No, America did not devolve into a fascist state, but with the release of yet more Bush administration memos we get a glimpse of what might have been. John Yoo: “First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully.”
A theory that is analogous, by the way, with a UN resolution (via) opposing “defamation of religions”: “… the exercise of [free expression] carries with it special duties and responsibilities and may therefore be subject to limitations as are provided for by law and are necessary for respect of the rights or reputations of others, protection of national security or of public order, public health or morals and respect for religions and beliefs.”
Note that national security, public order and/or morals are the standard pretexts used by dictatorships for the outlawing of dissent across the board. That this notion is legitimized, the language paralleled nearly exactly, in a UN resolution is deeply insidious.
There are those on the American political scene, such as Charles (“Chas”) Freeman, who remain outspokenly committed to authoritarian ideas. Sadly, Freeman is President Obama’s pick to head the National Intelligence Council — a fairly unimportant post as I understand it, but still. As Jonathan Chait has reported, Freeman believes the Tiananmen Square massacre was justified. The Obama administration should know better than to elevate this creep to a position of influence.
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