fascism (n):
1 : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
The Texas Tribune reported this week that James Ives, a prominent Tea Party activist in Texas, was director of propaganda for the American Fascist Party in the early 2000's.
Ives wrote on the Fascist Party's message boards, "Tell me what I can do in Texas for you and I will try my utmost to comply," so it's no surprise that he later became president of the Greater Fort Bend Tea Party.
Ives has claimed that he was actually a mole trying to expose the group for a "novel" he was working on, and released a response on his organization's website, trying to paint the American Fascist Party as "left-wing," which is funny coming from a group that loves Ron Paul, hates globalization, and doesn't believe in class struggle.
Ives was a regular on Senator Dan Patrick's radio show. Patrick is now distancing himself from Ives, and described videos of Ives participating in fascist activities "very disturbing, no matter how far in the past it is." When you're too extreme for Dan Patrick...
In other news, Josh "Secret Malaysian Man" Treviño was busted by Buzzfeed earlier this month for his paid work on behalf of the Malaysian government to produce propaganda, including attacks on a pro-democracy leader. Treviño had previously lied about being on the take for Malaysia, failing to disclose the agreement to Politico in 2011, stating "I was never on any 'Malaysian entity's payroll,' and I resent your assumption that I was."
As Forrest Wilder puts it, "Treviño: a) Worked for a foreign government with a sketchy human-rights record; b) produced paid propaganda for that government; c) failed to disclose his dealings with the Malaysian government; d) lied about his involvement to a reporter when directly questioned."
When Treviño wasn't providing Malaysia with anti-democracy propaganda he was busy trying to suppress the citizenry here at home as a staff member for the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In fact, he was on contract with TPPF while also working for the Malaysian government. That's some impressive anti-democratic multitasking right there! |
