MISC.

Lawyers, Guns, and Money abounds with good links and commentary today.

- Several articles about the rise of pseudo-fascism in the U.S.

Part I: The Morphing of the Conservative Movement
Part II: The Architecure of Fascism

One of Niewert's most significant points is that American fascism, if and when it truly arrives, will look uniquely American, that is, it will not have many of the accoutrements which we associate with European fascism, each of which had a specifically German, Italian, or Spanish flavor. When American fascism comes, it will ride upon a tide of perverse, seemingly innocuous, Americana, such as corny country tunes about putting boots in people's asses, books by Connecticut-bred, chardonnay-slurping attack-blondes charging disloyalty, a veneration of firearms which borders on the fetishistic, and the attemptedwhitewashing of historical crimes, just to cite a few possible examples.

- A piece (from Daily Kos) which breaks down by state the amount of federal dollars received. Rob's commentary is excellent:

The whole notion of a "self-reliant" Red America is nonsense. Rural states receive a ton of money from urban states, and don't give much back. Republicans like to tell their constituents that the taxes they pay are going to support an African-American welfare mother with nine children in the depths of some inner city. It ain't true. Indeed, the taxes of African-American mothers are going to support white farmers in rural states. Those who cry most loudly for small government receive the greatest largesse of big government.

I would add that this largely holds true within states as well. Ellensburg and LaConner only have electricity, phone, and mail service because they are able to dip into the tax base created by cities like Seattle and Tacoma. If these small towns had to rely on their own taxes to pay for such things, they'd probably still be getting their mail via pony, and their electricity via generators powered by children pedaling stationary bicycles.

- a piece from Vanity Fair (mirrored here and here) on the base, blatant injustice of the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore. Wow. The fact that anyone could still harbor doubts about whether this decision was incorrect is both a testament to the discipline and effectiveness of the right-wing media machine, and yet another nail in the coffin of the Liberal Media Myth.