I observe that the fears that PIers have about BushCo's nascent fascism are increasingly shared by Liberals, Moderates and even Conservatives. Here's an example:

What I'm Really Worried About
by Steven D
Wed Jun 14, 2006 at 07:51:57 AM PDT

(Front paged at Booman Tribune; also posted at My Left Wing)

When the next big crisis in America occurs (war with Iran, new terrorist attacks, a flu pandemic, a stock market crash, double or triple digit inflation, etc.) what will become of what's left of our Republic? Will it withstand the assault to our freedoms and liberties from the Radical Right, as it did during the era of the Great Depression or will our Republic end its days in tumult and political violence?

I don't know, frankly, but let me explain why I am so concerned about our Nation's future at this moment in time.

We're living on the edge in America.

On the edge of an economic meltdown. All the signs are there for anyone to see if they would only take their blinders off. Debt, both personal and government indebtedness, is at record highs. The greatest income inequality between those at the top of the wealth pyramid and the rest of us since the days of the Depression. An overvalued dollar. Massive trade deficits. An overextended military. Gas prices high and likely to head higher. Inflation ready to take off because of it. Our economy is literally operating on borrowed time.

Then throw in an executive branch determined to amass as much power to itself as possible, while invading the privacy rights of the majority of its citizens. A President who never met a war to which he could say "No." A Constitution and Bill of Rights in tatters. An America reviled in the rest of the world for what we've done to Iraq, for our violations of International Conventions against the use of torture and for our belligerent and militant approach to foreign relations.

Combine that with political leadership in Congress that does nothing but debate the merits of Constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage, laws to ban flag burning and endless recriminations about the threat of illegal immigration. A Congress that has abandoned its function as a check on the power of the President in favor of open graft and a "safe" seat at the trough to keep feeding from the cesspit where political favors are traded daily for campaign contributions, free meals, junkets and (from all accounts) free access to prostitutes.

The final topper: a cheapened and coarsened political discourse sponsored by the ruling elite (and that can only mean Conservatives) and their sycophants in the media that trades in big lies, ugly rumors, smears, slanders, the "stab in the back" myth, hate and incitements to violence against all those who oppose them, from climate scientists to evolutionary biologists, from Mexican immigrants to gays and lesbians, from federal judges to government whistleblowers, and most of all anyone and everyone who considers themselves a liberal.

Personally, what I fear the most is that the next big crisis will trigger an outbreak of hard core fascism. Not the soft fascism of the current regime which flies under the radar of most people, but the kind that suspends liberties permanently and puts people in concentration camps. The kind where violence against its political opponents is not just encouraged among its supporters, but practiced by the State. The kind where genocide thrives.

MORE!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/6/14/105157/099

Bob Fitrakis and Anita Rios

Anita Rios