Big

You have two main Parties, Democratic and Republican. To be elected you need to pretty much be associated with one or another. You need lots of money. Most candidates get this money from rich donors. So, who makes the most important decision on who the candidates will be? Parties and rich donors, not American people.

Sure, American people can say this person or that one but the pool is predetermined based on very powerful and unchangeable forces.

matclone

What does any of that have to do with fascism? Nothing.

ccbig

Your right, the original statement has nothing to do with Fascism.

Elitism yes.

Big

Don't politics and industry line up to fool and control the people in fascism?

ccbig

My dictionary defines Fascism as-

fascism |ˈfa sh ˌizəm| (also Fascism)
noun
an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
• (in general use) extreme right-wing, authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice.

The term Fascism was first used of the totalitarian right-wing nationalist regime of Mussolini in Italy (1922–43), and the regimes of the Nazis in Germany and Franco in Spain were also fascist.

Fascism tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach.

Big

I am talking about the overall structure, not individual details. The fact is Americans get to choose whomever the Parties and the industry decide to put forward. Americans, like fascists, do not get to choose their leaders from scratch. They have to accept whomever is there.

What if people don't like any of the available candidates? Tough luck. We don't get to say we want other candidates.

The only difference is that in fascism you have one leader while in American Democracy you have multiple that had to go through the same selection process with the same standards and ideals. In essence you have a dozen fairly identical candidates.

matclone

Consistent with ccbig's comments, I've heard fascism described as extreme nationalism.

Big, the fact you can correlate one feature of America's political system with some feature in fascism, doen't make it fascism. Those who call proposals for national health care "socialism" do the very same thing. It's a disingenuous and inaccurate comparison used for the sake of a smear.

Big

matclone,

When the media smeared Obama over his Pastor's comments, that was extreme Nationalism. They downplayed the context and emphasized "God damn America".

ccbig

Having been involved with the political process I can tell you you are very wrong.

To have a choice or to move forward a candidate you like you have to be involved in the political process. That means taking part not just in the national elections but also taking part in the different party caucuses and primaries at the various levels (local, city, county, state, national) depending on what political office the candidate you want to support is running for.

Unfortunately for national office the money needed to run means that usually only very seasoned and wealthy politicians make it into office.

At least in my state (Minnesota) lessor financed candidates have reached state and federal levels of office by running a grassroots campaign. Paul Wellstone (Senator) and Jesse Ventura (Governor) come to mind right of the top of my head. Neither had large corporate dollars or great wealth that allowed them to leap ahead of others in campaigns for their first election.

matclone

No, it wasn't. The media is not America's political system (although some like Lou Dobbs apparently would like to have that power).