Everywhere you go throughout the Left-o-sphere, they like to talk about Bush, his admin, and Republicans as fascist. Take a quick peak at Right Wing News for an example. It is a word that is thrown around quite a bit, but I am not so sure that the Lefties know what it means. Let’s check the dictionary for "fascism" (fascist refers people to fascism)
NOUN:
1. often Fascism a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government. 2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.
Central dictatorial authority: I guess one could believe that about Bush and Co if one is clueless. If you called Mussolini what Bush as called, you WOULD disappear into the night.
Stringent socioeconomic controls: it isn’t the GOP that wants control over all social and economic factors, preferring to only interfere when necessary, rather then for the hell of it. It wasn’t the GOP pushing for the anti-smoking legislation throughout the country or subsidizing artists.
Suppression of opposition: which Party had the most people arrested for violence and was linked to the most violence during the 2004 election cycle? Yup, the Democrats. 1800 arrested while protesting the GOP convention, versus 12 GOP at the Dem Convention. It wasn’t Republicans smearing feces on themselves to attempt to keep the cops from busting them. Remember the assaults on the Raleigh and Orlando GOP headquarters? The moonbat who tried to run over Katherine Harris? Boy, the list goes on and on. Oh, and don’t forget the whole "politically correct" movement, and assault on Constitutionally guaranteed Free Speech, propagated by, yup, Democrats.
Belligerent nationalism and racism: it isn’t the GOP who has looked to take control of business through massive regulation. Consider the FCC. Which Parties President signed it into law? Yup, a Dem. FDR in 1934. Racism? Which Party constantly talks about it while actually being against Civil Rights (see this post from yesterday)? Democrats.
Take a look at this paragraph from Wikipedia:
Fascism is typified by totalitarian attempts to impose state control over all aspects of life: political, social, cultural, and economic. The fascist state regulates and controls (as opposed to nationalizing) the means of production. Fascism exalts the nation, state, or race as superior to the individuals, institutions, or groups composing it. Fascism uses explicit populist rhetoric; calls for a heroic mass effort to restore past greatness; and demands loyalty to a single leader, often to the point of a cult of personality.
Reads more like the Democratic agenda then the GOP agenda. Liberalism talks about the individual, but stresses "getting on board," "being a team player," toeing the line," etc. Most Liberal blogs all tend to take the same tone, which is passed down from Kos, MoveOn, ACT, etc. Conservative blogs often have disagreements. Who are the fascist sheeple and who are the free thinkers, hm-mm?
I agree, Democrats fit the definition much better than Republicans. They keep trying to twist words into different meanings. Who would have guessed that a President would question the definition of the intransitive verb, is?
Central dictatorial authority
A contemporary example:
Good post. I’m surprised you don’t have at least a few Liberal readers commenting “Nuh uh! You’re wrong! It’s Bushitlerhaliburtonchimpy who’s the fascist! Rethuglicans want to control every aspect of life! And their penises are smaller, too!”