Deparment of Justice redacts Supreme Court: What you don't know can't hurt them

I have repeatedly maintained that the greatest reason to vote against Bush in November is not the substance of his policies. Don't get me wrong, I think the substance of his policies is largely, if not entirely, reprehensible. However, they represent a point of view that is at least somewhat defensible. A policy of preemption? Ok. I can list a lot of reasons why that's not a good policy and some why it is a good policy. In my book, the reasons why it's bad far out number the reasons why it is good. For me, it's virtually the same on every issue - I believe the President to be wrong and wrong-headed on most policy positions. On that basis alone, he would never win my vote. But that is the second reason not to vote for Bush.

The number one reason not to vote for President Bush is that the Bush Administration's policies are implemented with a style that can only be called fascist. I know that is a loaded term. I know what I say when I say it. I truly wish there was a way around it. But there isn't. The core of the Bush administration is fascist. Yet they are blind to it. That's what makes them real fascists and really scary.

America is free largely because its government is powerfully transparent. People get to know and learn what their representatives are up to and if they don't like it they can kick the bums out of office. Good American elected servants understand this contract with the public. They seek openess. The various institutions of government controlled by Congress are transparent also, in spirit. When they are not willing to give transparency, the checks and balances built into the republic deliver it. Throughout America's history, many a scandal has died an ignoble death under the scrutiny of the public, or repudiated in the courts, or the legislature.

This is the American way. Yet President Bush and his administration do not believe in the transparency of government. They fight for the wrong things-- instead of fighting to improve our lots, they fight the hardest for more power. Instead of fighting to get to the bottom of ugly situations - say the root causes of 9/11- they fight for the power to conceal the root causes of ugly situations. Then by extension, they fight for the power to conceal aspects of your goverment with which they simply disagree. Once that power is held in their hands, they use it to further bury our government from our view. They do this in our name - as in, "This is for your own good." But it most certainly is not in our own good.

Earlier this month I noted in this blog that John Ashcroft issued orders to remove documentation on how citizens may retrieve information from the government from public archives. That documentation amounts to instructions for citizens on how to hold their government accountable. The Bush Administration, Ashcroft in particular, doesn't want you to see it. That's facist.The ACLU is taking the Justice Department to court to challenge the authority of the Patriot Act. The irony is that the Patriot Act gives the DOJ the power to censor the documents admitted to court.

Take a look at how they use that power. I'm telling you, these guys are very uncomfortable with the concept of freedom, at least your freedom. They are more comfortable when they have a lot more of it than you do. That's what they fight for the hardest; that's why I don't trust them; that's why I think they are fascists.