Obama's professional government

President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order on Friday that would allow government to seize control of industry and assets in situations the administration deems an emergency.

It's all done in the name of "preparedness." But it reads more like fascism.

For those who haven't read them, I recommend a couple of books.

First is They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer. It gives account of the rise of fascism in Germany in the 1930s. I've quoted from the book in the past:

This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter. 

The other book worth reading is It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. Written in the 1930s, it tells of a fictional rise of a fascist American president. In the book, voters embrace the populist message of candidate Buzz Windrip, and dismiss his threats to capitalism as merely electioneering babble. But upon election, Windrip destroys congressional oversight and seizes power over industry and other institutions, leading to dire consequences.