From: melcher@nets.com
Subject: History
Date: July 14, 2005 5:38:39 PM MDT
History
German historian Fritz Stern was recently honored at a dinner in New York, at which he delivered the following remarks and recollections about the years that led German society toward genocide. The speech is published in Foreign Affairs May/June 2005. This is an excerpt. Emphasis mine.
"In the late 1920's, a group of intellectuals known as conservative revolutionaries demanded new volkish authoritarianism, a third Reich. Richly financed by corporate interests, they denounced liberalism as the greatest, most invidious threat and attacked it for it's tolerance, rationality and cosmopolitan culture. These conservative revolutionaries were proud of being prophets of the Third Reich - at least until some of them were exiled or murdered by the Nazis when the latter came to power. Throughout, the Nazis vilified liberalism as a Marxist-Jewish conspiracy, and, with Germany in the midst of unprecedented depression and impoverishment, they promised a national rebirth.
"Twenty years ago, I wrote an essay called "National Socialism as Temptation," about what it was that induced so many germans to embrace the terrifying specter. There were many reasons, but at the top was Adolf Hitler himself, a brilliant populist manipulator who insisted and probably believed that Providence had chose him as Germany's savior, a leader charged with executing a divine mission. God had been drafted into national politics before, but Hitler's success in fusing racial dogma with Germanic Christianity was an immensely powerful element in his electoral campaigns. Some people recognized the moral perils of mixing religion and politics, but many more were seduced by it. It was the pseudoreligious transfiguration of politics that largely ensured his success, notably in Protestant areas.
German moderates and German elites underestimated Hitler, assuming that most people would not succumb to his Manichean unreason; they did not think that his hatred and mendacity could be taken seriously. They were proved wrong. People were enthralled by the Nazis' cunning transposition of politics into carefully staged pageantry, into a flag-waving martial Mass. At solemn moments, the National Socialists would shift from the pseudoreligious invocation of Providence to traditional Christian forms: In his first radio address to the German people, 24 hours after coming to power, Hitler declared, "The national government will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built up. They regard Christianity as the foundation of our national morality and the family as the basis of national life."
Cue the exasperated gabbling of conservative punditry as they speak about excess and irresponsibility in making comparisons between American culture and the onset of creeping fascism in other places and at other times. Never mind that conservatives appear to have no respect for or even sense of history, believing that America is the first, best and highest example of a truly moral culture. Read again the preceding paragraphs. Have any who dismiss the grim possibility of totalitarianism rising out of the mists of complacency actually been awake for the past 5 years?
As familiar and scary as the above paragraphs may be it's well to remember that America isn't Germany. For those who exploit nationalist sentiments to build political power the task is made easier if the people share a single common identity and language. Germany in the 30's was a relatively new Republic with a notable history but a fairly shaky sense of it's own persona outside of the sense of social and economic defeat that came out of the first World War and the Great Depression. The vast majority of Germans were...well...German, and Christian. Not to disparage the German people, but my point is that the exploitation of outright racism and xenophobia is made much simpler in the presence of the 'other.' In America we are a bewildering mix of everything, all races, nationalities, languages and religions, which makes the racism card next to impossible to play for anyone who claims legitimate authority.
The totalitarian elements in America have traditionally focused on the 'others' overseas, rather than their fellow citizens. There have of course been notable exceptions to this rule, as with blacks during slavery and the Japanese in World War Two, not to mention each succeeding immigrant group seeking a competitive niche in American culture.
Am I comparing the Republican Party to the National Socialist Party in Germany? In such a comparison the Republicans, or at least their leadership, would look fairly pitiful. What kind of foresight motivates people to base their politics on dividing the American people against one another while simultaneously starting a war?
Since Republican's don't have the racial card available to them in the same way as the Nazi's they've had to resort to religious bigotry. Instead of railing about genetic purity they trot out right wing blacks and hispanics at conventions and spectacles and on FOX News, giving an appearance of diversity. Meanwhile they hide behind the facade of every fanatical right wing Christian fanatic in town, with statements like this one from Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council:
"After serving nearly a decade in elected office...I realized that many of the laws that I authored were simply dealing with the symptoms of our nation's cultural decline...Now we have the opportunity to address one of the major sources of this decline - the Supreme Court. For the last 40 years, the court has steadily chiseled away at the religious heritage of this country while imposing radical social policies like abortion on demand, virtual child pornography and constitutionally protected sodomy...with so much at stake, America's families will not be silent."
One crucial difference between the new Republican party and the National Socialists is that Hitler had radio as his rallying tool while the Bush cabal has advanced it's agenda on both radio and over the television networks, much of which they own and control. They have, in fact created essentially their own propaganda mouthpiece in FOX News. Hitler used the power of radio to raise the specter of a nation's tribal feelings, while Republicans use television to create a parallel reality through which they doggedly reinforce their point of view even when it blatantly contradicts any rational view of reality. FOX built it's hegemony by gaining control of broadcast sports and appealing to the most prurient appetites of Americans for sex and cheap sensation. The contradiction here is that while defending the values of a Puritan Protestant ethic the media barons simultaneously undermine these very values in order to gain ratings. Here is perhaps one of the clearest ironies reflecting the decadence of the values that the ruling power professes.
There is some encouragement in the observation that history repeats. Every Imperial Republican Presidency since Eisenhower's (except for the Ford intercession) has unravelled in it's last half due to the illegal activities of it's major proponents. Perhaps we can find solace in the fact that in the end Americans shy away from extremists of either party. Historically, whenever politicians get sufficiently mixed up in their own arrogance and hubris and start believing their own simplistic propaganda, a counterweight in the national character appears, saving the situation at the last possible instant before disaster. Perhaps we are nearing that point. With the outing of Karl Rove one can smell blood in the water and in the daily white house press briefings the sharks are beginning to circle. Bush and company are unable to move beyond the state of denial, and this has always been the first sign of an impending fall. Still, the administration is likely to cut loose anyone who is a liability before they seriously threaten their game. Republicans don't relish the effort of rehabilitating the historical record of a failed presidency, like they had to do with Reagan, and they certainly don't want to face another scenario like Nixon.
Whatever happens, the thrills and spills ahead are likely to liven up the daily news cycle for some time to come.
The more I watch these dramas unfold the more I think that the foundations of our republic are still workable, providing enough citizenry take responsibility to be awake and defend it against those who would threaten it. Those who threaten democracy are always those who gain power by offering simplistic explanations for a complex world.
5:40:23 PM 
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