> >Without knowing the US culture really and deeply, I do get the impression
> >that fascism is a continuing feature of US political life, and that people
> >like Scott and Charles are right to warn against it.
>
> [I dunno, Chris, is US culture something you *want* to know deeply? Here's
> a story off today's AP wire. I saw one of these postcards depicted in
> yesterday's NY Times; it was beyond belief.]
>
> NYC Gallery Shows Lynching Photos
>
> New York (AP) -- Once upon a time in America, mobs dragged people out of
> jails or off the streets and hanged them from the nearest tree. Sometimes
> they burned them alive.
>
> Then, often as not, members of the mob lined up to be photographed with the
> deceased.
>
glb writes:
A common element in those photo vignettes of Americana is that the crowd/mob rarely, if ever, shies away from the camera. Smiling, laughing, hoisting a drink instead of attempting to shield their identities; obviously not concerned with any future legal, or other, prosecution/retaliation.