U.S. Mimics Sunnis, Moves toward Fascism

Good versus evil: that’s how conservatives in the United States frame their relationship with Middle Eastern countries. The current determination of the Sunnis to take back Iraq after the U.S. destroyed the country has brought this belief to a roiling boil. Using religion as an excuse to control the country, Sunnis and Shiites are vying for political power in Iraq. It’s a parallel to the attempt of the conservatives–primarily Christians–to take over control of the United States.

The most recent move toward this control was the ruling by five white men to put themselves about federal law and deny contraception to thousands of people. These five men decided that 90 percent of U.S. for-profit “human” corporations have the right to control millions of women’s lives, many of them minorities. Their excuse for supremacy is the Christian bible, which says nothing about contraception.

Fundamentalist religion has morphed the New Testament’s brown-skinned liberal Jewish messiah, who freely gave away health care and redistributed wealth, into a muscular masculine warrior so blond and white that he would have been admired by the Nazi culture. To promote this new vision of the Christian leader, people needed to negate women’s value because of the Christian male belief that feminists have created an effeminate clergy.

Conservatives have increasingly spewed their hatred of anyone different from them. In the past, they mostly concentrated on destroying themselves, for example overeating sweets after First Lady Michele Obama tried to educate people about stopping obesity with sensible eating. The libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) has declared Salvation Army’s annual Doughnut Day as a time for “patriotic civil disobedience” by asking people to eat at least two, not one, doughnut.

Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform demonstrates conspicuous waste by throwing a “sin tax party,” where guests can enjoy the spirits and foods being hit by higher taxes. An invitation to the 2012 party announced that guests could “celebrate finally paying off the burden of government by enjoying these extra-taxed goods that bear the strain of the growing Nanny State.”

Resentful of people who want to make people aware of the energy that we use, CEI asks people to leave all their lights burning during the “Earth Hour,” 60 minutes when many people turn off all electricity. CEI calls its waste, “Human Achievement Hour.”

Trying to show their power over everyone else, ammosexuals use “open carry” laws to carry as many of their biggest and baddest assault rifles in as many open spaces as possible.

Not satisfied with just causing fear and chaos, a group of truck owners have a new “game”—a way to retrofit a diesel truck so that it requires more fuel. As one person who sells the stack kits to do this said, “I run into a lot of people who really don’t like Obama at all. If he’s into the environment, if he’s into this or that, we’re not. I hear a lot of that. To get a single stack on my truck—that’s my way of giving them the finger. You want clean air and a tiny carbon footprint? Well, screw you.”

The “rolling coal” trucks can be easily identified by the “Prius Repellant” decals that most of them sport. At a cost of $1,000 to $5,000, truck owners can add smoke stacks and switches—maybe even revamp the entire fuel system. High school senior Ryan explained why he does it:

  “If someone makes you mad, you can just roll coal, and it makes you feel better sometimes. The other day I did it to this kid who was driving a Mustang with his windows down, and it was awesome.”

So the reason is to upset someone else. Who cares that these pollutants cause 21,000 premature deaths every year and cancer at seven times more than the combined risk of all other 181 other air toxics.

Norfolk, Nebraska, a small town in the northern central part of the state, openly showed off its vicious bigotry during the Fourth of July parade with a float depicting a zombie-like statue of President Obama in front of an outhouse. For those who might not get the point, the building was labeled “Obama Presidential Library.” The mostly white audience cheered and pointed at it.

Mayor Susan Fuchtman tried to disavow any connection with the parade on the town’s public streets when she claimed it was put together by the Odd Fellows Lodge. Defenders called it “political satire,” and parade emcee Wally Sonnenschein said it wasn’t meant to be racist. The float won honorable mention.  The Odd Fellows has been active in the United States for almost two centuries. Its home page for the Odd Fellows organization states that “Friendship, Love and Truth are the basic guidelines that we need to follow in our daily lives.”

Parade committee member Rick Konopasek said that the outhouse float was the most popular one in the parade. “It’s obvious the majority of the community liked it. So should we deny the 95% of those that liked it their rights, just for the 5% of people who are upset?”

The hatred of many conservatives for the undocumented children caught at the Texas border and shipped to Arizona and California is another mark of the deep schism within the U.S. Screaming “USA! USA! USA!” angry white people pounded on buses with Latino children and even spit in the faces of Hispanics in the crowd. At Murrieta (CA), protesters forced bus drivers to go to another facility in the state. Fox network and other conservative sources have inflamed the violence by reporting—with no basis—that the children are disease-ridden with scabies, measles, and tuberculosis.

Many of the children are actually refugees, fleeing gang violence in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. In demanding that all the children be immediately sent home, conservative networks and Internet sites ignore—or are ignorant of—a law passed during George W. Bush’s second term. Large bipartisan majorities passed the law in 2008 to protect young victims of sex trafficking and slavery. According to this law, children from countries that do not border the U.S. must be placed with family members or with foster families while waiting for deportation hearings. That process can take two or three years.

In her Christian/nationalist fervor, conservative Christian Holly Fisher celebrated the Hobby Lobby decision by posing with a pro-life t-shirt, and Chick-fil-a cup outside one of the stores. Evidently the image wasn’t strong enough for her so she added guns, Bible, and U.S. flag. This iconic image of fundamentalism is startlingly similar to one from the other side of the world. Even the crooked smiles are the same on the two women clutching their religious books and similar rifles in front of their flags.

These actions reflect characteristics of fascist regimes that use patriotic and religious symbols to show how dedicated they are to a religiously-based government.  At the same time, fascists have great disdain for human rights, scapegoating liberals and racial, ethnic, or religious minorities who conservatives consider enemies. Fascists believe in torture and long prisoner incarceration while providing a disproportionately high percentage of federal funding for their military. Because fascist countries are male-dominated, gender roles are more rigid, and women’s rights are suppressed. And because they rule by fear, fascists protect corporate power that gives government leaders their positions. Rulers of fascist regimes suppress labor, indulge in rampant cronyism and corruption, and reject education and the arts.

Fraudulent laws in fascist countries suppress the right to vote as evidenced throughout the U.S. Recent Supreme Court rulings have monetized the electoral process and promoted state religion. Almost 80 years ago, Sinclair Lewis wrote, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.” We’re almost there.

Religious War in Iraq, U.S.

Former Dick Cheney, the noisiest of the current chicken-hawks urging the U.S. to resume an Iraqi war, said in 2003:

• People are wrong to think that we need several hundred thousand troops after military operations cease.
• “[The United States] will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.”
• “Our ability to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process would be enhanced.”
• The Kurds, the Sunnis, the Shiites will come together in a democracy, Cheney told Tim Russert on Meet the Press, because “they have so far.”

“They understand the importance of preserving and building on an Iraqi national identity….  The prospects of being able to achieve this kind of success, if you will, from a political standpoint, are probably better than they would be for virtually any other country and under similar circumstances in that part of the world.”

No, none of this happened. Bush/Cheney pushed the well-trained Sunni military out of leadership and put the Shiites into control through the leadership of  Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, leaving the country torn apart.  Bush/Cheney destroyed the country’s infrastructure and replaced its government with another corrupt, brutal government.  Bush/Cheney put the Al-Qaeda in power because the Sunnis were not part of the government. Bush/Cheney went in with no plan and then signed an agreement to get out of Iraq before leaving office.

The $25 billion that the U.S. put into training and equipment for the Iraqi military paid for abuse of Iraqi civilians, primarily Sunnis, through unlawful raids and arrests, torture, and indiscriminate shelling.  The best summary of what happened in Iraq comes comedian Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show.

Despite his brutality, Saddam Hussein had kept an uneasy peace among the three separate identities in the country for almost 30 years. When Bush/Cheney removed him as leader, the rift became violent. Injured Sunnis were left for dead in a Shia hospital, and Sunni families who came to get the injured Sunnis were also in danger of being killed. Sen. John McCain said in April 2003 that the Shias and Sunnis had no history of discord. The U.S. totally failed to understand that this rift has existed for 1300 years, that Iraq was only labeled as a “country” in 1920 because Britain wanted its oil.

For a short time in 2008, Gen. David Petraeus demanded that the Sunnis be included in decisions, but this was soon dropped. A Sunni organization in Syria called ISIS made themselves popular with food and healthcare drives in the villages. ISIS built a fortune of over $2 billion after it took over some of the Iraqi banks this year, becoming the richest terrorist group in the world.

ISIS isn’t alone in its attacks on the Iraqi army. Although many Sunnis are disturbed by the ISIS violence, the group’s collaboration with local militias, including Ba’athist and Islamist sects, has made it easier for them to overtake a number of cities. Most of the media reports only on ISIS, but people in Iraq report that it is just one faction in a popular rebellion against Maliki’s corrupt government. For them, there is no other option.

Eleven years after the Bush/Cheney invasion of Iraq, most people have figured out that the U.S. isn’t going to plant “seeds of democracy” in a religiously war-torn nation. President Obama has announced that the U.S. would not intervene in Iraq until the Iraqi government makes concessions to the Sunnis. Yet he has already chosen sides with the Shiites by promising 300 “military advisers,” who will receive combat pay, to help the government fight against the Sunnis. The U.S. has already also increased its “intelligence and surveillance assistance” and continues to supply arms to the Shiite government, assisting the “genocide” against the Sunni population.

Religious and ultra conservative leaders in the U.S. are opposing any involvement in Iraq: Pat Robertson bashed the Bush/Cheney war on The 700 Club by agreeing that Hussein kept “those warring factions in check.” He added, “It’s unfixable. Those simmering animosities have been there for centuries.

Glenn Beck admitted he was wrong and the liberals were right for opposing the invasion:

“You were right. Liberals, you were right, we shouldn’t have…. Not one more life. Not one more life. Not one more dollar, not one more airplane, not one more bullet, not one more Marine, not one more arm or leg or eye. Not one more. This must end now.”

Fox network’s Shepard Smith criticized the people who were wrong in the first place and now want the U.S. to go back into Iraq. Megyn Kelly scolded Cheney for his op-ed criticizing President Obama for his Iraqi policy by telling Cheney how wrong he was:

“Now with almost a trillion dollars spent there with 4,500 American lives lost there, what do you say to those who say you were so wrong about so much at the expense of so many?”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) talked to David Gregory on NBC’s Meet the Press today about the Bush/Cheney mistakes.

Much as I would like to think that these people have suddenly become sane, the intent may be to show up the war-mongering establishment GOP by siding with the over 80 percent of people in the United States who think that the U.S. needs to stay out of Iraq.

Historian Crane Brinton describes three phases of revolutionary change countries typically follow:

• People revolt and the old order is overthrown.
• Revolutionaries, the people who overthrew the old order, become oppressors themselves and use violence to stay in power.
• People revolt against the revolutionaries to restore the peace and tranquility they used to have during the old regime.

When order is restored, the best parts of revolution are preserved. Iraq’s old order was overthrown in 2003. The country is still in the second, violent, phase. The Iraqis have to revolt against this violence to escape a cycle of radicalism and terror. The U. S. needs to stay out of the process.

To support the current Iraqi regime is to support Iran. When the Iraqi soldiers defected, Iran sent the Revolutionary Guard to help Maliki, increasing Iraq’s independence on Iran. Anything the U.S. sends to Iraq may easily go on to Iran.

Even some of the Shiites want the U.S. out of Iraq. In a sermon Friday, Nassir al-Saedi, loyalist to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, said that their group will attack the U.S., “the occupier,” if it comes back. Tens of thousands of al-Sadr’s militia, the Mahdi army, paraded through the Baghdad streets yesterday.

The U.S. needs to concentrate on the domestic terrorists in our country. The Ku Klux Klan is organizing a military-style combat training for its members to participate in a racial civil war. At this time, existing and new KKK members now overseas and leaving the military will be leading these trainings. One of the women in the KKK said, “The Klan is a Christian organization, so they get to read the bible and they enjoy going to rallies and they get to play with kids their own kind.”

The Klan is starting to develop its followers in the same way that ISIS did—by helping people. Part of their agenda is to volunteer for neighborhood watch programs. KKK members dropped flyers in Chesterfield County (VA) that stated, “You can sleep tonight knowing the Klan is awake.” The klan may appear to be small at this time, but it will be joined by angry violent groups with almost unlimited supplies of guns because of lax laws in the U.S.

Conservatives will do anything they can to keep the KKK in business. After U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced  that the DOJ is bringing back its committee on Domestic Terrorism, the extremist right wing came out in force. According to their beliefs, white supremacists using violence and terrorizing communities for their political agenda are exercising their free speech rights. They are “patriots.”

Extremists claim that Holder’s committee is a war on white men while bombing abortion clinics and killing doctors is just showing that you disagree with them. Cliven Bundy was merely exercising his rights not to pay his debts; the government was the terrorist, according to the radical right. In 2009, DHS issued a report that identified white supremacists as the greatest threat to national security, and the far right went ballistic.

Membership in the KKK has tripled since President Obama was elected the first time. Members claim that it’s a “non-violent, Christian organization.” The past six years has seen a constant diet of vicious, racist diatribes not seen since Herbert Hoover’s Southern Strategy to attract Southern racists to the GOP. Republican candidates use openly racial language in an attempt to win votes.

Parallels between Muslim fundamentalists and U.S. Christian right:

• Motivated by extreme religious beliefs
• Tend to have antiquated ideas about the role of women
• See themselves as “soldiers of God”
• Harbor strong homophobia
•  Vigorously defend their way of life by using violence if necessary

About a half century ago, a Catholic president promised to follow the constitution and keep his religious beliefs separate from his political views. Since Ronald Reagan was elected president, far-right religious candidates have become more and more fanatical about incorporating the Bible into political decisions until the radical Christian fundamentalists have started to force everyone in the country to follow their beliefs.  Like the Shiites, these legislators are the religious fanatics who protect the domestic terrorists.

We need to turn back to a democracy instead of a theocracy like Iraq. Our government—including Congress—needs to start protecting “our homeland” from “our” domestic terrorists before the Christian fundamentalists take over U.S. cities by force.