As Supreme Court Justice Robert L. Jackson, the chief U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg Tribunal, said on Aug. 12, 1945: "We must make clear to the Germans that the wrong for which their fallen leaders are on trial is not that they lost the war, but that they started it. ... Our position is that no grievances or policies will justify resort to aggressive war. It is utterly renounced and condemned as an instrument of policy."
Fascist countries violate their own treaties and international law. (Example: violation of the United Nations Charter by waging war against Iraq without UN approval.) Fascist countries lie to the general population, instilling fear and hysteria against mythological enemies, so they can go to war at will. (Examples: The 9-11 tragedy was used to generate hysteria through a massive government propaganda campaign based upon lies about Iraq; intimidation by color-coded terror warnings and provisions of the USA Patriot Act.)
Fascism is characterized by single-party rule, the destruction or transformation of the two-party system. (Examples: Colorado Gov. Bill Owens abolished the Colorado 2004 primary election; illegal attempts at redistricting driven by the White House; monetary corruption of the system resulting in voter apathy.)
Fascist governments demand unquestioning support otherwise you are a traitor. (Example: President Bush's statement, "You are either with us or against us.")
Fascist governments project an ideology that they are "right." (Example: President Bush, "I am right and I know I am right and history will prove me right.")
Fascist countries consolidate media control for propaganda purposes. (Example: Federal Communications Commission and corporate attempts at consolidation of the media.)
Fascism is characterized by legal parallelism. Fascist states create shadow agencies, shadow courts, separate prisons, thus destroying guaranteed constitutional rights. (Examples: Destruction of the guarantee of right to trial by jury; holding U.S. citizens without charge, without access to legal counsel and without the right to court appearance; intimidation of the judiciary by threats of blacklisting; intimidation of lawyers; degrading attorney-client privileges.)
Fascism is characterized by using torture, concentration camps and having major prison populations. (Examples: Guantanamo concentration camp; the FBI's description of how it "breaks" suspects with heat, cold, sound and sleep deprivation. The United States has the highest percentage of citizenry in prisons of any country in the world.)
Fascism is characterized by parallelism between the state and corporations. (Examples: Government and corporate overlap in certain industries oil, energy, military contractors and the media; massive corporate donations to both parties to assure connivance.)
Fascism, U.S. version, is characterized by the privatization of public services and the sell-off of public entities and resources for the benefit of the party faithful rather than the public at large. (Examples: Private profiteering on public services such as prisons, water, sewer, forest use, oil and gas; current order for appraisal of all post office buildings for contemplated sale.)
Fascism incorporates racism and attacks on the nondominant religion. (Examples: Imprisoning disproportionately one race for using a drug of choice other than that used by the dominant majority; Muslim profiling and harassment; denial of franchise to blacks under false pretenses in the Florida election.)
Fascism promotes conservative views of arts, literature, family culture, family planning and morals. (Examples: attacks on and decreased funding for National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting System, the National Endowment for the Arts, any institution promoting family planning; school vouchers as the beginning of class-based private education and the destruction of the public education system; passing financial responsibility for Head Start to states that are near bankruptcy.)
Fascism takes religious symbolism and transfers the emotional and moral appeal to state symbols. (Examples: Aggressive and ostentatious God Bless America signs; the attempt to make the Pledge of Allegiance mandatory in Colorado schools; ostentatious flag waving and display; destruction of constitutional separation of church and state.)
We believe that the American tradition is in great peril.
Christine Eleanor Anderson, of Vallecito, is a businesswoman and a former law professor. Ross A. Worley is retired from Fort Lewis College. He lives in Durango. This was also signed by Jennifer Gehrman and Mark Seis, of Bayfield, and Greg Rossell, Charles Swift and Mary Lou Swift, of Durango.
