Not so fascist

In the Washington Times, Bruce Fein draws an implict parallel between the U.S. and Rome. Our country, he claims, is transitioning from a democratic republic to an autocratic empire. Unchecked executive power and the desire to spread our way of life by force, he claims, are the ancient mistakes that we are now repeating.

Not so fast, I say. America may have been in an imperial mood earlier this decade, but it wasn't the first time. What about when we tried to conquer Canada in 1812? what about "Manifest Destiny" and the Mexican War? What about our brutal conquest of the Philippines?

Unchecked executive power isn't new either. Bush's warrantless wiretapping pales in comparison to the domestic spying program of J. Edgar Hoover. The "black lists" are yet to come out; dissident rock stars can still get their U.S. visas.

Which is not to say we're out of the woods, only that we've been here before. The U.S. has been tempted by fascism and imperialism again and again, and each time we've turned it down...but there's nothing automatic about that process. Bruce Fein is wrong to despair, but he's right to worry.

In my mind, the biggest problem is that so few Republicans seem to realize that the danger to freedom is now coming entirely from their own party. In an age when 51% of people will still vote Republican, in the face of torture, domestic spying, and everything else, you'd have to be a lunatic not to worry. Especially since the one Republican who seemed ready to stand up to his party's fascist impulses - their nominee for president - now embraces those dark ideas to the utmost. McCain was turned to the dark side. That doesn't mean America will be.