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DIG DIRECTOR
Stan Goff is a retired veteran of the U.S. Army Special Forces. During an active-duty career that spanned 1970 to 1996, he served with the elite Delta Force and Rangers, and in Vietnam, Guatemala, Grenada, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru, Somalia and Haiti.
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Sowing the Seeds of Fascism in AmericaA Dig led by Stan Goff(Page 2) Absolute Normal On April 19, 1995, a fan of these martial male fantasies detonated 7,000 pounds of explosives at a federal office building and killed 168 human beings, in what he described as a defense of the Constitution of the United States. Before we judge his claim too harshly, we should take note that this “defense of the Constitution” is the core of the oath taken by every U.S. military member who is now “serving” in the bloody occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It was the oath I took that led me to burn down the houses of Vietnamese, and the oath taken by Captain Medina and Lieutenant Calley before they ordered the massacre in My Lai, where the body count was three times that of Timothy McVeigh. It’s magic, this defense of a sacralized political document; it changes forms. And white male supremacy (we always leave out that second modifier, though it is just as consistently true as the first) is not simple; therefore it cannot be simply dismissed. The reason I bring this up at all, this old news of white male terrorism in the U.S., is anything but academic. The U.S. military is inducting avowed white supremacists again after an alleged hiatus ... one begun in response to the discovery of Timothy McVeigh’s ideological orientations, and the murder of a black couple in December that same year by neo-Nazis in the 82nd Airborne Division. John Kifner, writing for the New York Times on July 7th:
This, of course, is remarkable for its abnormality ... or so some might have us think. These explicitly white supremacist groups, contrasted with the implicitly white supremacist Republican Party, for example, openly embrace a vision of fascism, and openly admire fascist leaders. And while I take issue with those who throw the F-word around as a mere epithet stripped of any operational meaning, the alarm sounded by the SPLC about fascists joining the military under less than perfect oversight to prevent their entry raises some very interesting issues about our entire political conjuncture. I believe the case can be made that these young men joining the military, embodying a racial-purity version of military masculinity, are anything except ab-normal. They are hyper-normal. A norm, after all, is defined as a standard or model or pattern regarded as typical. We need to first see for how long white supremacy has been considered ab-normal in the United States; then we can see how ab-normal it is right now, and only then begin to focus more tightly on the question of fascism and fascists joining the military. What is seldom examined in public discourse outside the universities and a handful of anti-racist political formations, is the question of what it means to be “white.” Thinkers from Toni Morrison to Noel Ignatiev to bell hooks to Theodore Allen to Mab Segrest to David Roediger have studied whiteness extensively, in its economic, cultural and political dimensions, and conclude unanimously that there is no “objective” measure for what it means; but that it is a social construction linked absolutely to social power. The insistence on existence of a white race, by racists and non-racists alike, is symptomatic of a form of mystification that conceals the concrete relations of power behind a set of widely accepted abstractions. White supremacy as a beliefhas evolved out of the practice of people in power, who defined themselves as white as a way of differentiating themselves from those over whom they wielded that power. Some very well-known American presidents who made openly white supremacist pronouncements were Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon. Of course, until the dismantling of Jim Crow in the South, white supremacy was a norm, and before the Civil War, slavery was a norm. White supremacy was so normal in 1964 that after the defeat of Goldwater, the Republican Party adopted thinly veiled racist appeals to attract white voters who felt betrayed by the reluctant Democratic Party support for civil rights legislation. Openly racist public officials like Jesse Helms, Strom Thurmond and Trent Lott, even after their affiliations with white supremacist organizations were publicized, continued to be elected. The Republican appeals to white supremacy were cloaked as opposition to welfare, as “states rights,” and as concern about “crime.” As late as 1999 the Republican-controlled House of Representatives blocked a vote to condemn the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist organization with whom then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott had close ties. How normed does something have to be before we can say it is normal?
Denial supports this “non-racist” racism. A poll by the Washington Post in 2001 showed that half of all white people believe blacks in the U.S. are just as economically well-off and secure as whites.
The survey in fact notes that half of whites have convinced themselves that African-Americans and Euro-Americans are educated equally well in the U.S. The empirical evidence, of course, points to a contrary conclusion. This misperception by whites is based on two things: (1) the need to believe that race as an issue is “all in the past now” and (2) the association of middle-class whites with middle-class African-Americans, which lends anecdotal support to the idea of equality-achieved, by exclusive exposure to a non-representative sample of the black population. Half of all whites believe that African-Americans enjoy economic parity with whites, another staggeringly wrong impression (the poverty rate for blacks is double that for whites, as just one example). Racial attitudes are constructed around existing material advantage. This is not nearly as newsworthy as a Klan rally. It is far more important, though, as a causative agent for our social antagonisms. And there is an element of white supremacy in the mainstream discourse about the Iraq war, for example. Both liberals and conservatives articulate the notion that the U.S. has to “stay in Iraq to prevent a catastrophe.” There is no recognition here of the orientalism (a white supremacist meme) that assumes the superiority of Western tutelage and the deviance (violent irrationality) of Arabs and-or Muslims. Privilege naturalizes itself. It portrays itself as an outcome of nature; and we all know that the laws of nature remain out of critical reach. Alas, that’s just how it is ... what a pity. Dig last updated on Oct. 3, 2006Advertisement |
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By Socrates, October 4, 2006 at 9:22 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Note to the Editor: there is a difference between “Special Forces” and “Special Operations.” The former are mostly advisors who aid foreign military forces to overcome a foe the US gov’t doesn’t like (e.g., helping the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan overcome the Taliban). The latter include very highly skilled soldiers (the cream of the crop, e.g., Navy Seals) who conduct black-ops and other small focused missions, often involving slipping in and out of an area to “neutralize” a bite-size target undetected.
Report thisBy Dear Stan;, October 4, 2006 at 9:20 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
As felow Vetnam Combat veteran and former SFC thank you. Would you mind telling me what Country you moved to and how is it. I think it is time to leave myself with my family.
Second is Sowing the Seeds of Fascism In America a book if it is I would like to buy a copy.
Thank You,
Chris
Report thisBy Frances Greenfield, October 4, 2006 at 8:02 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Anyone who has been the least bit observant can see for themselves that this isn’t just an “American” problem. It is an ugly problem in the whole of the “white” western society in general.
I genuinely believe we are moving towards a fascist government, not only in the United States, but in all countries that are dominately white.
How sad for the world and most likely the end of civilization as we know it - fascism has been coming for a long time - it just needed the right people in the right places to institute it and to bring down the upon our collective heads Orwell’s “1984”
Report thisBy Colonel, October 4, 2006 at 7:52 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Goff wanders all over the lot, making some good points and some not so good. What he totally misses is that the “military facism” he deplores is a copy of the Israeli Defense Force mentalty. Further, the American military “facists” who Goff denounces are being used in Iraq and other regions of the Middle East primarily in the service of Israel, not U.S., interests.
Report thisBy 131488WOLF131488, October 4, 2006 at 7:47 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
So, Mr. Dig guy…are you FOR, or AGAINST???
Report thisYou talk of being a veteran, so you must be of an age to have seen all the twisting of our laws and constitution, the degrading of uor land, our cities/towns/neighborhoods/SCHOOLS….our MORAL CHARACTER…all at the hands of the campaigns of those people out to DESTROY us, OUR CULTURE, AND our fine Nation…along with ALL EUROPE AND THE WORLD…You write as an authority on all this knowledge…WHAT SAY YOU??? Prey, or be preyed UPON???
In The Awakening of White America…
Wolf B’Shannon
By Corporate Jesus, October 4, 2006 at 7:44 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Bukko,
Report thisGot any room on your couch?
By KISS, October 4, 2006 at 7:21 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
While Mr. Goff does mentor some thoughts that are stimulating, I must disagree on protecting our borders as being neo-fascist. We are living in a time when a radioactive bomb will fit into a suitcase and has capabilities to kill tens of thousands of people. This is not fantasy this is realistic. Is Amerika a fascist state…it seems those seeds are germinating quite well. Corporate take-over is a reality, ” What is good for the Corporations, is good for Amerika”, that is the theme in every city, county, state and federal governments through-out our land. Globalization is the new slang for One World Government that was warned about decades ago. While those that scoffed at the time are so very still now. The middle class is soon to be at an all time low and poverty is the largest growing segment of our society..with no end in sight. While we grow poorer corporation grow bigger and bigger, with the blessings of all our governments. But while my fellow man refuses to read and think why should it get beetter?
Report thisBy BoDo, October 4, 2006 at 6:33 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
A quite well-reasoned, and well-written explication of the rise of fascism, whose results we saw last week in the Congressional acceptance of the end of habeas corpus, the handing over of all power to the executive, and, to our eternal national shame, the legalization of torture and rejection of the Geneva Conventions. Unlike the earlier commenter, I don’t have the option of moving to another country, so now, though I witnessed 9/11 personally in New York City, I finally feel the fear that our fearful leaders have been demanding of us for five years now.
Report thisBy Stan, October 4, 2006 at 5:27 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Actually, I am a 24-year veteran of the Army, and retired holding the MOS of 18Z, Special Forces. Career outline and bio available at wiki.
But thanks agian, Truthdig.
Report thisBy malcolmartin, October 4, 2006 at 5:25 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Much like Charles Darwins immutable truths regarding of the origins and evolution of life, Karl Marx guided us through the reasons capitalism was born, why it would thrive and dominate for a time, and how its inherent contradictions condemn it to be replaced by a superior economic system called socialism. Marxs brilliant science-based vision can no longer be challenged on the facts. It has and is going to continue to unfold just as he forecast. Capitalism is doomed.
So now as capitalism enters its final stages, gasping desperately for life-giving profit, politically a nearly seamless transition to fascism is taking place in the US, just as Mr. Goff states. The trappings of bourgeois democracy are a brake on profits and so they are being shredded. The Constitution and its Bill of Rights are being rendered meaningless by presidential signing statements and the theory of the unitary executive, extraordinary rendition, government surveillance programs and the like. Programs based on democratic principles like the public schools, Social Security, Medicare, affirmative action and welfare are being starved to death. The mass media and electoral machinery and both major political parties are now fully under the control of those in power. Bloodless coups in 2000 and 2004 installed George W. Bush in the White House and no future election will remove the candidate of the ruling class from power.
It would take a team of psychoanalysts to catalogue the many and varied mental pathologies of George W. Bush and his henchmen in the U.S. government. The point to keep in mind is that in this time and in this place the capitalist system needed people in power capable of carrying out insane and grotesquely inhumane policies, up to and including the coming nuclear strike on Iran.
Report thisBy Miguel, October 4, 2006 at 5:22 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
‘Bukko in Australia’ paints a scary picture for the future of America. My hope is that he/she is wrong. Never the less, I’m staying right where I am, outside of the USA.
Maybe, if I live long enough, I’ll return, with others, to help rebuild America. Hopefully to help bring back the country I was born in to what it was meant to be.
Report thisBy rabblerowzer, October 4, 2006 at 4:45 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Republican voters fear the Foley scandal threatens their party’s control of government, so don’t hold your breath waiting for them to do any house cleaning. For Republicans, control is the main thing, and in fact the only thing. They dont care that their party rigs elections to win, they dont care that their party lied us into war, and they dont care that their party has given Bush dictatorial powers.
Lust for control and power is the unifying force that binds billionaires and food-stamp republicans together. Lust for control, power and dominance over others is the psychological imperative that drives all republicans, from the richest to the poorest. That irresistible craving for dominance is their defining characteristic.
Every republican is “Ming the Merciless.”
Report thisBy atheist mom, October 4, 2006 at 4:15 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
My husband and I are about to move our family out of the USA also. Ironically, we’re moving to Germany, which offers a better quality of life all around. I’m fifty, and things have never looked so bad here in my life.
Report thisBy oneyedjack, October 4, 2006 at 3:26 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Very good observation Bukko. You’re right of course, it will get a lot worse before it gets better…if it ever gets better.
Report thisBy Bukko in Australia, October 4, 2006 at 12:59 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
This is a well-reasoned, if somewhat psychologially deep and Freudian, look at the danger of fascism in the U.S. The American government has already moved a long way toward economic fascism, when the power of the state is used for the benefit of business, not the people. One of the reasons I left the U.S. was that I fear the rise of everyday fascism, as pointed out by this article.
Sorry to slag the troops, but I worry that they’ll be used to ride herd over the American people when the U.S. finally has to admit it has lost the war in Iraq. When the soldiers, airmen and Marines straggle home in defeat, in the midst of the coming depression, they’re going to want somewhere to vent their wrath. Whipped up by the rabid right-wing media, it will be easy to turn their anger on the “liberals who helped the terrorists.”
Jobless soldiers, mercenaries from Blackwater and other companies who are already being used for security inside the U.S., plus the angry downtrodden white men who carry guns and grudges, will have no trouble breaking the bones of any protesters who rally against government policies. Environmental groups, labor strikers, Democrats and anyone else who opposes the right, will be violently crushed.
America, you’re slipping into a long, dark night. Good luck.
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