On Sept. 16, a man on a radio talk show said, “It’s the communist Jews who are destroying this country!”

This person obviously knew nothing of history, of the war against fascism and the German Nazis, who said exactly the same thing. And this man worries me, because I took part in that war and I recognized the symptoms of fascism.

Fascism is simply control by the corporate sector, control of government and the people by the CEOs.

It begins with corruption of government by simply giving officials money to vote a certain way, and that way is always in the favor of the corporations’ profits.

I watched on television news those thousands of middle-aged people romping down the streets of Washington, D.C., with staring eyes and clenched fists, waving signs and yelling insults at President Obama.

They called for vengeance on imaginary communists and socialists and gays and public health care and aliens. I knew we had taken the first step down a very dangerous road.

All that’s missing is a leader who is bankrolled by the corporations. But the Republicans can’t seem to come up with anything better than Sarah Palin, so we’re safe for now.

Probably a third of the public are afraid of government, not knowing that government is simply a tool of whoever controls it.

It can be controlled by the majority or by a handful of psychopathic industrialists.

So long as people in government are elected by massive injections of corporate money, we’re in trouble.

Raj Shivapriyan

Bainbridge Island