In his letter to the editor published in the Halloween issue, Greg Williams (“It Has Happened Here,” 10/31) cites the 1919 Fascist Manifesto, which contains some very socialist-sounding proposals, in a lame attempt to equate socialism with fascism.
Like modern Republicans trying to convince African Americans to vote Republican because Lincoln abolished slavery, Williams ignores subsequent developments in Mussolini’s Italy. As Wikipedia puts it: “Of the Manifesto’s proposals, the commitment to corporative organization of economic interests was to be the longest lasting. Far from becoming a medium of extended democracy, parliament became by law an exclusively Fascist-picked body in 1929; being replaced by the ‘chamber of corporations’ a decade later.”
Williams also conveniently overlooks Mussolini’s ultimate rejection of socialism and advocacy of violence against socialists. Once in power, Il Duce saw to it that socialists and Communists were expelled from Parliament, and either prosecuted them or sentenced them to internment camps.
And, yes, Franklin Roosevelt indeed threatened to “pack” the Supreme Court because of its stubborn opposition to popular New Deal legislation. Roosevelt had been re-elected in a landslide but, just as we are witnessing today, the Republican-dominated court did everything they could to block the will of the people.
FDR’s court-packing threat was unpopular, even among many Democrats, and was defeated. Fortunately, following this battle, one justice chose to stop blocking administration policies, and Roosevelt was later able to appoint more justices to the court.
Despite the “court-packing” scandal, the American people went on to elect FDR for two more terms.
Vicki Dunaway
Florence
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
Comments are closed.