I agree with Dan that it’s a little silly to refer to a FEMA spokesman’s comments about the commitment and loyalty of some firefighters as “fascist.” Appalling, yes; fascist, no.
However, the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in the case of Jose Padilla strikes me as a much better candidate for the “fascist” label, since it basically gives the government carte blanche to detain U.S. citizens on the suspicion of having cavorted with having spoken to suspected members of being in the same room as a member of conspiring with Al Qaeda to harm the United States in some way. Padilla is a U.S. citizen, mind you, which is what makes this particular ruling so ominous; the Bush Administration designated him an enemy combatant three years ago and he’s been sitting in a naval brig without being charged with anything ever since.
That’s scary stuff. The Washington Post also reports that
The ruling limits the president’s power to detain Padilla to the duration of hostilities against al Qaeda, but the Bush administration has said that war could go on indefinitely.
which is not really very comforting.
What’s next, the Two Minutes Hate?
Patrick Thaddeus Jackson is Professor of International Studies in the School of International Service, and also Director of the AU Honors program. He previously taught at Columbia University and New York University. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University in 2001. In 2003-4, he served as President of the International Studies Association-Northeast; in 2012-2013, he did so again. He was formerly Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Relations and Development, and is currently Series Editor of the University of Michigan Press' book series Configurations: Critical Studies of World Politics. He was named the 2012 U.S. Professor of the Year for the District of Columbia by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Jackson's research interests include culture and agency, international relations theory (particularly the intersection of realism and constructivism), scientific methodology, the role of rhetoric in public life, civilizations in world politics, the sociology of academic knowledge, popular culture and IR, and the formation of subjectivity both in the classroom and in the broader social sphere. Jackson is also a devoted (some might say “obsessive”) baseball fan, and a self-proclaimed sci-fi geek.
0 Comments