"Fascism by any other name would still smell as foul" by Waging Peace

OK, it's time to call it what it really is: fascism.

If you paid attention in your history classes and you've been paying attention the last eight years, you know that fascism been slowly creeping into this country.

I know three people who survived Nazi Germany (the three do not know each other), and over the past eight years, each of them has said to me, in one way or another, that the United States of America is starting to sound like Germany did before the Nazis took over.

A day after my trial for my Christian witness against torture at the Supreme Court, I had a conversation with a young woman of German descent who told me that when the European press depicts President Bush, they include a swastika.

If you have not seen the movie “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days”, you should. Sophie and her friends published and distributed antiwar information, including the real numbers of Germans dying in battle, to citizens in Germany during World War II.

They called themselves “The White Rose” and their motto was “We will not be silent”. They were arrested, tried (if you can call it that) and beheaded.

The movie is written from the actual transcripts of the interrogations and trial, which were declassified only a few years ago. One of the most chilling scenes was the trial scene. It was all military personnel in the courtroom; there were no civilians.

The judge used the same arguments and rhetoric against the peacemakers as Bush and Co. did during the 2004 elections. I remember the hair on the back of my neck standing up and an empty chill shot straight through me. It was almost word for word.

Lest you think I am bashing just Bush for the 2004 elections, I would like to point out that the Democrats did not come to the defense of the people calling for peace in that election.

The recent behavior of the police and the federal government at the Republican National Convention leaves nothing to the imagination. Peace organizations have been targeted for raids and arrests, people known to be peacemakers have had their homes raided. People supporting peace have been harassed, arrested at gunpoint, detained.

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now (an independent news organization) and her film crew were arrested. Hundreds of people have been arrested. Hundreds. I've included several links at the end of this blog where you can check out the information for yourself.

Lest you think I am just blaming the Republicans, let me point out that the Democrats have been silent about what has been happening. They should reword their campaign slogan from “Change you can believe in” to “Change you dare not hope for.” But what else would you expect from a man who voted to give the telecom companies a free pass when it was discovered they were illegally spying on ordinary citizens who just happened to disagree with the government?

The mainstream media is purposely imposing a news blackout on the protests and arrests at the Republican convention, giving the impression that everything is just fine and dandy.

One woman, who was arrested and detained a gunpoint, I know personally. Laurie Arbeiter has dedicated her life to working for peace and justice. She is one of the least “dangerous” people I know, in that she would never knowingly hurt any person or property.

At less than five feet and less (much less) than 100 pounds, she's not much of a physical threat, either.
On Sept. 3, she was in a car that was pulled over by police. She and others were pulled out of the car at gunpoint and detained in police cars (still at gunpoint) while police searched the car and their papers.

This was in a residential neighborhood, and a number of people watched from their yards and did nothing while Laurie and others shouted out various phone numbers in hopes someone would call her friends or a lawyer to let them know that they were being detained (or worse, since they did not know what was to happen next).

There was no obvious reason to pull over the car. It is owned by a longtime activist, so it would seem that this action by the police was carried out to intimidate people who do not agree with the government and quash dissent.

You can read more about the story here.

Some of the protesters have had formal terrorism charges filed against them. Most of the people in the peace movement have long had the fear that the “Patriot Act” would be used in just this way.

Seeing as Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemaker, for they shall be called the children of God,” you'd think that a group of people who lay such a strong claim to Christ would treat the peacemakers in their midst “kinder and gentler”.

As a Christian I cannot begin to tell you how appalled I am by their behavior.

You can get the real news on what's happened at the Republican National Convention at answer.pephost.org, www.twincities.indymedia.org, www.twitter.com/coldsnaplegal, www.theuptake.org or www.freepress.net.

You can contact the following people and demand in the name of democracy and our great country that the St. Paul police and federal agents provide immediate medical attention for all arrestees; allow all arrestees to meet with lawyers in small groups (i.e., not allow police to isolate individuals); dismiss all charges against protesters and journalists; release all minors; and provide transgender arrestees access to phones, lawyers and processing with a gender group of their choice:

Ramsey County Attorney and gubernatoral candidate Susan Gaertner, RCA@co.ramsey.mn.us or info@susangaertner.com , 651-266-3222, 612-978-8625 or 612-804-6156.

St. Paul City Attorney John Choi, john.choi@ci.stpaul.mn.us, (651) 266-8710.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, 651-266-8510.