Topic: Talking of Nazi symbolism......
When Harry met Silly at his recent private jaunt dressed as a Nazi, I too thought that, "here we go again"... the imprinting of Nazi symbols to get us used to them is fully on track. Also happened to be a great way to seed the notion that those in power would never sanction such behaviour.
Today also happens to be the day Bush does the inauguration ritual. So this snippet below seemed timely. I am afraid though, that many Americans, including the relatives of those that lost lives in world war II, might have forgotten what exactly they were fighting for.
Bush won't be wearing a swastika today, but his words will echo the thoughts of many that did. Check this out if you feel so inclined.
"Clap-For-Tinkerbell" Patriotism
by William Norman Grigg
January 10, 2005
Does loving our country require unquestioning support for President Bush, as many of his most devoted followers insist?
"Stop Doubting and Second-Guessing: Support President Bush and Our Troops," commanded a large billboard in rural Arizona. Accompanying that directive was a toll-free number for a group calling itself "Arizona Citizens." Those who dialed the number were greeted by a recorded male voice instructing callers, in a tone of triumphant hostility, to "get out of our country," perhaps by emigrating to "liberal Europe."
The odd thing about that invitation is that the mentality that created that sign could be described as "European," in a sense. That mind-set was all the rage in certain European circles about seventy years ago.
"It is with pride that we see that one man is kept above all criticism -- the Fuhrer," explained Nazi leader Rudolf Hess in a June 25, 1934 speech. "The reason is that everyone feels and knows [that] he was always right and will always be right. The National Socialism of us all is anchored in the uncritical loyalty, in the devotion to the Fuhrer that does not ask for the wherefore in the individual case. We believe that the Fuhrer is fulfilling a divine mission to the German destiny! This belief is beyond all challenge."
"The will of the Fuhrer is the Party's law," declared the Organization Book of the German National Socialist Worker's Party, describing the Party's ideological foundation, fuhrerprinzip (or "leader principle"). That manual explained that the Fuhrer "shapes the collective will of the people within himself," that his authority "extends into all fields of national life [and] embraces the entire people, which is bound to the Fuhrer in loyalty and obedience. The authority of the Fuhrer is not limited by checks and controls or individual rights, but it is free and independent, all-inclusive and unlimited."
Readers may be forgiven for wondering if they stumbled across a talk radio transcript of recent vintage. Hess's remarks offer a flavor similar to that of the 2002 memorandum filed by Attorney General designee Alberto Gonzalez arguing that the President has the prerogative to order the torture of people he designates "unlawful combatants." And Bush himself summarized the doctrine of fuhrerprinzip quite tidily in an interview with Bob Woodward: "I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being President."
Of course, the doctrine of fuhrerprinzip is not compatible with the title of "president," as described in the U.S. Constitution. As outlined in our nation's charter of government, the presidency is a very weak and relatively innocuous office. The Constitution invests Congress alone with the authority to commit our nation to war, to pass military budgets, and to enact regulations governing the Armed Forces. The President is subordinate to Congress in exercising the function of Commander-in-Chief over the military. And -- most importantly -- Congress is subordinate to the people, as well as the Constitution.
In the American concept of liberty under law, the President is not our "leader"; he is our employee, or, perhaps better put, our agent. We are not only permitted to doubt and second-guess his decisions, we are required to as a patriotic obligation.
While he did quite a bit to abet the cult of presidential leadership, Theodore Roosevelt also provided a wise and useful rebuke to it.
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public," Roosevelt insisted. "Patriotism means to stand by the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose [the President] to the exact extent that he fails in his duty to stand by the country."
Some of Mr. Bush's most frenzied supporters -- the type who erected the "Stop Doubting" billboard in Arizona, for instance -- seem to believe that the 9/11 attacks "changed everything." Presumably this includes the Constitution, the Ten Commandments, the rules of logic, and perhaps even the periodic table of the elements. In the universe these people inhabit, Dear Leader is a providential figure who holds the "Evil-Doers" at bay by the strength of his will. But his powers to protect us can be undermined by "negativity," whether expressed or harbored in our silent thoughts. In their view, criticizing or even doubting Dear Leader actually helps our enemies. Unfortunately, those who equate blind support of the president with patriotism don't consider if they would apply the same standard if (Heaven forbid!) a overt liberal such as Hillary Clinton were elected president.
We might call this "Clap-For-Tinkerbell"-style patriotism. J.M. Barrie, creator of Peter Pan, included in his stage play a segment in which the audience was urged to help revive a mortally wounded Tinkerbell. "Do you believe in fairies?" a character harangued the audience. "Say quick that you believe! If you believe, clap your hands!" Notes one commentator: "In 1904, when the play was first performed, it seems that [Barrie] was less than sure that audiences would clap for Tinkerbell. Barrie actually paid people to initiate the clapping in the first performances, but he need not have bothered. The audiences were more than willing to clap for Tinkerbell, and they have been clapping for her for [roughly] a hundred years."
A variation of that mind-set not is not confined to some of the Bush administration's cheer leaders; it is also at work in the highest echelons of the administration.
In a much-discussed essay published shortly before the election, New York Times writer Ron Suskind described an encounter with a White House aide eager to explain how devotion to the Dear Leader made objective reality irrelevant.
"The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality," recalled Suskind. "I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
Tragically, this statement, translated into German, wouldn't be out of place in an updated version of the Nazi Organization Book.
Bill Holmes
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