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the only thing that is left out of the above is the importance of the "state of exception" or "state of emergency" as a legal device that is used to implement/extend the other areas.
in pre-nazi germany, the main legal theorist of the "state of exception" and its correlate in dictatorship was crl schmitt.
to my ongoing shock, the central figure behind many of the bush administration's legal arguments about executive power and its unlimited extendability is also carl schmitt.
in european versions of fascism, the center of support for it came from the petit bourgeois sectors, who were the prime demographic behind the populist blood-and-soil ideology central to the regime.
thise petit bourgeois support was critical in legitimating the suppression of the left (in italy and in germany)---in less fully implemented types of fascism, like poujadisme in france during the 50s (the precursor of the front national) it was once again the petit bourgeois that was the main audience for almost all the arguments outlined in the op.
now i am not going to say that bushworld is fascist.
it just kinda looks like it.
the main difference so far are the obstacles that the bushpeople's claims based on the "state or emergency" or "state of exception" have encountered, the limits that have shaped how far these have been able to go--they have not been and with any luck will not be adequately powerful to enable a total bypassing of the legistative branch (which schmitt called weak and indecisive--too committed to debate to make "decisions"--not endowed with the "power" of the "decisionmaker")--but it is fairly obvious that the bush-cheney folk would prefer these limits not exist....
we'll see what the near future brings.
in my more paranoid moments, i worry a bit about what could happen if the republicans loose control of congress in november--between the elections and january. who knows. maybe a war being launched against iran...
but i remain basically a bit pollyanna.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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