Yesterday I bought a book at the place I go on Sundays—some call it a church, but given the sermon on the cognitive dissonance of Unitarians I think I’d better not call it a church. It’s just the UU. I bought Pat Bagley’s latest book, Clueless George Takes on Liberals.

This past summer, Pat Bagley spoke at our building that isn’t quite a church. Even my young daughter went to hear him. She has ambitions to write political graphical novels now.

My children read Pat Bagley’s books regularly (including I Spy a Nephite for a little local color). I hadn’t read the other two Clueless George books, Clueless George Goes to War and Clueless George Is Watching You, before they were sucked into the children’s collection, so I read this one quickly as people came in to sit in the pews.

This is George.
George likes to dress up.
George is the president.
George is a monkey.

This is Bertrand.
Bertrand studies hard.
Bertrand cares about people.
Bertrand always plays fair.
Bertrand is a liberal.
Bertrand is a jackass.

Clueless George invites Bertrand to a party, and George’s friends are all over Bertrand. Poor Bertrand. His mother told him to be polite, so he is. He is polite and silent. He doesn’t speak up, and The Man and Karl the Klown (“Wonk, Wonk.”) keep beating him as long as he takes it.

So, the question is, will Bertrand keep taking it?

Will Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, and Harry Reid be polite? Sure, they were polite this past week–even when the White House wasn’t polite. Will they continue to be silent, though? How could Pelosi already say she’s taking impeachment off the table? Howard Dean said in the weekly Democratic Radio Address that Democrats would be “tough and smart” on defense. I hope that goes for everything else, too. Wouldn’t that be nice to see everyone be tough and smart and no one be terribly and stupidly polite? I don’t particularly have any desire for them to be ridiculously inappropriate, but I want to see them call a criminal a criminal and a monkey a monkey.

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First, Congress. Then, Defense.

Will the presents never stop? I’m sure they will. I don’t mean to be greedy, but I respectfully request another gift.

May we please have democracy back?
All branches, please?

I want to see Executive accountability—not only investigations into loosely covered criminal activities and corruption by corporate interests but compulsion of full compliance with all inquiries.

A new direction for America and handshakes across the aisle are great. I want to believe it. I want to see it. I am keeping in mind, though, that we don’t skip the fascist groove so easily. We need to rebuild into the system checks, rebalances, and accountability for a very nearly unthinkable corruption of the democratic ideal.

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Collect them all.

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There was a time, even a couple of years ago, when people were still whispering about fascism. I read the transcripts of a sermons by the Austin, Texas, UU Minister and former Vietnam combat photographer, Dr. Davidson Loehr on “Living under Fascism.” (Now part of his book, America, Fascism, and God.) It was electric to see someone put it into words, to go through Lawrence Britt’s 14 points of fascism and check them off one by one. I realized I wasn’t alone in recognizing the creeping authoritarianism in the U.S. (and beyond).

As soon as it was reprinted in early 2005, I read Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here (1935). I took it overseas with me and wondered. Just wondered. (Come on. I know people who wonder whether their harmless and 1st-amendment protected novels will cause trouble during a search.)

As I’ve seen several times in the past few days George Allen’s people assault the (blogger) man asking Allen about his first wife, I’ve considered what made the tough guys believe it was OK to tackle this guy for asking a question (even if it was personal). “Did you spit on your first wife?” BAM! Down he goes. “Now you’re getting personal,” said one of the thugs. Isn’t that man’s speech protected by the 1st Amendment? That hasn’t been repealed yet, has it? Yes, of course it’s not fascism when we do it.

I already wrote about the Bush administration’s fun with the term “Islamofascism.” Tossing the word around makes it more familiar and, perhaps, less scary. It still scares me, though.

Then I read an article and listen to a story this past month that bring it into the present. First was the Truthdig podcast by Robert Scheer including American Fascism, then an article by Stan Goff, a Special Forces veteran, on “Sowing the Seeds of Fascism in America.”

I have spent enough time studying the fascist movements of the mid-twentieth century that I realize we are frogs boiling slowly. It’s happening so slowly that we don’t jump. JUMP!

What good does vigilance do us. Yes, I’m paying attention. Yes, I see it. What do I do about it? The answer I’m coming up with right now is so simple: VOTE.

And encourage those around you to vote. Talk to the people around you about the dangers of authoritarianism. Face to face is the place we have the most power. Tell the other frogs to jump.

• American: From Freedom to Fascism (feature film by Aaron Russo)
  Review: “The scariest damn film you’ll see this year. . . . Makes ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′ look like ‘Bambi.’”
  Watch it at Google Video.

• Positive Universe - Fascism Watch Headlines

• Third World Traveler - linked up resources

• It Isn’t Fascism When We Do It - Buy the shirt, support Project for the Old American Century

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The voting troubles have begun. Even my local early voting is jammed. I voted last week, but I had no wait and no problems (that I know of). I had intended to vote absentee, but the County Clerk’s office was slow slow slow in sending out the information. (I signed up months ago, and the signature form arrived only after I voted early on the electronic machines.) At least part of the reason I voted early was to vote at the public library rather than at a church. I DON’T WANT TO VOTE AT A CHURCH. How can that be approved? Is it just Utah? At the public library, Dan Jones asked me who I voted for, so I told Mr. pollster man-boy.

News of the voting troubles seems to be mainstream. Is HBO mainstream? Diebold doesn’t like HBO’s new documentary, Hacking Democracy, to be shown in heavy rotation this coming weekend. If you need convincing that the situation is serious, take a quick look at the HBO interview with Bev Harris, founder of Black Box Voting.

Get serious and get out there. My local party has teams of poll watchers to send out on election day. There are national fair voting campaigns for any level of commitment except apathy.

• TEXT MESSAGE. The Ruckus Society (the people who brought us the War Profiteers playing cards) will text message you to go to your local polling place if you are needed. Watch the video first.

• VIDEO. Video the Vote is encouraging people to take their phones and cameras to polling places to document what they find. Register there as a videographer. For the moment, it’s still legal for you to videotape the exercise of democracy.

• From HOUSE PARTY to LAWSUIT. For the seriously committed, Black Box Voting has prepared an amazingly thorough Citizen’s Toolkit. Register there to become part of the National Hand Count Registry. They have also provided online chapters of the book Black Box Voting to help you as you discuss the issues.

• MANY CAMPAIGNS. A longish article on Alternet Monday links to many of the campaigns to document the vote and prevent fraud.

For now, the government is still what we the people say it can be. Get up on your feet, find out what is going on locally, and tell everyone else. If all we can say is, “All’s quiet,” we’ll all share our surprise together.

Update: Alternet started a center for Voting Resources.  Good stuff.

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