Introduction
I
have written this book in anticipation of the 25th Anniversary of the
Restoration of Constitutional Democracy in the United States, which will
occur on July 4th, 2048. The book
is a chronicle of the rise and fall of the Fascist regime in our country during the years 2001‑2023. It presents a bare‑bones view of
the events of the Fascist Period, as it could have been seen contemporaneously
to those events.
Further,
it shows how the origins of each major step taken by Right‑Wing Reaction
during the Period, in most instances represented by a major document,
can be found either in what is now called the U.S. pre‑fascist
"Transition Era," 1981‑2001, or in events that took place in
one or
another of the fascist states that existed in other parts of the world between
1922 and 1945.
Certainly
making no claims of equal quality, the book is intended to be in the tradition
of the 20th century writers Jack London's The Iron Heel and Sinclair Lewis' It
Can't Happen Here, as if they had written those books with 20/20
hindsight. While this book is
written with that benefit, those two great works were not. Regardless of level
of quality, however, the principal goals of this book are similar to
those of its forebears: to show the American people how, if the time and
conditions are ripe, a fascist take‑over of our national government can
occur primarily through Constitutional means; to describe the predictable
results of such an occurrence; and further to suggest how it might have been
prevented.
The Historical Perspective Presented
This
book shows in historical outline what happened when Right‑Wing Reaction
gained power and then proceeded to do exactly what it had said it would do if
it did so, no more, no less. Many
20th century sources are used to explicate the then‑stated goals of the
Right‑Wing Reactionaries, ranging from the 1992 Republican Party
Platform, to fund‑raising letters of one Reverend Jerry Falwell, to position
papers of the litigatory arm of the Rev. Pat Robertson's "Christian
Coalition" (the chief national political organization of the old
Religious Right), called the "American Center for Law and
Justice." All sources are
referenced in the text either by the name of the principal author or if none is
listed, by the name of the publisher. The reference sources are listed at the end of each chapter.
This
book does not deal with then‑projected outcomes of Right‑Wing
Reactionary policies over which there was in the late 20th century considerable
scientific controversy. Thus
for the most part excluded are, for example, in the environmental arena (except
for natural resources policy) the predictable effects of global warming
caused by human activity (Stevens), the marked destruction of the ozone layer,
and the sharp decline in biodiversity.
Many
of the predicted environmental disasters caused or significantly abetted
by Right‑Wing Reactionary policies did indeed occur, and our people are
now paying dearly for them. However, in the late 20th century, the outcomes of those policies
could not have been predicted with nearly the accuracy of those predictions
that could then be made of the political and economic outcomes for
the country if Right‑Wing Reaction took power.
Through
its presentation and analysis of major documents, the book shows how the three
branches of the Right‑Wing Reaction in the late‑20th century U.S.,
the Republican Right, the Religious Right, and the Far Right (such
organizations as The Order, the Aryan Nation, the Posse Comitatus), over time
formed a working coalition and took full political power at both the national
and state levels between 2001 and 2009.[1] They did so by in the first instance
following the electoral strategy developed by the Christian Coalition,
called "The 15% Solution" (see Chapter two). Hence the title of this book.
As
is now well‑known, once in power, Right‑Wing Reaction achieved
virtually all of its stated goals in the political, social, and economic
arenas, and then some. In the
beginning at least, through the electoral process they did this entirely by
legal/constitutional means. The
predictably widening use of force and violence came later. And the more profound results of the
takeover, such as the creation of the New American Republics came later
too, but predictably as well.
The Structure of the Book
This
book has three sections. Section I
sets the stage. Chapter one, "Prelude to Fascism," is an essay
written in 1995 by one Dino Louis, a political analyst of the time. (Several late 20th century analytical
and prescriptive essays or notes for essays by Mr. Louis, concerning major
socio‑political issues of the Transition Era are included in
the book, in Appendices II ‑ VII. There is no record that anyone with any political power or influence
ever paid any heed to Mr. Louis' recommendations. (For a brief biography of Mr.
Louis, see "The Historical Voices," below.) Chapter two presents an overview and
outline of the book.
Section
II, the book's longest, for the most part features selected historical
documents which marked major events of the Fascist Period. Annotating, highlighting, and
punctuating each of the documents are writings by four selected
observer/participants of the time. They provide comments/perspectives/reflections from several
different points of view. The bulk
of the text, however, is provided by me in (longer) "Author's
Commentaries" and (shorter) "Author's Notes."
Section
III presents a retrospective chapter (20) by me considering "What Could
Have Been Done" to prevent the national nightmare from ever
occurring. Appendix VII, an essay
by Dino Louis on his untried political/ideological strategy for preventing the
rise of Fascism, called "The New Patriotism," can be read in tandem
with Chapter 20.
The Historical Voices
The
selected writings appearing throughout the book are by the following five
historical figures:
•Dino Louis. A
well‑known, well‑respected, and well‑employed free‑lance
sports journalist, Louis engaged in political analysis on the side. From time‑to‑time he made
attempts to draw attention to his political work, but was never successful
in so doing.
Louis
disappeared in 2001. It is not known whether he was able to successfully
emigrate. Many who could afford it
did in that year before foreign travel for American citizens was restricted as
it had been during the McCarthy Era of the 1950s. (In that case he may just have maintained a low profile
abroad to avoid detection by the International Death Squads.) Or he may have
been caught and "disappeared" in the old CIA‑inspired
Latin American style of the 1970s and 1980s by a pre‑Helmsmen Domestic
Death Squad. In any case, he had sent copies of the essays reproduced here to
his friend Alex Poughton in London, as they were written. Those copies,
preserved in Poughton's library, are used here with permission.
•Alex Poughton. The pencil‑thin English journalist Alex Poughton sported a pencil‑thin
mustache and bore a striking resemblance to the well‑known English
actor of the second half of the twentieth century, David Niven. Poughton
chronicled the Fascist Period for the London Sunday Times under the head
"American Democracy." Staying in political tune with the owner of his paper, Poughton's
published writings were generally favorable to the Fascist regime, and he was
able to remain in and travel freely throughout the country (as a
whole before 2011 and in the White Republic after that date).
However, published here are
not his public puff pieces but private letters that he sent home by
diplomatic pouch (through his connections in the British Embassy)
from time to time. They present a
rather different picture of American reality. The "Karl" to whom
these letters were written has never been identified. Thus the originals are lost. But along with the Louis essays, copies
are preserved in Poughton's library and are used here with permission.
•Curley Oakwood. At 6'5" tall, weighing in at 320 lbs., his shaved head was always
slightly aglow with sweat when bathed in the glow of television lights. He was the dominant electronic media
figure of the Period. Presented
here are transcripts of broadcasts he made during the Fascist Period, until he
went off the air the day before New Washington fell in 2023.
A
high‑school drop‑out with a great radio voice, a great deal of personal
hate and resentment of anyone he regarded as "different," and a great
ability to absorb quickly and regurgitate faithfully the intensive political
coaching he received daily throughout his career from his Right‑Wing
political mentors, Oakwood began his career at the age 25 in 1997.
Late
in the Transition Era (1980 ‑ 2001), he had succeeded one Rush Limbaugh
as the dominant Right‑Wing presence on the contemporary mediums of
"talk‑radio" and "talk‑television." He proceeded to go beyond
Limbaugh, taking his one‑time mentor's often subtle expressions of hatred
and anger that were beginning to wear thin and become too subtle for many of
Limbaugh's 20 million listeners to follow, to a much more open form.
Imitating
the example of lesser‑light reactionaries who had begun to appear mainly
on local talk‑radio in the mid‑1990s, Oakwood made it abundantly
clear to everyone listening just how hateful and angry he was. In that time of
mounting frustration and rage for so many in the country, open hate just began
to play much better than any even slightly veiled version. (Radio station KFSO in San Francisco,
CA was one of the first to begin the "open hate" trend, early in
1995.)
Oakwood
went on to become the leading public, non‑governmental voice of the
American Fascists for their whole time in power. Unrepentant until the end, in 2026 at the age of 54 he
was publicly hung for the crime of "a principal leader of American
Fascism." It was an unusual
role to play for a media figure who remained in media. But it was one he had sought, and in
the eyes of the forces whose interests he doggedly and faithfully served, he
served them well.
•"Short, blond, and perky," according to a
contemporary's description, Constance "Connie" Conroy was a
White House press officer who managed to maintain her post through every
twist and turn of the intense political infighting which characterized the
Fascist Period. Her commentaries
reproduced in this book are brief excerpts from a set of non‑system,
secret notes she kept throughout the time on an ancient computer called a
"PC."
Conroy
had first arrived in the White House under President Pine (despite his age some
say literally, others figuratively) shortly after his accession to the
Presidency in 2001, and lasted until the end. By pure chance, her old computer fell intact into the hands
of the Constitutionalist forces during the conquest of New Washington. Fortunately for us, a technician
of the Movement for the Restoration of Constitutional Democracy
figured out how to work it.
Conroy's
notes, incomplete as they are, have provided the only "inside
look" available to historians of the period. Following the lead of American Right‑Wing
Reactionaries in government ever since the famous "White House
Tapes" incident which forced the resignation of President Richard Nixon in
1973, all of the official written and computer records of the whole
Fascist Period located in New Washington were destroyed by the Fascists in the
frantic weeks just before the city fell.
Conroy
was Isolated for five years following the end of the Second Civil
War. After her release she married
a retired Constitutionalist press officer, and is still alive at this
writing. As readers will be
aware, since the written record is so sparse, any writings of former
Fascists, whether private or public, are by law in the public domain and so permission
to reproduce is not required.
•Parthenon "Pudge" Pomeroy, the owner of a
gasoline station in northern New Jersey, was an archetypal supporter and
beneficiary of American Fascism. (Accounting for his strange given name were the facts that his parents
were travelling in Greece the summer he was conceived, and liked
alliteration. His childhood nickname
had been considered to parsimoniously describe his appearance. People viewing at the same time adult
and childhood photographs of him often remarked how much like
"himself" he looked at an early age.)
Well
over‑age during the Second Civil War, but forced to work for the Army of
the NAR as a human pack animal (ironically for a man in his business, petroleum
no longer being available for the mere transportation of supplies), he was
killed during the Battle for the Liberation of New York in 2022. A diary kept by him from the year 2003,
when he took over the family gasoline station from his father at the age 38,
was found on his person. He had no
known survivors.
Conclusion
Many
books have been written about the Fascist Period. In fact, it has been estimated that if not for the chronic
paper shortage, in the 25 years since the Restoration more books would have
been written about both the Period and the Second Civil War than had been
written about slavery and the First Civil War in the 100 years following the
latter's conclusion. Many of
these books have been devoted to detailed historical descriptions of
the events, monumental and not so monumental, that took place during the
time. Some of the more important
ones are cited in the reference lists for this book.
However,
as noted, this book has a rather different perspective from that of a
conventional history book. I want
people living now to know, not in detail about the depredations wreaked on
our economy, polity, and society by the Fascists (although those are covered in
outline), not about the defeats the Constitutionalist forces endured for
so many years and the detailed story of their eventual victory, not about the
wide‑spread environmental degradation at all levels that took place and from
which we are still struggling to recover, but rather about how easily the
forces of Right‑Wing Reaction took over, how step‑by‑step
they created Fascism by apparently legal means, how precious and at‑the‑time
unappreciated our Constitutional Democracy was, and what must be done,
even now, to defend it.
Jonathan
Westminster, Ph.D.
Department
of Political Science
New
State University of New York
Middletown,
N.Y.
March
23, 2048
References:
Stevens, W.K., "Scientists Say Earth's Warming Could
Set Off Wide Disruptions," New York Times, September 18, 1995, p. 1.
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The original edition of “The 15% Solution” is available on Amazon.com and on BarnesandNoble.com. The
2004 print-on-demand re-issue from Xlibris is also available on Amazon.com and
on BarnesandNoble.com. You will find a “Sub-Home Page” for the
serialization at the lower right-hand corner of the Home Page for www.TPJmagazine.us. It contains such items as the Disclaimer,
cast of characters, author’s bio., cover copy, and several (favorable) reviews,
and will have a full archive of all the chapters as they are published over
time. The serialization is also
appearing on www.BuzzFlash.com, Dandelion Salad; The Greanville POST; and TheHarderStuff newsletter.