The Wardman Wire

Naomi Wolf in the Guardian reels off a checklist of signs that Bush is turning the USA into a Fascist dictatorship.

I will leave aside the small error that America is a continent with around 35 countries, while Naomi is talking about the USA.

They were not figuring these things out as they went along. If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship.

Unlike Clive, I have taken the time to read the article.

It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy - but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps.

(cartoon via Citizen Arcane)

Thought Experiment - Is Mr Blair and New Labour… ?

Let me apply those same points to Mr Blair, The Labour party and the United Kingdom. This is slightly light hearted, but I think you get the point.

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy

Check. Al Qaeda, terrorism, straw man image of Tory Party. Alex Salmond (ye gods … Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond … not surprised he shortened it) became Satan when the possibility arose of Labour getting a kicking in Scotland by the SNP.

2. Create a gulag

Check. Partly - detention without trial. Denial of rights to free movement (ASBOs and administrative criminalisation).

3. Develop a thug caste

Check. Home Secretaries. Security officers at Labour Party conference. I’m tempted to add the New Model Traffic Warden Army, but that would be mischevious.

4. Set up an internal surveillance system

Check. 4.2 million CCTV cameras. RIPA and numerous other Acts. National DNA database. National identity card database. And God knows how many other building blocks.

Tags: naomi wolf, george bush, new labour, fascist state, state control, guardian unlimited, al qaeda, asbo, alex salmond, snp, cctv, closed circuit television, ripa, tony blair, george bush, gordon brown, el gordo, new labour

[tags]tony blair, george bush, gordon brown, el gordo, new labour, cctv, closed circuit television, ripa, naomi wolf, george bush, new labour, fascist state, state control, guardian unlimited, al qaeda, asbo, alex salmond, snp[/tags]

5. Harass citizens’ groups

Check. Too many to mention, from restriction of demonstrations in Whitehall to abolition of the Community Health Councils.

6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release

Check. See 2. See also Walter Wolfgang.

7. Target key individuals. People who have lost the

Check. Too many to mention.

8. Control the press

Check. Sabre rattling at journalists. Politicisation of Government News Service under Alistair Campbell. Politicisation of Civil Service. News management. Threats to journalists of loss of further access. Mugging and muzzling the BBC. “Independent” spokes people who are glove puppets.

9. Dissent equals treason

Check. Repeatedly. Applied to Muslim Community, and others opposing aspects/methodology of War on Terror.

10. Suspend the rule of law

Check. General tendency to move power on specific issues from Parliament to Ministers. Saudi Arms enquiry. Other enquiries manipulated, downgraded or simply not held. Suspended for Ministers / their drivers when they get done for speeding.

So …. ?

My greatest is concern is less with New Labour succeeding in actually building a Fascist state (which is as idiotic a notion as Naomi Wolf’s assertions about the USA), and more with tendencies we have seen chipping away at the freedom of British people:

1 - The nasty centralising tendency that we have seen in many areas of our life ranging from loss of discretion for policemen enforcing the law, through the creation of national databases to the internal democracy within the governing party.

2 - The increase in petty officialdom and bureaucracy everywhere.

And is the USA turning into a Fascist Dictatorship by Stealth?

My conclusion is that there are some points of concern, but generally Naomi Wolf is simply trying to stir things up.

The truly insidious part of this article is the blanket comparison of Naomi Wolf’s opponents to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and the claim that the whole thing is a conspiracy.

Fortunately, this type of hyperbole will come back to haunt her eventually - when she gives herself the reputation of being a posturing windbag.

And finally

I’d be interested to fill out this article with specific instances (I’m too busy today doing election coverage) - if you can help please drop a comment below.