Saw a thought-provoking poster yesterday. Apropos?

I saw a poster on facism yesterday, and it got me to thinking about the current situation in America, the War in Iraq, and our misguided foreign policy AND what happens to those who dare question the direction of anything just mentioned.

Before I go any further, I have to state that I cannot stand Nazis analogies in political discourse. It has to be THE most trite phrase/analogy in U.S. politics today, and I know that.

However, read on, and you decide. The poster read:

Facism

a Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
a Supremacy of the military
a Rampant sexism
a Controlled mass media
a Obsession with national security
a Religion and government intertwined
a Corporate power protected
a Labor power protected
a Disdain for intellectuals and the arts
a Obsession with crime and punishment
a Rampant cronyism and corruption
a Fraudulent elections
a Powerful and continuting nationalism
a Disdain for Human Rights

Disdain for intellectuals and the arts & Disdain for human rights are the only two that come to mind that definitely don't apply to contemporary American politics and society today. Other than that, one could make the argument that there are elements of the others in America today.

I was just telling my Dad yesterday that I'm so tired of comparisons to Nazi Germany and World War II to justify what is going on in Iraq. I also am tired of people being compared to Nazis whenever there is a disagreement over politics.

However, in Nazi Germany, what Hitler did to the Germans didn't occur overnight. I'm NOT drawing comparisons to America and Nazi Germany, nor am I insinuating that we are becoming Nazi Germany; what I AM suggesting is that when I read a poster like this, and it's even a little thought provoking about our current state of affairs in the U.S., that's a little frightening.