Aside from ‘Climate Change’ (do try to keep up), which is a bit of a stretch, can you give me some examples of how ‘liberalism’ = ‘fascism’? Its a subject that interests me, as two are almost polar opposites.

“1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy”

Global warming! Global warming! We’re all going to die.

And “Fascism is coming!”

Seriously, you’ve got this pegged right. These screamin’ lefties have no idea what fascism really is. Sweet, tender Naomi needs to spend a month in the pages of “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” William Sheridan Allen’s “The Nazi Seizure of Power,” “The Order of the Death’s Head,” and John Toland’s “Adolf Hitler,” for starters if she really wants to know what REAL fascim is.

But probably not. The template is Bush = Hitler, so she knows all she needs to know, right?

Facist regimes always strive to create a vision of the past that is appealing, romantic, idealistic, and flat-out wrong. They use a mythical, supposedly superior, past as an alternative to the troubles of the present. While Socialists sell the future as the land of utopia, the Fascist sells the past as the land of utopia.

Germans were told that there was a great glorious past, when everybody wore lederhosen and was happy. The great Germanic tribes defeated the supposedly mighty Roman army at the battle of Teutoburg. And there were no Jews around to screw things up. Of course, the truth was that the Germanic tribes lived in squalor and had lives that couldn’t compare to the lives of modern Germans, even in the grip of out-of-control inflation during Weimar.

The Japanese were sold a past when their great warlords were in control. And those dirty filthy Chinese punks couldn’t do anything about it. In fact, the gods fought for Japan, didn’t they? After all, they stopped attacks on Japan from naval threats with the great winds.

What about the great Italian past when the Roman Empire ruled the known world? There was no one who could resist the legions of Rome. Romans had more wealth, better government, and better infrastructure than any other people on Earth. But the glories of the past had been tarnished by interlopers. Rome no longer had sprawling imperial posessions. Other powers had become colonial masters, leaving ancient Rome embarrassed by their irrelevance. It was time to take back their posession of the world that rightfully belonged to them.

It truly is both funny and ironic to read Woolf’s drivel, since I think it is fairly apparent to any clear thinking person that in 21st century America, if there is a real threat of fascism, it is clearly coming from the left.

Liberalism has embraced a real kind of fascism, and global warming is just the tip of that iceberg.

Fascism has a strong element of Nationalism. That said it is an *expansionist* form of Nationalism, looking to increase the reach of a Nation via annexation of territory. That is true of the two typesets for Fascism: Italy and Germany. You don’t have that, you have something else.

Second is the State Centralized economy. Fascism puts the ruling group or class in control of the economy and uses authoritarian and dicatatorial means to exercise that control for the State.

Third is militarism, enforced upon the population as a whole. The military or other paramilitary organizations that the State controls is used internal to the State to enforce order in an anti-democratic way. Methods are repression and terror. The military is also involved with the expansion of the State via military means.

Fourth is that Fascism is anti-liberal in the 19th century ‘rights of man as an individual’ sort of way. Via means of State control of information, the individual has reduced information, thus controlling the realm of thought for individuals and enforcing that downwards via military means.

Fascism is a structure that is religion independent, but religion is controlled by the State to State ends. That said, if a religion controls a State and uses mean to enforce itself, that, too, is Fascistic in nature.

A Fascistic State need not invoke any enemy, and, in point of fact, will utilize any Nation, group, or religion as a means to enforce its power. Enemies can be invoked for scapegoating and for giving an internal reason for expansionism, but that is only co-occurance with Fascism and is typical of many Authoritarian State types, like Communism, which also utilizes similar means for control.

Gulags are not necessary as part of a Fascistic State and happen in many Authoritarian State types, including Communism, Monarchies and Empires.

Fascism need not develop a ‘thug caste’ as it utilizes military control over the populace and enforces military codes upon its secret police. Many Authoritarian State types utilize thugs, but Fascists will only utilize such coming to power and then, typically, execute them if they cannot be converted into military groups as they are a threat to the State military control.

Harass citizens groups. This is typical of any Authoritarian group seeking power, and the amount of damage done by Fascists and Communists in Weimar Germany were legendary. Once in control of the State, however, all ‘citizens groups’ are under State control.

Engaging in arbitrary detention and release is typific of many Authoritarian States. That is not typific of Fascism, and many other types, typically Communist ones, exercised similar. One-man rule States also utilize this as a means of enforcing terror on the population.

Going after ‘key individuals’ is true of any Authoritarian State type, not just Fascism, as speaking out against those in control and utilizing State means are seen as a threat. From ruling juntas to Kleptocracies to Warlords to Emperors to Communist systems *all* do that.

Controlling the press is not limited to Fascism as in so many other things above, and is utilized not only by Authoritarian Nations, but in democracies during wartime via censorship.

Dissent equalling treason is true of *any* Authoritarian system, not just Fascism.

Give them a chance to power and the full set will be complete is something that is true of any organization seeking an Authoritarian regime or Nation.

What is missing is the typifics of economic control, de-individualization of people to State identification, utilizing militarism even at the level of political parties (always a bad sign in a democracy) and, finally, expansionist views towards the Nation State.

Perhaps, some day, people will actually learn the differences between Authoritarian regimes so as to properly name them and *not* just say something to get an emotional reaction. For that is an attempt at ‘thought control’ via emotions, and wholly repugnant to anyone wishing to allow the exercise of the rights of man without demeaning any portion of them by attaching inappropriate labels. For that, too, is an Authoritarian concept.

And leads to no good end.

JackM. tipped me to this, but I wasn’t sure how to address it. She outlines ten steps towards fascism, and then claims that Bush has accomplished, or at least set in motion, all ten of them. It’s just a triple……

on ‘Fascist America.’ (Blue Crab Boulevard)……