“The conductor, a joke between friends and an orchestrated race storm”, an article by Ron Liddle in The Spectator, September 16, 2017.  Verrrrry, interesting but … (Arthur Stanton Eric, “Laugh in”, sometime in the 1970’s).

A query (but please oh please don’t misinterpret the use of the term):

“What do the Pacific Northwest, a British conductor and a gossip have to do with the latest smash revival?  The United States Civil War; taaadaaaa!!!”

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So, Robert E. Lee, villainized at last, check; … Hillary Clinton’s “despicables” converted into Nazi white supremacists, check; … the foreign born children of “illegal immigrants converted into political chips, check; … a Korean War redux in process, check; …. Russians, Russians everywhere, time to lock up the First Amendment, check; Russians, Russians everywhere, again, check; … the New York Jets lose again, check (damnit, I shouldn’t have told god I’d never ask for another favor; but what a win that was in 1969!).

OK!

All may not be fine with the world but that’s just fine for United States political leaders; if it were, the perception, at least, would have to be changed.  Were that not the case then how boring would political contribution solicitation letters and calls be?  How effective?  Think about it please.

So, … now …, how about a World War II redux, … revivals being all the rage?

Not to fear, it’s here, haven’t you heard?

Ironically, fascism has a funny side, not really involving fascists or humor but rather the use of the term in a fascist manner by people who have no idea what the concept entails.  Of course, it’s absolutely fascist when the term is perverted for political purpose by people who are fully aware of what it entails.  It’s just sort of cute otherwise.  “Aawwwww, they’re learning to use political and historical terms”, albeit inaccurately, “that’s what makes it cute!!!”

OK, but only when people the MSM likes misuse them.  Ironic in the sense that reference to purported liberals as Nazis is immediately hysterically attacked as an insult to the Holocaust (capital “C” to distinguish it from all the unimportant holocausts, think Palestinians; if you dare), but the use of “fascists´ or even “Nazis” to describe young conservatives, perhaps ignorant and bigoted white conservatives, poses the MSM no problems.

Oh my!!!

British conductor Matthew Halls recently sacked from his post as artistic director of the Oregon Bach Festival in the purported liberal but obviously politically correct college town of Eugene, may be pondering such anomalies this morning.  Apparently, as is the case with the Korean “conflict”, the American Civil War never really ended and tumbling monuments is just not enough.

Jokes are now verboten if they’re tasteless.  We agree, that’s politically correct, they have been for a while now.  After all, humor is irreverent, the seventeenth century Puritans told us so and they invented Thanksgiving.  But just to make sure, let’s make innocent jokes misinterpreted by busybodies of the purportedly liberal variety verboten as well.

After all, Identity Politics requires the tumbling of real people.

Polarization.

Isn’t that a fascist tactic?
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© Guillermo Calvo Mahé; Manizales, 2017; all rights reserved.  Please feel free to share with appropriate attribution.

Guillermo Calvo Mahé (a sometime poet) is a writer, political commentator and academic currently residing in the Republic of Colombia although he has primarily lived in the United States of America (of which he is a citizen).  Until recently he chaired the political science, government and international relations programs at the Universidad Autónoma de Manizales.  He has academic degrees in political science (the Citadel), law (St. John’s University), international legal studies (New York University) and translation studies (the University of Florida’s Center for Latin American Studies).  He can be contacted at wacalvo3@autonoma.edu.co or guillermo.calvo.mahe@gmail.com and much of his writing is available through his blog at http://www.guillermocalvo.com.