Fascists and Republicans: Terrorism, 9/11, and the lies of the Bush propaganda machine

Guest post by Capt. Fogg

Islamofascism, Bush has come to call it, and that's not one of his malapropisms. It's a multi-level attempt to tie his quixotic mission to something real and historical and to distract from the growing awareness that his one-party government, so expert in manipulating the passions of the public with propaganda and so good at intimidating the public with secret investigations, bears a growing resemblance to the Fascisti of the 1930s and 40s. The Bush propaganda machine is so powerful not only because modern communications makes it easier, but because, as is the practice of Republicans and Fascists alike, the boundaries between government and private propaganda is blurred. If caught, if exposed, the private sector liars can be jettisoned without damage to the party, which can then go off on a new tack faster than anything that ever won the America's Cup.

The towers of the World Trade Center no longer dominate the Manhattan skyline, but the various myths, legends, gospels, hymns, and dirges that we have created to fill the void still dominate national discourse and, like Obi-wan, the Twin Towers are more powerful in death than in life. So important to the case for war is their destruction that the meaning of September 11th must be reformed, restated, and re-invented as the ineluctable causa belli with each emerging detail of Bush's bungling incompetence. And so well has this been done that no direct evidence of Bush's failure to prevent it even despite direct warning can stand against the onslaught of fable. Bush's private propagandists are quite up to the task.

The American Broadcasting Company, according to Think Progress, plans to disgrace the day by airing a jaw-dropping, mind-twisting piece of putrescent "docudrama" to blame the attack on Bill Clinton. ABC, which along with the other networks drowned out that the former president’s efforts to attack Osama bin Laden with the incessant screech of "Monicamonicamonica," now would have it otherwise, just as the man who went on vacation when warned of an imminent attack would have it otherwise -- and so otherwise it shall be.

"The film really zeros in on the shortcomings of the Clinton administration in doing anything about militant Islamofascism or terrorism during its administration," says Rush Limbaugh. Can any amount of Oxycontin dull the conscience of this man? Can any amount of Docufiction disguise the degree to which Bush dismantled Clinton's anti-terrorism efforts? Can anyone forget the mockery Rush directed at Clinton for firing "Monica missiles" at Osama. We shall see.

I'm sure the outrage caused by advance announcement of this "docudrama" will be significant. The director of the film, David Cunningham, is already backtracking about its accuracy, saying "this is not a documentary." Indeed, it's not. Posing as objective history, it's a drama, a pastiche of fact and fiction, a passion play used to prove a point that the facts themselves deny. It’s propaganda. It’s a lie.