Gothic government: a 1990s remix

Today's Gothic politics comes from a right-wing journalist, who repurposes 1990s' FEMA fears.   Glenn Beck broods out loud about an Obama administration heading towards "socialism, totalitarianism beyond your wildest imagination."  He mentions "FEMA camps" and "FEMA prisons." 

If you have any kind of fear that we might be headed towards a totalitarian state, look out!  Buckle up.  There's something going on in our country that is... it ain't good.

Another Fox News person asks: "FEMA camps are all over the US, and they're empty?"  Beck: "Yeah."

One would have thought that FEMA's bungling of Katrina would have scotched these conspiracy theories forever.  But the 1990s remix is apparently on, and this meme might be one to watch during the Obama administration, especially as the president's popularity remains high, while the economy lurches.

Beck also raises the specter of a mysterious military battalion quartered in the US since 2008: "[i]t's a sanding battalion... a super-Guard."  (Wasn't there a left-wing version of this, last year?)

Beck intones marvelously, like Vincent Price: "Name the monster in the dark and have no fear."  Then, with still more ham: "Naaaaaame.  Evil." 

There's also a fun/scary peasants-with-torches moment in that passage, an evocative "there are more of us then there are of them."

Here's the clip. Things start around 90 seconds in, after Russia.  I guess there was a followup show, but I didn't see it - anyone?

(via William Gibson)

Comments

[D'Arcy Norman]

um... obama's only been in power for a few months now - who do they think BUILT these camps? Unless they were Acme InstaCamp - just add water! - they've been there for years, and would be the brood of GWB and friends. FEAR! NAME!

[Steven Kaye]

Neat, Rex 84 recycling.

[Christine]

On Daily Kos, someone pointed out that Beck is ripping off an X-Files plot - and not even the show, but the 1998 movie.

D'Arcy - you're expecting wingnuts to use critical thinking skills. Stop that. :)

[Jesse Walker]

One would have thought that FEMA's bungling of Katrina would have scotched these conspiracy theories forever.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. When the feds decided to react to Katrina by militarizing the city and sending men door to door to disarm people, I thought, "Isn't this the scenario the militias spent the '90s warning us about?"

[Ian]

Been dealing with FEMA since a catastrophic ice storm here in December. It's incredible how complicated, intricate, and slow all their processes are. The organization itself is rather a holy trinity, though. Primarily you've got The Son in Emergency-Manager types who arrange most of the operations; salvation cometh through him, especially when he knocks on your door with fresh water and a sandwich. You've got the Bureaucrats who handle the organization itself, as well as some of the more abstract logistics; Holy Spirit, then, as they support the Son. And finally you have God the Father, jealous and wrathful at times, in the guise of Department of Homeland Security transplants. These are the people who coordinate the militarization of operations, among other things (yes, FEMA is under DHS now, but DHS types differ from FEMA types, if you get my meaning).

EM's and Beauracrats fill most of the FEMA ranks, though, and especially given that any operation FEMA can mount has to be severely regionalized, I'm not worried about a secret FEMA government being established any time soon.

[Bryan Alexander]

D'Arcy, wouldn't they skip Bush, and blame Clinton for building them?

Steve Kaye, I wonder if Beck mentioned it in his own report. or screed. or whatever.

Christine, that's quite true. Did you see the clip with Martin Landau's character saying almost the same words?

Jesse, it depends on if those were Blackwater forces or not. :)

Ian, that's grim news (if a hilarious metaphor). We've had delays here, too, trying to get monies for last year's floods.

[Melanie]

Great piece. Like the tie in to earlier FEMA fears. Though I have to take issue with the "speculative" frame of the military deployment. It's 100% for real.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Northern_Command

I first read about this in Alternet, which reported the story just prior to the US elections. The story was often situated within the spectre of an unpopular election result. The left said it was the right's way of securing a stolen win with military might; the right claimed that citizens would revolt over an Obama win (there's your panic angle).
http://tinyurl.com/49sz64

Here is a related story in Democracy Now.
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2008/10/2/amy_goodmans_latest_column_invasion_of_the_sea_smurfs

[Bryan Alexander]

I appreciate that, Mel. Is there documentation of North Com's activities this year?

[Melanie]

I guess the Gothic angle here is that the doom and chaos never arrived. All spectre, no action. I wouldn't know where to obtain documentation of their activities, which I assume to be fairly limited. My concern, when I first read the Alternet piece, was the issue of deployment in civilian areas. This happened here in Canada in the 1960s/70s with the October Crisis (FLQ) and Trudeau's invocation of the war measures act and civilian curfew. I'm not sure when or if this has happened before North Com but it seemed concerning.

But on another note - I'm looking for a good collection of your pieces about "tech fear/panic" and wondering if you are tagging these in any of your bookmarks collections? I've looked at your various Gothic posts here and lots of great stuff. But wondering if there's an easier point of access? I am on Diigo now mostly.