An oldie but a goodie! :o)
Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2000 8:24 AM
Fascism, corruption and my "Democratic" Party
By Bob Just
Ten years ago, Newsweek magazine shocked mainstream America with a cover
story headlined "Thought Police," a lengthy report on a new social/political
movement developed on college campuses since the 1960s. Ironically, one year
after the Berlin wall came down and one year before the fall of the Soviet
Empire, Americans were being seriously warned that liberal academia had
adopted a hybrid "Marxist" philosophy often called "PC." This new
"Politically Correct" creed was being espoused, according to Newsweek, at
hundreds of colleges and universities as a result of the growing influence
of "a generation of campus radicals."
If they no longer talk of taking to the streets, it is because they now are
gaining access to the conventional weapons of campus politics: social
pressure, academic perks (including tenure) and -- when they have the
administration on their side -- outright coercion ... where the PC reigns,
one defies it at one's peril.
(Newsweek, Dec. 24, 1990)
After that, PC attitudes were heavily criticized, and even mocked, by
mainstream thinkers all around the country, liberal and conservative. And
yet, in 1992 America elected into power an administration that in many ways
adhered to the PC worldview, thus beginning a process of "change" unforeseen
not only by most Americans, but by most Democrats as well. I have known for
a long time that there were serious problems in my party, but I didn't fully
grasp the political nature of those problems. Sometimes it takes a simple,
symbolic moment to cause an epiphany -- to bring clarity. That happened to
me this past May.
My awakening
When I read about people spitting on the Honor Guard at the New York State
Democratic Convention May 16, I started to understand what has happened to
my party over the last few years. I still can't get over the fact that
Democrats attending a formal convention would so insult the American flag,
but it happened. As an Honor Guard of Albany police officers entered the
convention hall - with band playing and lights shining - they were spit on
and called "Nazis" by a number of people on the delegate floor. On top of
that, no Democrat nearby stopped the "spitters," or even reported them. And
the Democratic leadership expressed no public outrage.
I was so outraged at my party's lack of outrage that I started a reward fund
to find the "spitters." But I soon realized that I needed to address the
larger issue of what I had come to understand. I direct this commentary to
the mainstream elected officials of my party - the "adults" as the media
often calls them. Whether you are still in office or retired, you can have a
profound effect in waking up the party and the public. I see clearly now
that the path the party is taking will eventually lead to its destruction
and to the destruction of liberty in America. It is practically
mathematical. And it won't take very long in years if nothing is done to
stop it.
I have been a Democrat all my life. I grew up in New York City in a
staunchly Democratic middle class family. Although private-school educated
(I had financial assistance thanks to Trinity School), my father was a union
man, a musician with the Metropolitan Opera. My parents and stepparents were
all "Roosevelt Democrats." As a young English teacher in Montclair, New
Jersey, during the Richard Nixon Watergate scandal, I drove around with a
bumper sticker saying, "Don't Blame Me I Voted for McGovern." I was proud to
be on the side of "right" as I saw it. I was proud to stand against
corruption and the abuse of power.
Now, 25 years later, I am ashamed to be a Democrat. More than that, I have
come to fear my own party. Hatred and corruption - the roots of fascism -
are on the march in America as they have never been before, and leading this
march is the Democratic Party. Increasingly, mainstream Democrats are
uncomfortable with what we see in our party. We may not have a real name for
it, but we know it is dangerous.
The totalitarian choice in Alabama
On Sunday, June 18, the headline of the Washington Post read, "Political
Dirty Tricks Alleged in Alabama Trial," but the story revealed something far
more serious than "dirty tricks." A Democrat lawyer and a private
investigator are now being tried for attempting to defeat a Republican
candidate in 1998 by bribing a prostitute to accuse the Republican of raping
her. The prostitute recanted and turned witness against the two "Democrats."
The Republican, Lt. Gov. Steve Windom, was elected when the prostitute
confessed, but let's consider what his "political opponents" were willing to
do to him. This wasn't political rumor mongering -- which is bad enough.
These two men allegedly took direct action to destroy Windom's reputation in
the community, shame him before his family, and basically ruin his life.
We all know from history that when totalitarian forces, driven by their
dysfunctional fury, seek to uproot the political establishment, they will
use any means necessary. Bribery and character assassination are easy
choices for them, even murder, because civilized limits are meaningless to
the Stalins, Hitlers and Maos of the world. Their goal is to grab power, and
"The Party" -- whether Communist or Nazi -- is the highest good. Loyalty to
the party is everything because the party is the country.
These two "Democrats" were apparently willing to destroy everything precious
to a Republican man because he stood between their party and political
power. It is the totalitarian choice. The question is, how deep does it go
into the party and what motivates it?
No longer a political party
What we are dealing with here has nothing to do with American politics. In
fact, I worry that as the Democrats increasingly adopt fascist tactics they
will cease being a genuine political party, focused on honest debate and
decision by fair ballot. They could become one day something more related to
the fascists of 1930s Germany. The SA "brown shirts" were not interested in
debate and civil rule; they wanted power in order to force the democratic
nation to accept their Nazi agenda. If I am right about the fanatical
direction my party is taking, then America has never faced a danger like
this, and real Democrats who stand by and watch will be as guilty before
history as the actual leaders of this corruption movement.
When did the party start making its shift to this strange other form? Some
Democrats would say the sexual revolution, abortion and other moral issues
were the beginning. However, I am not talking here about party alignment
over the social issues, although they have been a major contributing factor.
There were many other issues in dispute among Democrats during the waning
years of the Cold War, but, whether we agreed or not, all issues were seen
as debatable opinions of the party's majority leadership. Reagan Democrats
just voted Republican and hoped the liberal Democrats would come to their
senses. There was still freedom of thought within the party, and in public
debate. But something happened which changed all that.
Suddenly, the traditional restraint of civilized limits was gone. Gone was
comity. Gone was loyal opposition. It was somewhere in the mid-nineties -
perhaps around the time the Republicans seized control of Congress for the
first time in 40 years. The panic among Democrats and the panic within the
Clinton administration may have been the turning point. Whenever it was that
the dam cracked, it had exploded by the end of 1998.
The year of living dangerously
As mainstream Democrats watched the impeachment trials, we experienced a
feeling of vast separation. It was like watching actors on a stage playing
the famously recognizable roles from Watergate but saying the wrong lines.
We heard that lying under oath and bold-faced lying to the American people
didn't "rise to the level of an impeachable offense." Famous phrases from
the past appeared twisted beyond recognition as we learned that the
president of the United States is not "below the law. ..."
Where were the lines we knew so well from our youth? "Have you no shame,
sir?" or later, "What did the President know and when did he know it?" Or
how about the greater words that inspired a generation of Democrats? Words
that put the very wind in our youthful sails: "Ask not what your country can
do for you..." or "Judged not by the color of skin but by the content of
character. ..." Where were the words of American tradition, duty, honor and
country? These were never just Republican words.
During the Clinton impeachment trial, we listened to honored senators like
Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York.
They spoke high-sounding words of outrage, but, in the end, actions betrayed
words. In the end, even these honorable men defended party over principle.
They rationalized, and let the party fall. Everyone knows it. History will
show it. They let one man's behavior compromise the integrity of the
Democratic Party. In the process, they turned their backs on the traditions
of our past symbolized by men like President Harry Truman.
We looked for truth during the impeachment and trial process and watched
hopefully as the "wise men" of the party in the House and the Senate
expressed "concern," then made excuses, and finally voted lock-step to
defend party power. Sure they had their reasons. They also, I believe, did
not grasp the significance of the vote - a symbolic alignment with the
corrupt elements in the party, an act of submission that sent a message
across America, from Hollywood to Wall Street and beyond. Anything goes.
The F-word fund-raiser and losing our souls
About a week after the spitting incident at the New York Democratic Party
Convention, there was another incident that shocked me profoundly. I still
cannot believe this one actually happened, but it is on videotape. At the
MCI Center fund-raiser in Washington, Robin Williams performed before a
crowd of corporate and Democrat dignitaries, people who would that very
night raise the party over 26 million dollars.
The fund-raiser, including Williams's performance, was broadcast live on
C-SPAN. However, that didn't stop Robin Williams from doing some kind of
seedy nightclub act. He used the F-word and other obscenities several times
(C-SPAN later cut this out when the event was rebroadcast). Imagine. A grand
room full of powerful Democrats, representatives of America's oldest
political party, and the F-word is being said, over and over again with
cameras recording!
As in the case of the harassment of the Honor Guard at the Albany Democratic
Convention, the specific violation was bad enough, but the most egregious
violation was the passive, cowardly acceptance of the audience. The hardest
thing to believe - for those of us who remember America before 1992 - was
that the president, vice president and Mrs. Clinton were at this
fund-raiser. Did none of them think to stand up and leave? Didn't anyone in
the audience consider booing the smutty language spoken before the assembled
dignitaries? No, there was only laughter.
Even when Robin Williams noticed a child present and joked about the "new
words" he was learning that night - even then - no one objected. Not one
Democrat dared step forward and condemn the moment. Peer pressure is a
powerful and coercive thing, for adults as well as children - one breaks
rank at one's peril. And I'm sure it wouldn't have been good for "business"
for the party leadership to create embarrassment at such a high-level
Hollywood/corporate function. So everyone laughed.
This is not about politics. This is about corruption. Stop and think about
it. Somehow Robin Williams knew that no one would object if he used the
F-word and the S-word continually - even on national TV! How did he know no
one would walk out on him? Apparently, Williams knows something about the
Democratic Party that most "little guy" Democrats like me don't know (not to
mention the "little guy" Republicans who are still embarrassed by MTV, thank
God). He knows the party has become corrupt.
Democrat leaders have lost their way. They find themselves at the head of a
parade full of people Harry Truman or even Jack Kennedy wouldn't recognize -
radicals of various kinds who think that Western civilization began in 1969.
Strangely, without meaning to, mainstream Democrats find themselves
representing this "corruption movement." However, for the "new fascists" in
the party, there is nothing so strange about it. Fascists have always sought
to leverage corruption for the sake of power.
In William Shirer's seminal book, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,"
listen to his famous description of Hitler: "He who was so monumentally
intolerant by his very nature, was strangely tolerant of one human
condition - a man's morals. No other party in Germany came near to
attracting so many shady characters." Shady characters, I should add, who
are useful because they will do "whatever it takes" to win.
Carried to its extreme, this corruption movement will destroy us all. It is
compulsive in its lust for power. It is an anti-establishment lobby that is
vast and very powerful. Right now the specific labels don't matter, and
there are too many to name here, from corporate greed to union greed to
organized crime to "special interest" causes. It is a long list. However,
the core desire of this group, conscious or unconscious, is to tear down
everything traditional and decent in this country. Full of personal anger
and a desire for radical change at whatever cost, these people wish to
"re-imagine" an America they have never understood.
The Party uber alles
Fueled by anger, the New Fascists have completely adopted the radical '60s
notion of the "honest con." In other words, they think that because they are
"correct in their beliefs" and because in their minds what they fight is so
"evil," just about any act can be committed for the sake of victory - and
certainly, lying is no problem. Loyalty to "the cause" is at the heart of
this mindset. And for the moment, at least, the heart of their loyalty is
President Clinton.
Allegiance to the Clintons personally has become a key factor of the current
corruptive atmosphere. During the Starr investigation, this allegiance took
a particularly extreme form. According to award-winning investigative
reporters, Susan Schmidt and Michael Weisskopf, who worked together at the
Washington Post, throughout the Starr investigation the Clintons "operated
like a crime family, expecting friends and aides to protect them even
against their own best interests."
And yet, despite this demand of personal loyalty to the leader, blind
loyalty to cause and party is the larger problem. "This administration sets
their own standards of loyalty. If they don't think you're 'one of them,'
they don't want you around," said one Secret Service agent I talked to
recently who has served under a number of administrations at the national
level, including serving the current one. "It's something you expect from a
Nazi Germany - the party over all, the Party 'uber alles.'"
"Sometimes party loyalty asks too much," said President Kennedy in a
different era, and yet, these days loyalty to a "higher right" than the
party is apparently no longer an option among inner circle Democrats. Even
the FBI was used by the Clinton administration to double check people's
loyalty to the cause, according to 25-year FBI veteran Gary Aldrich. Your
conscience is not yours to obey - the cause is everything. Thus,
traditionally neutral governmental agencies, from Energy to Defense to State
to Justice to the IRS, increasingly, seem to be loyal to something other
than the American people.
Recently, former prosecutor Charles LaBella was interviewed on Fox News'
"Hannity and Colmes" about the fundraising scandal of 1996 and about
LaBella's memo to Reno, recommending an independent counsel. The news had
just broken that Robert Conrad, Jr., LaBella's successor as special
prosecutor for the Justice Department, had also recommended to Attorney
General Reno that there be an independent counsel. "I know what he's going
through," said LaBella, talking about Conrad's politically incorrect
decision and the price he would pay for disloyalty. "You're made to feel
radioactive, isolated like I was - like you're the enemy and 'we're going to
show you what team sports are all about - you play with us or you don't
play.'" So much for Conrad's career and so much for making decisions based
on "the facts and the law." LaBella paid a price too, famously losing a plum
federal job in San Diego.
Those who are "disloyal" pay a price, but those who are "loyal" are
rewarded. Consider the White House Travel Office scandal that occurred when
Clinton took office. In what the Washington Post called a "shabby episode,"
Mrs. Clinton had made it clear to White House senior officials that she
wanted to replace the White House Travel Office employees (who had served
the American people faithfully) with loyalists who would serve the Clintons
faithfully. Suddenly, Billy Dale, the head of the travel office, was fired
and accused of "improper financial practices." The court cleared him in
"record time," according to Dale, but he was nearly ruined. Sound familiar?
Shades of Alabama. And in the end, the goal was accomplished: Dale and his
staff were out and "loyalists" were in.
Democrats can redeem the party from this kind of "party first" fascism. But
for that to happen, mainstream Democrats must wake up, including the 80
percent of the media who are Democrats. Instinctively, we all know the
dangers of what I am describing. It is simply not an American way of doing
things. We must dare to understand and communicate what is really going on
in our party, and in our country.
Understanding the fascist motive
People are essentially innocent and fair-minded. They look for reasons in
debate. Power-grasping totalitarians know this, and, no matter what the
country, they always supply some plausible response: They seek to "empower
the people"; they seek to "reestablish national pride," or to correct
"social injustice." Consider the irony that "racial injustice" has long been
a popular cause with fascists. For the Nazis it was white power, but for
other fascists it could be "black power." It doesn't matter what the reasons
are. America's Corruption Movement may be politically empowered by
"reasons," but it is not truly motivated by them. It is motivated by
something far more basic.
On my radio show, I always like to demonstrate a key principle with a
current news story. The principles of life are everywhere in the news. One
need only look for them. Famous supermodel Naomi Campbell was recently
accused of attacking two former employees in separate incidents. The story
was covered June 23rd on ABC's "20/20." Ms. Campbell confessed that her
violent temper is rooted in her childhood.
In one of the attacks, Campbell's irrational, out-of-control temper led her
to assault her former assistant Georgina Galanis with a blunt instrument.
She pleaded guilty, but more than that, she was brave enough to reveal to
the public exactly where her rage came from.
"There are a lot of issues that I have from childhood," Campbell told
Barbara Walters. "For instance, not knowing your father, not seeing your
mother. It manifests a lot of feelings. One of those feelings is anger." She
went on to talk about her insecurity, lack of self-esteem and loneliness.
Naomi Campbell is not the only person whose father abandoned her before she
was born, and whose mother was a distant presence in her life. Our
neighborhoods around the country, both minority and white, are increasingly
full of such children. The June issue of the journal "Pediatrics" declares
that nearly three times as many U.S. children have "emotional and
behavioral" problems as did 20 years ago.
Rage is everywhere in our adult society too. Just listen to the words of
"Gangsta" rap music, or the words spoken at some of the radical rallies in
Washington, D.C. Rage is the raw material of the New Fascists. They know how
to focus it - and give it a cause - and how to direct it at their enemies.
This process has now become so obvious that it's time we face up to it, and
identify it in our national political dialogue. In fact, facing up to it is
the only way we can save ourselves, and save this "grand experiment" in
political and religious freedom we call America.
Confronting the gathering political storm
Increasingly, personal anger has a political face in America. Millions of
dysfunctional people can create a very difficult situation in a free
society. They have a right to be wrong, but their "wrong" can undermine our
rights. They are also our brothers and sisters.
Solving the problem, of course, begins with seeing the problem. We know from
incidents of "road rage" or "workplace shootings" that angry, hate-filled
people are dangerous. They are also hard to reason with; try reasoning with
someone who's attempting to run you off the road because you forgot to
signal. We are talking here about "political road rage"; it's a slower burn,
but the intent is the same -- running you off the road.
As we observe the political scene, the politics of rage will become more and
more obvious. Make your own list of radicals and you'll see that rage has
many faces and many "reasons" to demand justice. Watch those angry faces on
talk television. See how difficult it is for others to reason with them and
how rarely they accept anyone else's point of view. Here's the secret: For
these political road ragers - in whatever category of public or private
life - it is no longer about debate or logic. In that sense, we have reached
the end of debate, which is a civilized method of dialogue involving two
groups seeking the truth. Fascists, as we know from history, don't debate
free thinkers. They choke them out of existence.
Make no mistake: We are headed for what President George Bush called "the
silly season" back in 1992. Of course, "silly" doesn't describe it anymore
than "tricks" are what the two "Democrats" were up to in Alabama. The
election period will get more and more emotionalized as we get close to the
vote - by whatever means necessary, from the race card, to Christian
bashing, to class warfare, to corporation bashing, to fear-mongering of all
kinds. What Ronald Reagan called the "Iron Triangle" will be in full gear:
The angry special interest groups will be out in force demonstrating and
calling press conferences; the liberal media will cooperate with cameras
rolling; and hysterical Democrat politicians will make outrageous statements
like, "They're coming for our children." All this, focused on emotionalizing
the atmosphere of the presidential debates where Al Gore will do his best to
"rip the lungs out" of George W. Bush. It is serious business, provoking
anger and fomenting hate - all with a purpose of getting millions of
Americans to fear Republicans, or any other opposing party. Then, in this
kind of heated atmosphere, people will vote.
The technique of "legislation by hysteria" - emotionalizing debate in
Congress and rushing a decision - now becomes "election by hysteria."
Fascists do not operate in a calm, considered environment. Inflammatory
language is an essential tool in their kit. Already we are seeing
race-baiting Democrats calling on Americans to "Stop the Lynching" because
of the tragic hanging death of a local black teenager in Mississippi, which
authorities so far have indicated is a likely suicide and which, in any
event, is an isolated incident. Remember the black church burning scare in
the '96 election cycle? That turned out to be a sham, but it made headlines,
created anger, caused fear and it galvanized voters. That tactic is applied
aggressively to every issue in every political arena, local, state or
national. If you haven't recognized it before, it will now be transparent.
Holding on to truth
The key to successfully confronting the New Fascist movement is, first, to
see it for what it is. Fascism inspires an emotionalized, cultic allegiance,
and many of these people can't see what they are trapped in. If we rage back
at them, it pushes them deeper into this alien loyalty. So the second key is
to be forceful but remain calm - to understand that they need our help. I
don't mean a weak, simpering, "can't we all get along" kind of help, but a
focused, forceful desire to draw the line for their own sake as well as
ours. They need us to resist them with strength, but they don't need our
rage. They got that as children.
The principle here is something Mahatma Gandhi, the great liberator of
India, called "force of righteousness," "love force," or "soul force."
Gandhi was a great admirer of Judeo-Christian thinking and Americans will
recognize the wisdom. He coined a new Indian word for it, Satyagraha. The
root meaning is "holding on to truth," and "not hating back" is one of the
keys to this truth.
Of course, fascists reject the idea of a truth higher than the party, and
hate is their driving impulse. This puts them at odds with America's "under
God" religious heritage, and as a result, America has suffered a great deal
of pain and confusion in recent decades. The fascist corruption movement
(which puts power, material wealth, personal pleasure and everything else
above what's right) has all but destroyed the social fabric of our society,
much to the horror of most Americans. In this respect, mainstream Americans
also deal with an anger problem. Nevertheless, the hope for America's future
lies in love. It may sound corny, but in the end, it is the only way to
avoid civil conflict. Permissive weakness will drive these "children" crazy,
but so will judgmental anger.
When the leaders of the corruption movement understand that "the game is
up" - that we see them for what they are without hate - they may hate and
fear us all the more. At that point, they must get the kind of love that
good parents deliver: Tough love. Consider a mother who warns her son that
he is getting too close to the street, but the child gets closer. Does the
mother stop the child with a gentle voice? Of course not. An aggressive
shout is what's needed to frighten the boy away from danger. Now let's take
it a step further. Despite the mother's shout, the boy rebelliously runs
toward the street where there are cars coming. At that moment, for the sake
of the child, the mother rushes to use force and yanks the child out of
danger.
We must be as determined in our love for these "unloved children" as they
are absolutely determined to get revenge on the "establishment" they
associate with the parents who abandoned them in one way or another. I
confess I am talking about myself since in my angry youth I was once on
their side.
Most of us are reachable. Former radical leftist David Horowitz is a classic
example. Or consider Jane Fonda's recent desire to turn her life around,
which has been reported in these pages, and which Fonda now talks about with
Oprah Winfrey in the current issue of "O" magazine. Fonda's mother committed
suicide when she was 12. That kind of shock is inconceivable to most of us.
What a lonely, painful journey it must have been for that little girl,
especially since her father Henry Fonda was aloof and incapable of giving
her the love she needed. Many of us remember her angry youth in the 1970s.
Now, we are coming to understand it. Courageously facing the mistakes of her
past, Jane Fonda looks to the future with a renewed determination to change.
I believe there are people like this in every political and social sphere
within my party. People who are looking to do what is right - people who can
change their angry ways.
Coming home to America
When it comes to a dysfunctional, angry childhood, Jane Fonda has lots of
company. Think of how many of other famous liberal Democrats have already
admitted serious parental problems from sexual abuse to alcoholism to
abandonment, either physical or emotional. It is a remarkably talented group
of people, from Barbara Streisand to Rosie O'Donnell to Bill Clinton to
Gloria Steinem. If we truly knew the length and breadth of this list of
cultural and political leaders, and the details of their personal suffering,
we would all be shocked - and touched. Don't be distracted by their
political labels. When they were children, these people deserved love, and
they didn't get it. Can we blame them for being angry?
I know how they feel. My parents were divorced when I was five. I spent some
lonely years in boarding school until I was 9 years old. You bet I was
afraid - and angry. The world is supposed to be a safe place for
5-year-olds, not a hostile environment. My suffering was small compared to
the list above, but I can tell you that by the time I reached college age my
anger manifested, and not only politically. I was rebellious in my moral
behavior too. The "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" socialist creed of the
1960s and '70s didn't just affect the Clintons and a few other famous
people. There were millions of us.
Some of us functionally recovered from our anger, but some didn't - and
there are many angry children coming up in the generations behind the "baby
boomers," younger people who don't remember the America we remember. They
need to believe in something and we need to give them something genuinely
good - because the New Fascists have a dream to sell, too. And it isn't the
American dream.
How Democrats can reclaim the party
The following is especially important for the mainstream Democratic
leadership to read. The corruption movement with its fascist tendencies is
not yet a determined majority in America. However, its strength is
threefold: Its adherents have access to great combined wealth; they have
huge influence on our culture; and most importantly, they have not yet been
clearly identified in the minds of average Americans. Most Americans still
think the Democratic Party is "liberal," even "liberal to moderate." They
may distrust the president and the rest of the PC crowd, but they don't see
the larger problem.
Let me be clear. This is not about President Clinton. The current corruption
goes way beyond him. It started before him and it will undoubtedly survive
him. Consider that Newsweek's "Thought Police" issue was published in
December 1990, two years before Clinton's presidency. Even then, Newsweek
raised the specter of what it called "New McCarthyism," describing the
"politically correct" movement among liberal-leftists as essentially
"Marxist" and "totalitarian," an extremist belief system determined to root
out and destroy all those in the mainstream who oppose it.
If you are wondering how this belief system has affected liberalism in the
last decade, just read the words of long-time, liberal Democrat commentator
Mark Shields writing in the Washington Post last month: "Today to be a
liberal there is one test," said a frustrated Shields. "Unqualified support
for all legal abortions ideally joined by an almost libertarian commitment
to no societal limits on individual behavior or autonomy."
Although increasingly dominant in our culture, this PC ethic is still only
one element of the New Fascism, and Bill Clinton's personal anger and
radical Sixties "no-limits" attitude is only the most current catalyst to
the dark impulse that has risen before in human history. Remember, Clinton
is a victim too - and has the potential to recover.
Once Democrats like Shields start to recognize in large numbers what has
happened to our party, the fascist power base will be greatly weakened -
mainstream Democrats will all back away from it. Catholic Democrats will
certainly run the other way. So will most teachers. I'm sure church-going
African Americans and Latinos won't stand for it - and neither will
patriotic union workers. If that is a dream, it is a good dream. And like
the one of Dr. King's, it is up to us to make the dream a reality.
Conclusion: Our awakening
Many middle-aged and older Americans will remember the famous World War II
movie, "Bridge on the River Kwai," in which Japanese prisoner Col.
Nickolson, a British officer played by Alec Guinness, is forced to lead his
fellow prisoners in building a bridge for the Japanese. Under great hardship
and to rally his men's morale, Col. Nickolson sets out to prove the
superiority of British freedom over Japanese tyranny by building a great
bridge. Under his leadership, the prisoners succeed marvelously. They
demonstrate to the Japanese what inner-inspired free men can do. It's a
magnificent bridge. But there's a tragedy coming in the story: Due to the
pride he takes in the impressive bridge, built to last long after the war,
Col. Nickolson ends up on the wrong side when British commandos come to
destroy the bridge. For a moment he resists his own countrymen, warning the
Japanese.
After several of the commandos die in the struggle to blow up the bridge,
Col. Nickolson realizes to his horror that his passionate dedication to "the
cause" has led him to forget his first loyalty - his country. Severely
wounded, and with his last bit of energy, he blows up the bridge himself.
It is time to detonate the lie the Democratic Party is becoming. It's time
to call on the people who are the keepers of the flame in the party -
President Carter, Sen. Byrd, Sen. Moynihan, Sen. Leiberman, Sen. Nunn and
all the rest of you who remember the true Democratic Party: We need you and
we need you now.
Stop this totalitarian "party first" madness! Stop the moral decline, and
help us return to the values and traditions of our parents and those of our
once-great party. If you cannot change the party, if the levers of power are
totally controlled by the New Fascists among us, from Hollywood to
Washington to Wall Street, then please tell us. Talk to the people. Sound
the alarm so that America will know the danger it truly faces. Yes, it will
temporarily diminish the Democratic Party, but like a beautiful garden, once
weeded and pruned, it will come back stronger than ever as the patriotic
party of "the little guy."
When Newsweek reporters told Americans about the growing totalitarian ethic
on our college campuses at the end of the Cold War, they revealed a core
ingredient of the New Fascism, something impossible for most Americans to
even imagine:
The failure of Marxist systems throughout the world has not noticeably
dimmed the allure of left-wing politics for American academics. Even today,
says David Littlejohn of Berkeley's Graduate School of Literature, "an
overwhelming proportion of our courses are taught by people who really hate
the system."
(Newsweek, Dec. 24, 1990)
"Hate the system. ..." What if such people got complete control of one of
our two major parties? I say they are very close to doing it. But more,
let's say they succeed. What if these New Fascists go on to corrupt our
military, our police, our courts, and even our Congress and our governmental
agencies with this same anti-American ethic? If that happens, then by any
analysis we will no longer have a "culture war" in America, but rather a
"cold civil war," ready to heat up the moment government establishes laws
that tyrannize the American conscience.
Right now we have two parties that are becoming like two different
countries - which are increasingly acting like enemies. God forbid it, and
please make us again one nation, a shining city on a hill for all the world
to see, where love can reign and truth prevail, and where freedom can be
enjoyed by all.
"Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many
things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield
themselves up when taken little by little." --Plutarch