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A lot of people are very concerned about the ascendency of the rabid right, a la Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh et al. The racism is virulent, the hatred palpable. This goes way beyond any concerns about political parties but rather deep into the very heart and soul of our nation.
Heed the words of Michael Cook in his Letter to the Editor of the Tico Times. Residing in both Gloucester, MA and Puerto Rico, Cook issues a clarion call to action in the face of the growing threat from the extreme right.
If the link doesn't work, see text as follows==================
Benignly Named Tea Party Is a Terrible Threat to U.S.
Dear Tico Times:
This is an open letter to all Democrats living in Costa Rica and elsewhere in Central America .
Please make sure you take the time to vote in November's U.S. elections. In many ways, the stakes have not been higher in a very long time.
I hear many expats, Democrats and Republicans alike, frequently and cavalierly blowing off politics back here in the States. After all, their reasoning goes, they don't live in the U.S. anymore, so why should they care?
Well, Democrats had better take the time to care because what's on the move in the U.S. today, frequently wrapped in the benign-sounding label of the "Tea Party," is little more than an early 21st century, North American version of the kind of early 20th century European fascism that swept much of the Continent in the economically troubled times in the years after World War I.
A key element of European fascism's success at acquiring power, especially in Germany , was to practice the "politics of the other."
Adolph Hitler and others in the Nazi Party became experts at exploiting ordinary Germans' anger over their severe economic problems by convincing them it was the "others" – Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, trade unionists – anyone but "real Germans," who were responsible for the country's woes. The strategy, tragically for Germany and ultimately the world, worked like a charm.
A similar trend is under way today in the U.S.; driven by an extremely well-funded, sophisticated, and organized right-wing political/corporate apparatus that has cowed the Republican Party, the once honorable party of Abraham Lincoln; and ginned up a level of anger at North America's "others" that has now crossed the line from ugly propaganda into overt acts of violence. So intimidated are the Democrats and President Barack Obama that they seem at a loss as to how to respond.
Today in the U.S. , the "others" are immigrants, people of color in general, homosexuals and, of course, Muslim Americans.
Events are escalating at a dangerously rapid rate, and should the candidates this movement has spawned – using the once distinguished GOP as a vehicle – gain real political power in November, one can be sure things will escalate still further. And despite how tough the last three years have been, things will get much worse, and not just economically.
So, to all my fellow Democrats, please be sure to vote this November. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, the stakes have rarely been higher.
Michael Cook
Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA
and Puerto Viejo de Limón
