Hillary for President

[Detroitdad]

Originally Posted by myboynoah

Ah, it looks like my persistence has paid off. The mystery of "Dr." Lawrence Britt has been revealed by Ryan Cragun, a blogster sympathetic to much of what you believe. Here he unveils the great "Dr.":

Ryan Cragun's Blog

The pertenent info:

"As it turns out, Dr. Lawrence Britt is actually just ‘Lawrence Britt,’ a contributor to Free Inquiry, a magazine published by The Council for Secular Humanism. The article is freely available online. But as far as Mr. Britt being a political scientist, there is no reference to this in Free Inquiry. In fact, it says he is writing a novel to be released in 2004. While Lawrence Britt may have come up with these points, I’m hesitant to accept his analysis without the confirmation of actual political scientists. If his 14 points were published in a peer reviewed journal, I’d believe them. As they stand - propaganda!"

Another writer sympathetic to your cause, Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates, wrote this of Britt's 14 points:

"The Britt article started with what is happening in the U.S. and then crafted a description of fascism that only highlights those points that will support the thesis. This is a logical fallacy (the false notion that things that are similar in some aspects are identical in all aspects)."

His full review can be found here:

Reviewing Britt's 14 Points

So he's neither a political scientist nor a doctor, and is prone to logical fallacies.

Even if this guys credentials are suspect or non-existent, he has done a decent job of outlining what the consensus within the establishment of political scientists say constitutes a fascist regime. I got my masters degree in comparative politics and international relations and those points are right on about fascism.

However, since political science is a social science one must always talk in qualitative terms rather than quantitative terms. Which is where your criticisms of patriotism vs. nationalism/xenophobia and others come in. Basically it is a question of degree and IMO the US is not close.

Blue Hair does have a point that some actions of the Bush Administration fall closer to the line of an authoritarian regime, particularly the habeas corpus issues, wiretapping. A few policy actions does not a fascist make, but it is a worrying trend.