I protest.

This is how fascism works.

Today Rayne was at a protest rally near her home. Judging from her remarks and from the photos she posted, the protestors themselves were reasonably calm and nonviolent. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the Bush supporters.

Rayne can tell this better than I can (so go read her posts), but as I understand it, this is what happened: As people poured out of the civic center they saw the protestors. Apparently egged on by a (very) few ringleaders, they angrily approached the protestors and began to scream at them, to push and shove them. As Rayne describes it,

People pushing and shoving at me, screaming at me, trying to block my photos.

And

But there's simply no way to describe how fucking scary it was to have a thousand Bush supporters chanting and screaming at you, no way out, hemmed against a wall with 50 or 60 protesters.

I think if I hadn't been taking pictures, I might have gotten pushed harder.

And all I was doing was holding a sign, "Pollution is not a Family Value".

Why did this happen? Well, what happens when you get a large number of people together and pump them up with fear and hatred, with claims that "Democrats are stealing the election" and that those that oppose the administration support terrorism. What happens when people actually believe ones claim that one is "appointed by God" and then see those who oppose their self-appointed messiah? What happens when a demagogue fills his followers with fear and hatred of "the other" just so he can manipulate them into keeping him in power?

Bush and Cheney, of course, have no other way of selling their administration than by lies and manipulation. Unfortunately, there are always the people to which Lincoln referred whom, he said, can be fooled "all of the time."

So these people emerged from their rally filled with religious fervor for their messiah and with fear of and hatred for anyone who might oppose Him. When they saw the protestors, they reacted as one might expect: With anger and violence.

Now, I'm not calling all those on the Right fascists, nor all Republicans, nor all conservatives. Just Bush and Cheney and those close to them. This is fascism, literally and actually.

Go read David Neiwert if you don't believe me.

Update: Rayne has posted a longer description of the event on her weblog.