Not really. Political power in this country comes from the consent of the governed. It’s why we’re usually spared gunfights in the streets at election time, or firing squads for political opponents. For now, anyway.

I’d nitpick that a little bit, though. Political legitimacy comes from the consent of the governed. But the raw power itself comes from the use or threat of use of force, i.e., the barrel of a gun. If a government is popular and legitimately supported, but doesn’t have the strength or will to protect itself, it will fall, and often to a tyranny.
As an example, Saddam Hussein did not govern by consent, but by fear. And the power of the government of the United States rests on the fact that we have the ability to prevent another government from taking over.

Admittedly, a good deal of that power is indirectly related to the consent of the governed, since most people consent to paying taxes, which let us fund military and police. But this is not universally the case – in many cases, people pay out of fear.

Fundamentally, the power to govern is the ability to compel people to do things, and compelling means there is force involved – otherwise it’s not governing, its volunteering.

Some of FDR’s advisors visited and wrote approvingly of the the USSR during the same period.

Here’s an article on just that point:

http://www.la-articles.org.uk/fascism.htm

Much of Bloom’s childhood revolved around Habonim “a progressive Labor Zionist youth movement that emphasizes cultural Judaism, socialism and social justice.”

At age 10, Bloom was sent with his two siblings to Camp Galil, a movement-run summer camp in Pennsylvania. He returned each season for the next four years-eventually becoming a camp counselor.

Bloom recently said of his Habonim experience;

“That’s part of what I try to do in my work life…That’s one of the things that made me want to work for Obama.”

Could you imagine the rancor if a Bush Czar had said something to the effect that Mussolini’s Corporate State ideas had some merit?
Dr. ZhivBlago on October 21, 2009 at 2:40 AM

In the North American Review in 1934, the progressive writer Roger Shaw described the New Deal as “Fascist means to gain liberal ends.” He wasn’t hallucinating. FDR’s adviser Rexford Tugwell wrote in his diary that Mussolini had done “many of the things which seem to me necessary.”

What’s interesting is how the Leftists have ‘nudged’ us into a position that to stand up to the Communists automatically aligns us with the extremists on the other side of the political spectrum (Nazis, Fascists, PPF, Rexists, Falangists, Quisling’s [note how even in English "Quisling" is synonymous with "traitor"] and Sir Oswald Moseley’s movements, the Vichy government, and so on).

The Fascist movements have been totally discredited in most everyone’s minds due to a combination of their arrogance and war-mongering along with healthy doses of Soviet/Leftist propaganda and Hollywood hype. What we know of the Fascists comes almost exclusively from…God knows where, actually…often film directors and Libtard historians and a good bit from the NKVD/Moscow. Their atrocities are easily accepted whereas those of the Communists’ are virtually ignored…because the victims of Communism are the forces of reaction and those that stand against the progression of the Internationale…in other words, Mao, Lenin, Stalin, Pol Pot, Che, Castro killed those who deserved it. Those the Fascists killed were “murdered” and were all innocent civilians guilty only of their ethnicity, religion or well-meaning Lefist political activities.

Something wrong there if one takes their head out of their a$$ long enough to think for a change. We fail to boldly question the memes forced upon us by the Communists who seek to be our masters. Face it…they put our Republic and Capitalism easily into the same basket as the Nazis.

What is really under attack is our Republic, the Constitution, Jeffersonian Democracy and the ideals of our Revolution. The Fascists aren’t/weren’t down with Democracy anymore than the Communists are. Both groups embrace the belief that the intellectual and enlightened cream will rise to the top in a series of political struggles along the lines of king of the mountain…the Masses simply are too ignorant to make good choices in leadership. That’s something that the Commies have in common with Hitler.

We can acknowledge that our Republic is not perfect, and will never be, but only the relatively few countries on the planet that have embraced similar political ideals are the places where prosperity and freedom may be found.

Still, the ascendancy of a power elite in our own Republic has been accepted for far too long due to our collective sloth and Bread and Circuses mentality…maybe too much sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll, beer and self-imposed social isolationism? So the poison we’ve allowed has been exploited by the Communists.

Whatever the reason is for our present situation, it hasn’t been working for us, isn’t working for us, and I fear we’re about to get our a$$es handed to us big time.

Idiots!

Needless to say, if a Republican advisor ever began a sentence with, oh, “We agree with Senator Joe McCarthy that…”, you could pretty much stop the presses right there.

But, McCarthy was right.

OT but perplexed…

Mao Tse Tung was the worst tyrant in human history, having brought about the death of 70,000,000 of his own subjects during peacetime. He was a totalitarian communist who reduced every soul in the most populous nation on earth to……

Just putting this out there; what context would this statement be OK in?

liquidflorian on October 20, 2009 at 11:21 PM

The very first part of the statement, “free market is a joke”, would be OK if one is talking about overregulation. But I’m sure that’s not Bloom’s point.
He is right about power coming from the barrel of a gun.

That is exactly why the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution was written.

Zelsdorf Ragshaft on October 20, 2009 at 11:09 PM

Not really. Political power in this country comes from the consent of the governed. It’s why we’re usually spared gunfights in the streets at election time, or firing squads for political opponents. For now, anyway.

For the sake of my education, could someone please tell me why focusing on incidents where Obama staff or supporters reference Mao – actually favorably or unfavorably it does not matter – are presented as significant arguments for or against Obama’s policies or proposed changes to the position of the executive branch of the US Government?

Because it shows the mindset (very twisted and incredibly un-American, if not directly in opposition to pretty much every single basic American value) and overarching sorts of sensibilities at work throughout the administration. Frankly, I find the Che and Castro references even worse, in this respect. Why is this difficult to understand? This is how you assess people and situations. You gain an understanding of HOW they think and what form the basic assumptions of their philosophy.

It would seem to me, the best way to refute Obama’s policies or positions would be to directly refute the actual content of his arguments.

We do that every single day, many times a day, as The Precedent is the dumbest person to ever occupy the White House. The guy is a total imbecile. And, even so, every policy he advocates works to harm the US. He’s lucky that destroying things don’t take even 1/1000th the talent it takes to create and build them.

I am not saying any one of Obama’s supporters or staff have not made quotable statements that prove they are in fact closet communist or socialist;

These are not closet communists. Many of them are quite open about their love of marxist theory. The Precedent wrote, in his own friggin’ book (really written by self-described, “marxist” and known terrorist scum, Bill Ayers) that he sought out the marxist professors in college. Have you been to college? Do you know who those folks are? I do. Most of us do. But The Precedent certainly never grew out of it, as a phase. He attended Trinity Crypto-Church for 20 years. Black liberation theology is warm-over marxism with a racist tinge. I mean, come on. These are not closet marxists. Harold Koh doesn’t hide the fact that he thinks that the US needs to cede sovereignty to an international body. That’s just insane, as anyone with any sense of evolutionary theory understands that such international organizations are sheer idiocies, from the theory itself, since any empowered, peerless, competitionless entity is guaranteed to grow in grotesque and destructive ways. This is just basic common sense, frankly.

These idiots are well out of the closet. But the public hasn’t yet come to grips with the leftist madness that is inhabiting the White House. We just defeated the USSR less than 20 years ago, and we have communists of all stripes filling the administration. It’s quite insane, really.

I am proposing focusing our attention and our time on these issues are not an effective use of our limited time and resources.

Focus your attention wherever you want. Most Americans are disgusted by communists. Everyone should be. Only the worst sorts of people espouse marxist philosophy – either criminals, psychopaths, or simple-minded useful idiots.

The one admitted flaw in my position: I personally do not have an appropriate substitute Obama weakness to propose for the spotlight. Damn!

Unquiet on October 20, 2009 at 10:55 PM

LOL. The Precedent has no positive qualities. The guy is stupid, arrogant (an interesting combo – that he seems to stupid to even see the problem … “profit and earnings ratios” … what a moron), and has a huge third-world chip on his shoulder. That’s probably an artifact of his having grown up and been educated in Indonesia, as a muslim. That’ll do it, you know.

hicsuget on October 20, 2009 at 10:23 PM

So what? Do you think that there are more than a handfull around here who don’t think that McShame ought to get his butt out of Washington and never be heard from again? McShame is a RINO embarrassment who looks to stab conservatives in the back every chance he gets.

You’ll have to do better.

If you love Mao, you have to also love the same things Hitler did,,,, you love murder, executions, world conquest, raw power, people dragged off from their beds in the middle of the night, firing squads, torture, starvation, death camps, war, propaganda, indoctrination and more!! You must also hate open elections, more than one political party, a free press, the right to peaceably assemble, the right to face your accuser, parental rights, family unity, private property, prosperity, and of course, freedom and liberty!!

Seriously,,, they would have to love Hitler too,, they would have to love him! It must be that they know they just can’t openly admit it yet. There’s just too many people who know Hitler is not someone to love while Mao is a little “cooler” I guess to praise.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders continue to talk about being the party of Sam’s Club and the need to reach across the aisle.

I know nobody here goes to Little Green Footballs anymore, but about a week ago they had a video of John McCain quoting Chairman Mao.

hicsuget on October 20, 2009 at 10:23 PM

After years of being tortured by Communists, I don’t think any cheap little tu quoque like that makes McCain an admirer of Mao.