BUSH, HITLER. . . AND YOU

Revolution #019, October 23, 2005, posted at revcom.us

"People look at all this and think of Hitler--and they are right to do so. The Bush regime is setting out to radically remake society very quickly, in a fascist way, and for generations to come. We must act now; the future is in the balance."

From the Call for November 2

If you had gone to sleep five years ago and woken up today, you’d be shocked to find that a president had come to power without winning the election and that:

• The U.S. was in a bloody occupation of Iraq, after an illegal war justified by lies, that had already cost 100,000 lives;
• The White House had dismissed the Geneva Conventions as "quaint" and had threatened to veto a bill that would outlaw the torture of prisoners of war;
• The President had the right to detain anyone, indefinitely and without a trial or even charges, if he merely said that person might be a "terrorist";
• A mass movement aiming for theocracy and actively enforcing religious dogma in the public sphere was riding high and had systematically put its people into many positions of military, judicial, and political power;
• Free inquiry had been stifled in the media and was rapidly being suppressed in academia;
• There was an aggressive, unapologetic demonization of immigrants, Muslims, gay people, Black people and anyone else who stood in the way of this fascist vision of a "new normalcy";
• Women were being shoved back into traditional roles, with even the right to abortion in serious danger.

Well, you didn’t go to sleep . . . but it is time to wake up. It’s all going on now and it has to be stopped.

No, American fascism is not goose-stepping down our streets in funny mustaches. But the bedrock convictions, the inner logic, and the compulsions driving it forward are just as serious and deadly as what went down in Germany. And the people in power now--the Bush Regime-- are hell-bent on this course.

Hitler achieved power in January of 1933. But it would be another eight years before he set the "final solution"--the death camps--into motion. In other words, there is a process by which people are led down a path. WE MUST STOP THAT PROCESS NOW. How much further does it have to go before you recognize it for what it is, and act?

Yes, it will take a huge struggle to stop and reverse the horrific direction of U.S. society under the Bush regime. You are not going to "pendulum-swing" your way out of that.

But there IS a way. It begins with facing reality, resisting, and mobilizing others to resist. And it takes a leap on November 2, with thousands and tens of thousands marching through the streets, demanding:

THE WORLD CAN’T WAIT! DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME!

MOBILIZE NOVEMBER 2

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