Fascism, Populism and American Democracy by Leonard Weinberg

Author:Leonard Weinberg [Weinberg, Leonard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fascism & Totalitarianism, Political Ideologies, Political Science, Nationalism & Patriotism, General
ISBN: 9781351663656
Google: LDdyDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 40636605
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-10-10T00:00:00+00:00

They go on to point out that for many, loyalty to party has replaced loyalty to country as their principal political motivation.

The mass and now social media play major roles in promoting Washington’s divisions and political fragmentation. The news cycle now operates on a twenty-four hour a day basis. Reporters and commentators often seek to advance their careers by disclosing political scandals and instances of public wrongdoing, real or imagined. The public is often led to believe that nothing is as it appears, thereby encouraging widespread mistrust of virtually all government activity carried out within the Washington “beltway.” (The term “beltway bandits” has become a reference to the large number of consulting firms located in the vicinity of the District of Columbia which often receive lucrative contracts by supplying government agencies with a variety of professional services.)

The social media have now become a crucial source of political news and commentary. Largely unregulated, websites, representing a wide range of political views, now offer around-the-clock coverage of political developments. In addition, such outlets as Facebook and Twitter provide opportunities for virtually anyone to report news accounts that may or may not bear some relationship to reality. These false tales are often aimed at harming the electoral prospects of candidates. Apparently, anyone can play. Russian, North Korean and interested individuals have become engaged in deliberately distributing “alternative facts” to the gullible and unsuspecting. In this media environment conspiracy theories abound. For example during the 2016 presidential campaign Alex Jones, a widely known conspiracy theoretician with his own talk radio show and website, developed a conspiratorial account that alleged the Hillary Clinton campaign was using a pizza restaurant in Northern Virginia as a secret venue for holding kidnapped children until they could be sold into white slavery.29 Other than an announcement that visitors from outer-space had arrived at the same pizzeria, it is hard to imagine a more fantastic tale. Yet at least one young man, armed with a weapon, broke into the restaurant and sought to free its imaginary captives.

Instead of C. Wright Mills’ “power elite” interpretation of Washington politics, we now have the “Swamp.”30 The latter refers not to a small circle of powerful individuals whose party affiliations are largely interchangeable, but to complex networks of foundations with competing policy goals, law firms, high paid lobbyists with offices on K Street offering their clients “access” and influence, former elected politicians anxious to catch the gravy train, and the aforementioned “beltway bandits.” In at least some instances some of those involved are almost literally bandits. Take the case of Jack Abramoff. After the GOP’s 1994 electoral victory, Abramoff acting as a lobbyist linked to the influential Texas congressman Tom DeLay, emphasized his ability to influence Congress and began to offer his services to any group willing to pay him. Leaders of several Native-American tribes paid large amounts of money to Abramoff in order for him to help them avoid paying taxes on their gambling casinos. Abramoff failed to deliver on his bogus promises, after which he was convicted of attempted bribery and fraud and sent to prison.

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