Congress to debate resolution attacking the New York Times

The Hill is reporting that GOP lawmakers will introduce a congressional today condemning the New York Times for reporting on the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance programs.

The resolution is expected to condemn the leak and publication of classified documents, said one Republican aide with knowledge of the impending legislation.

The resolution comes as Republicans from the president on down condemn media organizations for reporting on the secret government program that tracked financial records overseas through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), an international banking cooperative.

The very idea of a free press is now under attack from the men and women charged with safeguarding it, along with every other institution of American democracy. Historians will mark this period of time in one of two ways: as the moment that America willfully descended into totalitarianism; or as moment that America seized the initiative to keep hysterical, fear-obsessed reactionaries from destroying our democracy.

The democratic principles that have come under attack in the years since 9/11 include, but are by no means limited to, the co-equal status of congress, the independence of the judiciary and the freedom of the press. These are quite simply the most critical functions of democracy. It was not an accident that the founders provided for them in the constitution. They knew from experience the danger to liberty that resulted from investing these powers in the executive branch of government. These ideas are articulated in our government's founding document in plain language and can be understood by any person capable of reading English at a grade-school level.

The GOP-led congress has failed consistently to exercise any oversight of the Bush administration with regard to warrantless surveillance, the war against Iraq and the subsequent occupation thereof, and the mundane but necessary tasks of simply managing our country's affairs. Republican lawmakers have surrendered their authority to provide checks and balances to the actions of the executive branch.

The congress has rubber-stamped federal judges who hold theories of executive power so extreme that they would result in a presidency that differs in name only from a monarchy. Just yesterday, Republicans in the senate fell one vote short of sending to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment banning political expression in the form of flag burning. This summer, congress plans to debate a measure prohibiting federal judges from ruling in cases regarding the text of the Pledge of Allegiance. Now, we learn that our lawmaking institution will debate a resolution to condemn a news organization for doing its job by informing the public about presidential activities which are, at best, of questionable legality.

It is not overstating the matter to point out that the actions and stated goals of the Bush administration and the GOP-controlled congress are indistinguishable from national movements toward fascism.

Consider the following passages from the Columbia Encyclopedia's entry on "fascism." Bold and italic emphases are added.

Fascism, especially in its early stages, is obliged to be antitheoretical and frankly opportunistic in order to appeal to many diverse groups. Nevertheless, a few key concepts are basic to it. First and most important is the glorification of the state and the total subordination of the individual to it. The state is defined as an organic whole into which individuals must be absorbed for their own and the state’s benefit. This “total state” is absolute in its methods and unlimited by law in its control and direction of its citizens.

A second ruling concept of fascism is embodied in the theory of social Darwinism. The doctrine of survival of the fittest and the necessity of struggle for life is applied by fascists to the life of a nation-state. Peaceful, complacent nations are seen as doomed to fall before more dynamic ones, making struggle and aggressive militarism a leading characteristic of the fascist state. Imperialism is the logical outcome of this dogma.

Another element of fascism is its elitism. Salvation from rule by the mob and the destruction of the existing social order can be effected only by an authoritarian leader who embodies the highest ideals of the nation. This concept of the leader as hero or superman, borrowed in part from the romanticism of Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Carlyle, and Richard Wagner, is closely linked with fascism’s rejection of reason and intelligence and its emphasis on vision, creativeness, and “the will.”

Consider also this widely-circulated list of the 14 characeristics of fascism, which includes powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism (i.e., no flag burning), an obsession with national security (i.e., removing all restrictions on the president's actions to stop "the terrorists") and a controlled mass media (i.e., calling for the imprisonment of journalists who publish stories critical of the president). These items, along with the other 11 on the list, will be disturbingly familiar to any observer of contemporary American politics.

This country stands at the edge of night. The fear which took root in the hearts of Americans after 9/11 is about to hand Osama bin Laden his ultimate victory over America. The terrorist killers that George W. Bush constantly warns us about could never have done as much damage to America as he has done on the pretext of saving it.

If, as Bush likes to say, "they hate us for our freedom," then we are on the verge of having nothing more to worry about.