Cover.

Editor,

I used to think the U.S.A. today reminds me of Germany in the 1930's. But I have been reading about the rise of fascism in Italy in the 1920's, and the most tragic aspect of that story, in my opinion, is that Victor Emmanuel, who was the king of Italy, had numerous opportunities to crack down on Mussolini's violent, murdering thugs -- the black shirts -- and prosecute them for their crimes, but for some inexplicable reason he did not.

The parallel for me is the maddening weakness of Barack Obama in the face of relentless Republican obstructionism. At the very least he could reject Republican's framing of the debate, but he won't.

I honestly do not understand what Mr. Obama is afraid of. Where did the vision of economic democracy he ran on go? Why does he take at face value Republicans' sophistic arguments when everybody knows that all they are is cover for their obvious ideological goal: unlimited power for the corporations and the rich to plunder and the enslavement of everybody else?

Re: "http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/opinion/05tue1.html" (7/5/2011)