Republican activists want to brand Obama and his policies "fascist." So, they're resorting to the tried and true tricks of the vast right wing conspiracy, with a little modern day social networking:
The epithet, commonly associated with Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy, gained new currency among conservatives with the publication of Jonah Goldberg’s 2008 book, “Liberal Fascism.” This spring, an article in The American Spectator titled “Il Duce, Redux?” called Mr. Obama’s goals, language and conception of government “straight out of Mussolini’s playbook.”Yes, this is another one of the new ideas from today's Republican leaders. It ranks right up there with cow farts.
Mr. Anuzis noted that the Fox News commentator Glenn Beck had picked up the theme, as did some participants at the antitax “tea party” rallies last week. Mr. Anuzis spreads the word on Facebook and Twitter.
And, what a surprise that the term goes from Goldberg to The American Spectator to FOX News. Who would have other guessed that would happen? (Answer: Any reporter or observer who has watched the GOP in action for the past 20 years.)
Mr. Anuzis, the former chair of the Michigan Republican Party, is a GOP leader. And, guess who he's working with now? Newt:
“It’s politically very incorrect only because we’re not used to it,” concluded Mr. Anuzis, who recently joined American Solutions for Winning the Future, a group led by Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker. But he acknowledged, “You’ve got to be careful using the term ‘economic fascism’ in the right way, so it doesn’t come off as extreme.”Is there really a right way to use the term "fascism"? It only sounds extreme. And, I don't think most Americans even know what it means.
