The News Media's Political 'F' Word

[Guest guest]

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/19050/

 

The News Media's Political 'F' Word By Norman Solomon, AlterNet

Posted on June 25, 2004,

http://www.alternet.org/story/19050/

When a federal judge compares George W. Bush to Benito Mussolini, is that

newsworthy?

 

After the conservative daily New York Sun broke the story about a speech by

Judge Guido Calabresi of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, few media outlets

even mentioned what he had to say.

 

" In a way that occurred before but is rare in the United States ... somebody

came to power as a result of the illegitimate acts of a legitimate institution

that had the right to put somebody in power, " Judge Calabresi told attorneys and

law students at the American Constitution Society's annual convention on June

19. " That is what the Supreme Court did in Bush versus Gore. It put somebody in

power. "

 

The 71-year-old judge, who was born in Milan before his family left Italy in

1939, added: " The reason I emphasize that is because that is exactly what

happened when Mussolini was put in by the king of Italy. " And Calabresi, a

former dean of Yale Law School, went on: " The king of Italy had the right to put

Mussolini in, though he had not won an election, and make him prime minister.

That is what happened when Hindenburg put Hitler in. I am not suggesting for a

moment that Bush is Hitler. I want to be clear on that, but it is a situation

which is extremely unusual. "

 

Referring to the Supreme Court's post-election decision in 2000, Judge Calabresi

said: " When somebody has come in that way, they sometimes have tried not to

exercise much power. In this case, like Mussolini, he has exercised

extraordinary power. "

 

There doesn't seem to be any question about the accuracy of the quotations. The

reporter who wrote the Sun newspaper story, Josh Gerstein, told me that he

transcribed the quotes from a tape recording.

 

Exactly what constitutes " fascism " may be hotly debated by political scientists

and others. The definition in one dictionary refers to a " governmental system

marked by stringent socioeconomic control, a strong central government usually

headed by a dictator, and often a belligerently nationalistic policy. " But it

should be clear that fascism wouldn't necessarily arrive on the heels of

goose-stepping soldiers or brown-shirt thugs dressed up in Nazi regalia.

 

About three-quarters of a century ago, the Louisiana populist Huey Long

commented: " If fascism came to America it would be on a program of Americanism. "

Well, fascism hasn't arrived in the United States -- millions exercise crucial

freedoms of speech and press every day -- but we should recognize that the U.S.

government's response to 9/11 has included some fascistic elements.

 

Consider, for instance, the assessment by Stuart Taylor Jr., a careful

mainstream journalist specializing in legal issues. His article in the June 12

edition of National Journal focused on memos and reports within the Bush

administration about guidelines related to interrogation and torture. " These

warped analyses are not just the work of a few lawyers carried away with clever

circumvention of the law, " Taylor wrote. " They reflect an attitude deeply

entrenched in the Bush White House -- including Bush and Dick Cheney as well as

(White House counsel Alberto) Gonzales -- that whenever the president invokes

national security, he enjoys near-dictatorial powers and is quite literally

above the law. "

 

Taylor's conclusion should give chills to anyone who hasn't been numbed by the

soothing prattle of corporate media or the complacent view that it won't matter

much whether Bush gets four more years in the White House: " These perversions of

the law would allow Bush to seize, imprison, and torture anyone in the world, at

any time, for any reason that he associates with national security. Little did

the Framers suspect that their Constitution would be twisted by a president to

claim powers more appropriate to Roman emperors, Russian czars, and King George

III. "

 

At Cornell University, government professor Theodore Lowi now aptly describes

the George W. Bush administration as " a toxic combination of God rhetoric,

money, cronyism and severe moral hierarchy that poses a real threat of fascism

for our nation. "

 

This is not to throw the word " fascism " around loosely. Our society continues to

enjoy a wide range of freedoms. Yet fascistic repression is apt to arrive in

stages.

 

Anyone who was paying close attention to the actions of the Ashcroft Justice

Department in the wake of 9/11 has seen that elements of fascism can be

implemented in the USA, particularly in times of crisis.

 

The assumption that it can't happen here makes more likely the possibility that

it will.

© 2004 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.

View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/19050/

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

The most remarkable aspect of the Calabresi story, is that it has not been

told by our media. There is no more ominous aspect of our situation.

JP

 

-

" Frank " <califpacific

<alternative_medicine_forum >

Friday, June 25, 2004 11:44 AM

The News Media's Political 'F' Word

 

 

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/19050/

 

The News Media's Political 'F' Word By Norman Solomon, AlterNet

Posted on June 25, 2004,

http://www.alternet.org/story/19050/

When a federal judge compares George W. Bush to Benito Mussolini, is that

newsworthy?

 

After the conservative daily New York Sun broke the story about a speech by

Judge Guido Calabresi of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, few media outlets

even mentioned what he had to say.

 

" In a way that occurred before but is rare in the United States ... somebody

came to power as a result of the illegitimate acts of a legitimate

institution that had the right to put somebody in power, " Judge Calabresi

told attorneys and law students at the American Constitution Society's

annual convention on June 19. " That is what the Supreme Court did in Bush

versus Gore. It put somebody in power. "

 

The 71-year-old judge, who was born in Milan before his family left Italy in

1939, added: " The reason I emphasize that is because that is exactly what

happened when Mussolini was put in by the king of Italy. " And Calabresi, a

former dean of Yale Law School, went on: " The king of Italy had the right to

put Mussolini in, though he had not won an election, and make him prime

minister. That is what happened when Hindenburg put Hitler in. I am not

suggesting for a moment that Bush is Hitler. I want to be clear on that, but

it is a situation which is extremely unusual. "

 

Referring to the Supreme Court's post-election decision in 2000, Judge

Calabresi said: " When somebody has come in that way, they sometimes have

tried not to exercise much power. In this case, like Mussolini, he has

exercised extraordinary power. "

 

There doesn't seem to be any question about the accuracy of the quotations.

The reporter who wrote the Sun newspaper story, Josh Gerstein, told me that

he transcribed the quotes from a tape recording.

 

Exactly what constitutes " fascism " may be hotly debated by political

scientists and others. The definition in one dictionary refers to a

" governmental system marked by stringent socioeconomic control, a strong

central government usually headed by a dictator, and often a belligerently

nationalistic policy. " But it should be clear that fascism wouldn't

necessarily arrive on the heels of goose-stepping soldiers or brown-shirt

thugs dressed up in Nazi regalia.

 

About three-quarters of a century ago, the Louisiana populist Huey Long

commented: " If fascism came to America it would be on a program of

Americanism. " Well, fascism hasn't arrived in the United States -- millions

exercise crucial freedoms of speech and press every day -- but we should

recognize that the U.S. government's response to 9/11 has included some

fascistic elements.

 

Consider, for instance, the assessment by Stuart Taylor Jr., a careful

mainstream journalist specializing in legal issues. His article in the June

12 edition of National Journal focused on memos and reports within the Bush

administration about guidelines related to interrogation and torture. " These

warped analyses are not just the work of a few lawyers carried away with

clever circumvention of the law, " Taylor wrote. " They reflect an attitude

deeply entrenched in the Bush White House -- including Bush and Dick Cheney

as well as (White House counsel Alberto) Gonzales -- that whenever the

president invokes national security, he enjoys near-dictatorial powers and

is quite literally above the law. "

 

Taylor's conclusion should give chills to anyone who hasn't been numbed by

the soothing prattle of corporate media or the complacent view that it won't

matter much whether Bush gets four more years in the White House: " These

perversions of the law would allow Bush to seize, imprison, and torture

anyone in the world, at any time, for any reason that he associates with

national security. Little did the Framers suspect that their Constitution

would be twisted by a president to claim powers more appropriate to Roman

emperors, Russian czars, and King George III. "

 

At Cornell University, government professor Theodore Lowi now aptly

describes the George W. Bush administration as " a toxic combination of God

rhetoric, money, cronyism and severe moral hierarchy that poses a real

threat of fascism for our nation. "

 

This is not to throw the word " fascism " around loosely. Our society

continues to enjoy a wide range of freedoms. Yet fascistic repression is apt

to arrive in stages.

 

Anyone who was paying close attention to the actions of the Ashcroft Justice

Department in the wake of 9/11 has seen that elements of fascism can be

implemented in the USA, particularly in times of crisis.

 

The assumption that it can't happen here makes more likely the possibility

that it will.

© 2004 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.

View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/19050/

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I don't think it unusual, I think it is standard operating procedure

for what passes for " news " today.

 

News has just become one big unpaid sales speal. Every 5 minutes they

are try to " sell " me some BS or another. For the majority of it the

only " truth " they cover is what brand of BS they are trying to " sell "

at the moment. The media has been hijacked by the same special

interests that have highjacked our government, our regulatory

agencies, etc.

 

 

No wonder that the majority of the people in the USA don't have a

clue as to what is going on in most areas of their lives. Can you

believe that most people around the world know about genetically

modified foods and want no part of them and the average consumer here

doesn't have a clue that he has been eating them for 8 years now. It

is not because he is stupid or uncaring. It is because he doesn't get

a chance to know anything except what they want him to know. He has

been taught how to not think for himself. This type of situation can

be extrapolated to most of the areas of their lives whether it is

politics, religion, science, social issues, etc. But ask anyone no

matter how ill informed and you will discover that they " think " that

they know the answer for most everything. The problem is that they

cannot distinguish between fact and spin (fiction) or really evalute

the information.

 

The average amercian doesn't have a clue how to even think for

himself, let alone try and find any truth or answers. He is told what

to think his whole life by the government, the schools ( they

certainly don't encourage independent thinking), his preacher, his

psycholgist, his doctor, his psychiatrist, his marriage counselor,

his financial counselor, his talking heads on the boob tube, etc.,

etc.....

 

He knows something isn't right but can't put his finger on it so he

falls prey to all of the half baked ideas and petty political

theories that come along cooked up by the same types as he is. He

doesn't want to feel powerless, alone and without an anchor to modern

life so he takes what " sounds good " on the surface and what usually

plays into his fears and prejudices.

 

Most of them never had an original thought in their lives but, if

you ask them they all see themselves as well informed, critical

thinkers and have the secret to most everything or what is really

happening. I have now received hundreds of their messages. Almost to

a person they were from people who I considered couldn't think

themselves out of a wet paper bag. Most could fill reams of paper

with opinions but would have trouble filling up a matchbook with real

factual knowledge.

 

This group was supposed to be about independent thinking. Well it was

a dismal failure from that standpoint. The majority of the people who

came here once again want to be told what to think and what to " take "

for their health or they are lost and can't educate themselves with

all of the resources that we have amassed., No reading and evaluating

of information for the majority of them, they just want to get

their " knowledge " from someone's web site's sales pitch.

 

Or they were one of the traveling band of nutcases that are so

prevelant on the net and they demand their " rights " to come and

spread their half baked ideas and misinformation here that someone

else told and convinced them to " believe " too.

 

Frank

 

 

 

, " John Polifronio "

<counterpnt@e...> wrote:

> The most remarkable aspect of the Calabresi story, is that it has

not been

> told by our media. There is no more ominous aspect of our

situation.

> JP

>

> -

> " Frank " <califpacific>

> <alternative_medicine_forum >

> Friday, June 25, 2004 11:44 AM

> The News Media's

Political 'F' Word

>

>

> http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/19050/

>

> The News Media's Political 'F' Word By Norman Solomon, AlterNet

> Posted on June 25, 2004,

> http://www.alternet.org/story/19050/

> When a federal judge compares George W. Bush to Benito Mussolini,

is that

> newsworthy?

>

> After the conservative daily New York Sun broke the story about a

speech by

> Judge Guido Calabresi of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, few

media outlets

> even mentioned what he had to say.

>

> " In a way that occurred before but is rare in the United States ...

somebody

> came to power as a result of the illegitimate acts of a legitimate

> institution that had the right to put somebody in power, " Judge

Calabresi

> told attorneys and law students at the American Constitution

Society's

> annual convention on June 19. " That is what the Supreme Court did

in Bush

> versus Gore. It put somebody in power. "

>

 

>