My mate Gareth just sent me a link, a propos the constant political risk — especially implicit in Anglo-Saxon political culture — of gliding down a slope which leads towards murky, anti-democratic grounds. Lurking beneath the veneer of democracy in Western/Anglo-Saxon societies, a drive towards fascism is present: even some American Republicans seem to see this, urging us to if look out for it now before it might be too late.
Former top judge says US risks edging near to dictatorship, writes The Guardian, and it’s not a joke, it’s a clear warning from supreme court ex-judge Sandra Day O’Connor, who was originally appointed by Republicans. She reminds us to be ever-vigilant against those who would strong-arm the judiciary; in this particular case the attempts of neo-conservative political puppetmasters like Tom DeLay to interfere with the U.S. judiciary system, trumpet dissent against controversial “right to life” cases, and publicly call for the impeachment of judges.
This is a sign.
Another one: Celebrated British singer Morrissey being interrogated by British intelligence and the FBI about the political nature of his lyrical content. Pardon my French, but wtf is that?!?
“My view is that neither England or America are democratic societies. You can’t really speak your mind and if you do you’re investigated,” says Morrissey. Obviously, we Westerners are not enjoying the limitless rights to free speech that we are sometimes told we have. Free speech, yes — but only to a certain extent. (Something which was more predictably made clear recently, both in the case of the Danish Mohammed cartoons and in David Irving’s imprisonment.)
But the whole concept of artists being interrogated by government authorities on the sole premise of whether their artistic content can be interpreted as anti-authoritarian or dissenting makes me think of ex-communist countries. The Irving and Denmark examples are both there because certain speech acts might deeply offend certain demographic groups — but when offending governmental bodies, our ruling powers, the people in charge, different rules must apply! The right to satirize governments is a fundamental right of a secular, tolerant, democratic society. We must heed tendencies that aim to stifle this right.
A third sign:
Ken Livingstone, mayor of London, who was due to be temporarily suspended after having “brought his office into disrepute” with his comments to a newspaper reporter. Three (democratically unelected) lawyers were seriously arguing for the suspension of the politician with the biggest personal mandate in Europe. His crime: he had compared a reporter (working for the newspaper The Evening Standard, which supported the nazis before WW2) to a concentration camp guard, before being informed that the reporter in case unfortunately was Jewish. This was a case where the suspension of a democratically elected politician was called for by unelected officials — although he had committed no crime, and hadn’t violated any democratic principles. He had simply been too outspoken, against (arguably non-democratic) institutions such as the Evening Standard and special interest groups that seek to vilify anyone who is the least bit controversial on Jewish/Israeli matters, regardless if the person in question is evidently anti-racist and certainly not an anti-semite, as in this case.
Rightwingers often use the phrase “political correctness gone mad,” but here it actually applies.
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