Ten Steps to Tyranny Monday, December 03, 2007

The Huffington Post's Naomi Wolf wrote an article earlier this year that outlines ten steps required to turn a democracy into a dictatorship:

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy, like "the global conspiracy of global Jewry" or "the Islamo-Fascist global caliphate".
2. Create a gulag, like CIA "black sites".
3. Develop a thug caste, like Mussolini's "blackshirts". We haven't seen this in America yet, but how far behind are the Jesus Camp drones?
4. Set up an internal surveillance system, like the Nazi informant network or perhaps an illegal NSA wiretapping program.
5. Harass citizens' groups and dissenters, sort of like what happened to those US attorneys last year.
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release, as the Bush administration when it held Muslim-Americans for weeks without charges following the September 11th attacks.
7. Target key individuals, like Valerie Plame.
8. Control the press. FOX News anyone?
9. (Declare that) dissent equals treason, like the witch hunts called against academics who speak out against unjust the government's unjust policies.
10. Suspend the rule of law, by ignoring congress, subverting the legal system, and suspending the writ of habeas corpus.

It's happening here, people. Don't think this doesn't affect you because you're not a Muslim, not an activist, not a liberal, whatever. This is about human rights and what was once a free society. This affects us all.