[Peace-discuss] Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

[C. G. Estabrook]

In "...many [members of Congress] said that they scarcely had time to 
read [the Patriot Act]," the word "scarcely" seems to have the force of 
"only just" or "barely" -- i.e., she says many members of Congress read 
it, though under the pressure of time.  That's surely false.

The article is, naively or complacently, indulgent toward Congress 
members: e.g., they "foolishly" passed the MCA.

But I didn't damn with faint praise: I praised with faint damns.  The 
general point, the administration's attack on on civil liberties, is 
however both correct and important.  --CGE


Morton K. Brussel wrote:
> A minor point perhaps, but…
> 
> It seems to me that the article "Fascist America, in 10 easy steps"
> did NOT suggest " that Congress members read the Patriot Act" (Carl's 
> statement, below). That is a distortion. 
> 
> Damning with faint praise, Carl, seems somewhat petty considering the 
> article's principal thrust,  warning of a slide towards fascism. There 
> are in fact not so many things wrong with the article.
> 
> It stated:
> 
>  …"After we were hit on September 11 2001, we were in a state of national
>> shock. Less than six weeks later, on October 26 2001, the USA Patriot
>> Act was passed by a Congress /that had little chance to debate it; many/
>> /said that they scarcely had time to read it./" …
> 
> On Apr 24, 2007, at 5:47 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> 
>> There are a lot of things wrong with this article -- from cliched
>> thinking about the democratic nature of the US polity before 911 (and
>> the suggestion that Congress members read the Patriot Act is funny),
>> through the howler that "Academe is a tinderbox of activism," to a weak
>> grasp of the chronology of European fascism -- but the theme is worth
>> considering, particularly after the Congress ("foolishly") passed the
>> Military Commissions Act. This is after all what one of our referenda
>> is about (which is why "Detainees' Rights" was not the best title for
>> it), and we should be working to publicize it in the coming months. --CGE
>>
>> ============
>>
>> Fascist America, in 10 easy steps…
> 
> 
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