Originally posted by: Starbuck1975
It's not a calling card of fascism because our law enforcement agencies do not follow the orders of one consolidated power base.
They follow the orders of government. Who puts current government in power and constantly finds ways to funnel cash to government through loopholes. These orders includes laws that strip civil rights. Whenever possible government moves laws from being state laws to federal laws because it's easier to take control from a central point. Much harder to control a nation through its states even with your own goon squad running them. Check your history. They are consolidating power wherever possible without being obvious. Nations like this are also the perfect merging of business with government. It's a founding principle of fascism.
Someone else put it best: "While communism is the control of business by government, fascism is the control of government by business," - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The NYC police are under the control of Mayor Bloomberg, who is actually a rather vocal opponent of the Bush Administration...quite noteable considering that Bloomberg is a Republican, if in name only...there is actually an excellent article in the latest issue of Rolling Stone about Bloomberg.
I find it ironic that both sides are playing the fascism card...Bush supporters when referring to Islamic militants, and the anti-Bush crowd when referring to the NeoCons.
Not all NeoCons are fascists, and I don't think all fascists are NeoCons either. Republicans and Democrats on both ends of the spectrum are directly responsible for what has occured.
The Patriot act and similar laws throughout Western Democracies (including Canada) couldn't pass without the approval of all or most of the parties and members involved. Had they refused it would have made it much harder if not impossible to push these laws through. It may have been politically convenient at the time to play along, but it was morally and ideologically bankrupt. The terrorists and fanatics won long ago. They won when we started acting more like them. It didn't start with 9/11. It simply became obvious to the masses since it could no longer be ignored.
Either through direct action or inaction all parties involved are traitors to their own people. Granted some or even many probably don't even know what's happening and are just social and political parasites that are taking advantage of the situation for personal gain. Old news, but it doesn't excuse it. If you are looking for saints you won't find many within either of the two major parties. You would need to look at 3rd parties for that such as the Libertarian party, which is the only part that is a direct opposite of what our governments are now.
As for this incident...let's wait for the facts...if Mos Def didn't have a permit, then he was very much in the wrong, and the police responded in a reasonable manner...if this was a case of police harassment, then shame on them for profiling a rap artist, when they have overlooked similar incidents by bands such as U2, as you pointed out.
Lets not railroad the facts before it comes out shall we. This has nothing to do with a permit and I never suggested they were right in holding a concert. I went as far as to suggest that the initial concern of police as stated in the story appears to be a legit reason. Suggesting that the entire issue is settled on this point is meaningless as it has nothing to do with the police action.
I'm attacking the method and second police response as outlined in the story. Actions speak louder then words. That's all.
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