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Bushism and the Bushists

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Werner Lange

One of the only signs confiscated by German police during a recent massive anti-Bush demostration in Mainz read:

"We had our Hitler. Now you have yours!"

That chilling assessment of the dismal state of affairs in our country rings more true with each passing day of the onset and onslaught of Bush's second power grab. However, we do not yet have a fitting name for this new reality in America of emergent totalitarianism at the top and fear at the bottom. I would humbly suggest Bushism and Bushists as an alternative to Bushevism and Busheviks which are commonly used in BuzzFlash editorials.

Authenticity in labeling is the key reason for the suggested shift in naming this beast. The political and economic genealogy of Bush's policies belong to that right-wing lineage of evil which spawned the rise of fascism in Europe, not Bolshevism in Russia or any other variant of Marxism-Leninism such as Maoism in China. Both lineages have more than their litany of abuses, but it is important not to strengthen the Bushist hold on America by associating it with anything revolutionary or even remotely progressive in form let alone content. As the line-up of governmental combatants in World War II reveals, fascism finds its natural allies among militarists not militants; demogogues not democrats; racists not radicals. Fascism represents the take-over of government by the military-industrial complex, a force which a Republican President once warned America about. Eisenhower must be turning in his grave these days.

When such a qualitative change in power and policy occurs at the the top, then a change in name is needed, one that personifies the social force of repression and war driving it. Senator Josephy McCarthy served that purpose well in another era of fear and militarism. President George W. Bush does so now. Bushism is McCarthyism on steroids, and it is much more dangerous.

Bushist America, the one we've been living in since the coup d'etat of 2000, will join McCarthyite America as just another tragic episode of witch-hunting America only if the true America rises to her historical challenge. The first step is to name our demons correctly. They are neither Republicans, nor GOP hypocrites, nor Busheviks. They are Bushists, American fascists with a flag, a cross, and a smile. Whether they also have a future is up to the Spirit of '76, a truly revolutionary force that once upon a time dealt a knockout blow to another tyranny headed by another George.

Werner Lange

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION