want higher taxes, we do not want government to take over our healthcare that will lead to poor quality care and rationing. Older people who have worked their entire lives and paid into social security will have their social security benefits cut, (mine has already been cut) and health care will be rationed. They will not be given good care when they need it the most. Is this how the elderly people will be treated since they will no longer be considered an asset to the government, but a burden? But yet, illegals will be given free heath care that will be paid for by the American tax payer.
Many of us are just patriotic Americans that love our country. We do not want socialism; or any other (ism) We are fighting to keep our freedoms, and do not want our rights and freedoms taken away and end up living under tyranny. If people do not like what America stands for, they can emigrate to North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, or another country that has a Dictatorship, that might be more to their liking. They will control their life and tell them what they can or cannot do, from cradle to the grave.
I am not a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or any thing else. My being an American comes first and I love the country I grew up in.
May God Bless America, and have mercy on us. Pray for our country!
Moe Lane
Dan McLaughlin
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
I think Lewis tends to be misunderstood.
kyoufuu (Diary) Wednesday, September 9th at 2:25PM EST (link)While he was highly critical of evangelicaism, he didn’t likely think that the only road to fascism was via an uberpatriotic christian. That quote is a backdrop for his novel It Can’t Happen Here. It really urges caution of politicians who ride to power on charisma and waves of popular sentiment alone. At the time of his writing, there was no greater popularism espoused than in patriotism and evangelicalism.
To that end, our current President is far more similar to Buzz Windrip from the novel than any bible thumping President we’ve had thus far. In the book, the dismantling of America occurs largely by localizing power into the executive, rather than through the system of checks and balances established in the constitution. In that regard, the correlations are particularly eery.
The true irony is that Lewis was critical of our capitalist system, but the fear today is that it is the dismantling of that systm which will lead to a fascist state.
“There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” — James Madison
“I swear by my life, and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”
Thank you for your comment
bethelcovel (Diary) Thursday, September 10th at 4:14PM EST (link)Thank You so much for taking the time to respond to my post.
See The New Deal.
Alberta (Diary) Wednesday, September 9th at 8:14PM EST (link)On another note, I like how you rightly lump all the tyrannies together.
Ever notice that the only people who care about the differences in the Communist system versus Socialism, versus Fascism, versus Marxism, versus Maoism, versus Feudalism (oooh!) are communists, socialists, fascists, marxists, maoists, ect.
Telling, that.
Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.
Abraham Lincoln
Thank You
bethelcovel (Diary) Thursday, September 10th at 4:15PM EST (link)We all need to be on the side of freedom.
A despot by any other name... is a despot
CJB68 Thursday, September 10th at 6:32AM EST (link)It’s particularly telling when you have the same basic attitudes being borne irregardless of the base ideology of the dictatorship coming into power. Mussolini started out as a leftist, but the contemporary definition of his fascism tends to equate it with a right-wing movement. Adolf Hitler is quoted as saying “I will take the Communist Manifesto and make it work!”
In the end, it doesn’t matter what the despot will claim he/she is… he/she is still a despot.
The question now is “When should we fight back?” These people cannot be that powerful.
Delusional and Arrogant. The Modern Democratic Philosophy.
"The question now is 'When should we fight back?' These people cannot be that powerful."
ColdWarrior (Diary) Thursday, September 10th at 1:10PM EST (link)Americans have four boxes.
The soap box.
The ballot box.
The jury box.
The cartridge box.
Rights are like muscles — they atrophy if not vigorously exercised occasionally. And get stronger with regular exercise.
The soap box (some of you may recall the image of someone standing on a box in the town square and speaking to whomever will listen) represents our rights to free speech and to petition our government for grievances. Today, as compared to our not so distant forefathers, we have so many tools for communication (email, the internet, talk radio, internet radio, etc., etc.) we have no excuse to not be educated and no reason not to be able to educate others if they’ll only listen. Every piece of information we need to know about our values and history are at our fingertips. Most of you are exercising your free speech rights here in this echo chamber. But are you doing it where it matters? At your school board? At your city council and county board? At the state house? At the offices of your state legislators and congresscritters? Posting here is one thing, actually sending a fax to a congresscritter, of phoning him, is another. And are you physically going to the public demonstrations (Tea Parties, town halls, the offices of your representatives, etc.)?
The ballot box. We still have the electoral process. How many of you were poll watchers? How many of you have lobbied to make sure your state enacts laws preventing illegal voting? Are you a precinct committeeman? A party volunteer? Are you working on anyone’s campaign? Getting signatures for nomination papers?
The jury box. No matter what criminal “laws” get passed, it takes a unanimous jury to convict. Imagine if Congress passes a “law” requiring individuals buy health insurance and people refuse, are fined, and refuse to pay the fine. If the criminal penalty includes jail, they get a jury trial. A single juror can hang the jury. A fully-informed juror can get onto the jury and judge both the law and the facts. Are you a fully-informed juror? Do you even know what that is? Ever heard of Lysander Spooner? FIJA? Do you serve when it’s your turn or do you try to get out of it and “let George do it”?
The cartridge box. Do you own cartridges? And the implements that fire them? That box is our “fail safe.” Are you a member of any Second Amendment organization? Do you have a concealed carry permit? In other words, are you exercising your Second Amendment rights?
Back to the ballot box. Are you in the political ball game as a player? That is, as a precinct committeeman? Or are you still on the sidelines? Nationwide, fifty per cent of the Republican Party precinct committeeman slots were empty during the 2008 election cycle. Put another way, our team was playing at half-strength. No wonder we lost.
Ball players get a chance to change the outcome of the game. Spectators only cheer the ball players on. In the ball game of Republican Party politics, the players are the precinct committeeman.
I hope you’ll join the team.
Here’s a link to an earlier post that lays it all out:
http://www.redstate.com/coldwarrior/2009/09/02/434-new-conservative-precinct-committeemen-and-counting/#comment-63
Thank you.
ColdWarrior
I am only one. But I am a conservative Republican Party precinct committeeman.
In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?
Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Unified Patriots.
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and
Excellent Comment!
bethelcovel (Diary) Thursday, September 10th at 4:18PM EST (link)Thank you so much!
Sinclair Lewis was a communist.
realskinny (Diary) Thursday, September 10th at 9:51AM EST (link)If you don’t believe me, read one of his “Lanny Budd” novels. He positively drools over Stalin and Mao.
This is an excellent blog. The quote from Madison is excellent also.
I believe you're thinking of Upton Sinclair nt
kyoufuu (Diary) Thursday, September 10th at 12:37PM EST (link)“There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” — James Madison
“I swear by my life, and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”
Sinclair Lewis was definitively a leftie, but
Achance (Diary) Thursday, September 10th at 12:48PM EST (link)I don’t think was ever an avowed communist. Upton Sinclair on the other hand was an open “socialist,” but I don’t know if he was ever CPUSA, at least as an open member. He was certainly a functional communist and the first steps into trade unionism and radical politics taken by generations of young Americans resulted from reading “The Jungle.”
In Vino Veritas
It is about being American
Whitesands (Diary) Thursday, September 10th at 2:24PM EST (link)Alexis de Tocqueville. “About this race of men stands an immense and tutelary power, which takes upon itself alone to secure their gratifications and to watch over their fate. That power is absolute, minute, regular, provident, and mild. It would be like the authority of a parent if, like that authority, its object was to prepare men for manhood; but it seeks, on the contrary, to keep them in perpetual childhood: it is well content that the public should rejoice, provided they think of nothing but rejoicing. For their happiness such a government willingly labors, but it chooses to be the soul agent and the only arbiter of that happiness; it provides for their security, foresees and supplies their necessities, facilitates their pleasures, manages their principle concerns, directs their industry, regulates the descent of property, and subdivides their inheritances; what remains, but to spare them all care of thinking and all the trouble of living?
Thank You.
bethelcovel (Diary) Thursday, September 10th at 4:22PM EST (link)We need to be Americans first, and willing to stand up for those freedoms.
Thanks
bethelcovel (Diary) Thursday, September 10th at 10:57PM EST (link)I thank everyone for the comments. It is appreciated.
Bethel