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Political
Education for Our Times, An Introduction --by Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.
Obviously, the CLG does not
agree with every article or book posted on our political education page.
That would impossible as some of them stand in contradiction to others.
Our object is to allow our readers to draw from various sources in order
to bolster their own arguments against the rightwing. We do not represent
rightwing political ideology here, as we believe that its tendency is
towards authoritarianism, and likewise the abrogation of the principles
of the US Constitution. Contrary to the propaganda of the right, the
US Constitution was founded on the principles of classical liberalism,
the principles of the Enlightenment--equality, liberty, and liberal
democracy, and not of Christianity. In any case, the Constitution is
a document and like all others is interpreted and applied historically.
We work for its most emancipating interpretation, which represents the
spirit of the document and the times during which it was framed.
But the CLG stands simply
for legitimate government in the US, as provided for constitutionally.
Legitimate Government means elected officials where said officials are
by law supposed to be elected. The election of officials is of especial
importance in the case of the most powerful official in the US government:
the President. The condition of election was not met in the 2000 presidential
"election."
Furthermore, the US government,
has, we believe, been overtaken by fascists from the rightwing of the
US political spectrum. This became apparent in their siege upon Clinton
and their attempt to remove our last legitimately elected President
from office. The presidential selection of Bush and the entire machinery
put into motion to secure his position was further proof that the rightwing
would stop at nothing, respecting neither the rule of law nor the will
of voters, in their quest for control of the government. Their continued
steam-rolling over the majority, in the US and abroad, further evinces
this fact. Only a small contingent of the world, the rightwing supporters
of Bush and a few ill-educated others in the US, appear to be ignorant
of this political condition.
Neither do most of the Democrats
in Congress and the Senate appear to be aware of this fact. Having rubbed
shoulders with the officials of the right, they have become so accustomed
to them as to mistake them for decent human beings who simply have varying
points of view. Such a position is a very big mistake. Difference in
politics is one thing: but the politics of the right is a politics that
would annihilate all difference, steam-roll over the rights of citizens
in favor of a strange amalgam of imperious government and gigantic corporate
concerns, representing only the most powerful. Or, to be more precise,
the current government recognizes and respects only power itself. Power
itself is the object of worship to which all else must bow in obeisance.
Obedience to a "charismatic" leader and a thralldom to brute
power are two of the primary marks of fascism.
But sheer power hardly represents anyone, and in the end, may turn on
the very ones who thought they only harnessed and used it to control
others.
Despite the political fascism
and a strong element of cultural fascism, the entire US culture has
not, however, become fascist. Given our rich tradition of political
and cultural dissent, our relatively "free" market of ideas,
our culture of irreverence, and ironically in this case our strong ideology
of individualism, the US citizens have the means to resist and overthrow
the fascist elements that have conquered and occupy our government.
Our comedians, our actors, and other cultural producers, are a great
source of resistance to fascism. We hope this arsenal of political theory
will also help the resistance.
Michael Rectenwald
CLG Founder and Chair
November 26, 2002
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