Where to begin? Divine Providence!

I have a few issues that came up today.  I was going to talk about what Robert Reich put on his blog on Saturday. (link here)  Then I got annoyed at people trying to demean Professor Reich, when they really have no ground other than a “gut feeling” – to argue a person who has spent decades doing research on a subject.  I also read some excepts from Glenn Beck’s new book, and if you get a chance, check it out… just the excerpts, at least.  It is almost written better than Twilight.  (The twelve pages of Twilight that I read only had 3 spelling errors and one poorly constructed sentence.)

Then I came across the website for Constituting America. I decided to discuss Reich’s comments about the pending recession tomorrow.  Also, I’m concerned that Glenn Beck makes $32 million a year to write and speak so poorly, and I have made $3.03 so far this year.

This Constituting America website struck a chord with me.  It is really interesting.  It is run partly by Janine Turner, who most probably know from Northern Exposure – and not from her appearance on the 700 Club or publicity to help Sarah Palin fight the “Liberal Media Bias.”  (I would put a link to her webpage, but it automatically loads music and things that move around and stuff fitting for a 12 year old girl’s MySpace page, but you can Google it if you are inclined.  Hopefully, your browser won’t crash and you can come back.)

The mission statement of Constituting America states:

The American Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787, is as great a miracle as the ultimate victory from the British in 1782. Providence prevailed in both theatres. It was a monumental feat to beat the British in the Revolutionary War. Equally as awesome was the accomplishment of finding common ground amongst the varied American beliefs in writing the Constitution. Though our forefathers differed, they united in their mission, their vision: A republic; a democracy; America, the beautiful; America, the hope.

“Providence prevailed” it actually states… and then, goes on to state:

The American Constitution was the work of brilliant men with a vast knowledge of history and a thirst for righteousness. They believed that in order for American liberty to survive, her people must be educated. To quote John Adams, “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge of the people.”

But then, it states:

Thus, the mission of Constituting America is based upon this principle: America will not and cannot survive unless her citizens, her children, and her students, are educated about the validity, necessity and Providential Divinity of the Constitution.

So here we have a mission statement that starts out with praise for the “Founding” of the United States, with overtures of divinity that are almost poetic.  Then a quote from John Adams and a claim to the benefits of “education.”  Then there is a claim, that “God wrote the Constitution.”

Really?

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Tags: anti, conservative, Constitution, Glenn Beck, Janine Turner, Robert Reich, sarah palin, Tea Party, United States
Category New Right |

No Really, Epithets for Arizona

I haven’t had an entry in over a week.  I wish I could say it was because everything has filled me with a sense of futility, but the reality is that I haven’t budgeted my time very well.

While on hiatus, Arizona made the news again with the mural on a school in Prescott.  An article can be found on the Daily Courier, here. In a nutshell, they hired artists to paint a mural with the students of an elementary school, of the students of the elementary school.  The students were of multiple ethnicities, which prompted some shouting of racial epithets by passers-by for two months.  The artist contributes this hostility to City Councilman, Steve Blair.  On his radio show on KYCA, he stated:

“I am not a racist individual, but I will tell you depicting a black guy in the middle of that mural, based upon who’s president of the United States today and based upon the history of this community when I grew up, we had four black families – who I have been very good friends with for years – to depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person, I would have to ask the question, ‘Why?’”

Then the school decided to “lighten the mural” or, more specifically, lighten the faces of the students.  Then the school decided not to do this, because of the national outcry.

What I find is the real issue here is the attack on “pluralism” and the identification of “who is an American” with a specific image.  This is really fascist.  Not in an attempt to spread a slur around… it really is fascist.  It is a tenant of fascism.  The most notable case was the image of the “Aryan” – the blue eyed, blonde haired German that was the “only real German” according to Hitler’s Nazi Party.  Just like with anything else, there are varying degrees.  Would I equate this to the Nazi platform?  No, not really.  But is it fascism?  Yes, definitely.

This has been a rising tide since the election of the first Black American President.  This rallying cry of the New Right for what it means to “Be an American.”
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Tags: african-american, apartheid, Arizona, chicano, discrimination, equal rights, fascism, fascist, Glenn Beck, Jonah Goldberg, Liberal Fascism, New Right, race, racism, sarah palin, Tea Party, United States
Category Neo-Fascism |

For those interested in understanding Facism:

Here is a list of titles by Professor A. James Gregor.  He is not the only authority on Fascism, but he is a good one… and he is also not a “Leftie” or a “Liberal” or a “Communist.”  If you want to continue to throw around terminology, I suggest you actually learn what it means.  (Yes, I mean you Glenn Beck.)

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Tags: A. James Gregor, Berkeley, fascism, Glenn Beck, University of California
Category Definitions |