• Fascism: Left or Right?

I always hate it when I go on the more idiotic political discussion boards because riled up conservatives show up calling liberals fascists. They need to sit down, review some history behind fascism, and learn the meaning of the word. I came across a great post while on Technorati this evening that I think those conservatives need to read. Of course, they aren't going to read it because they behave exactly like this article says they do and they will simply shrug it off as liberal media bs so they can sleep at night.

The name of the post is If conservatives really, really hate being called fascists …
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2008/02/if-conservatives-really-really-hate.html

(The thing is, liberals really really hate being incorrectly called fascists)

... maybe they shouldn't talk and act like them. Maybe they shouldn't, at every turn, reveal their innate misogyny every time they talk about Hillary Clinton -- or for that matter, virtually any liberal woman politician. [RUSH] LIMBAUGH: But a lot of Democrats are worried that, you know, she doesn't have what it takes. She doesn't connect on TV. We talked about this. She doesn't come across as friendly. She doesn't -- she, you know, she's like -- my favorite name for her is Nurse Ratched. I mean, we created this whole concept of a testicle lockbox in connection with Mrs. Clinton.
...
There is a kind of interlocking directorate between white nationalists, gun culture, right-wing politicians, mercenary culture (like Soldier of Fortune), vigilante and militia movements, and elements within both Special Forces and—now—the privatized mercenary forces. It is hyper-masculine, racialist, militaristic and networked.

It really pins down the reality I experience here in the South walking amongst the gun toting, bible thumping, male rednecks and their kin folk. These conservatives really are laying the groundwork for the fascist right wing regime.  

What I often find very ironic is that these same conservatives tend to toss the following little tidbit out into discussions. They like to talk about how if the USA didn't kick some ass in WWII, we'd all be speaking German. You find that sort of comment in discussions related to the Iraq War and whether or not people support the troops. They like to throw it in your face that the troops are over there fighting for our freedom of speech to say what we do. Funny how we kicked the asses of fascists, but years down the road , these folks start resembling fascists. As a side note, Iraq has absolutely jack to do with freedom of speech over here. We're there for Iraqis now, not to protect our own freedom of speech from being destroyed by some foreign adversary. Anyone who says otherwise sounds an awful lot like those nationalistic Nazis we fought. 

nationalism
patriotic feeling, principles, or efforts
•an extreme form of this, especially marked by a feeling of superiority over other countries
•advocacy of political independence for a particular country

fascism
an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization
• (in general use) extreme right wing, authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice
First used in the Mussolini right-wing regime (1922-1943) and the Nazi regime in Germany.

If you also look up fascism in an encyclopedia, you'll learn that fascists didn't like socialism or communism. So the next time you call a liberal both a socialist and a fascist, I think you need to stop and rethink things. I can't believe some guy actually wrote a book called Liberal Fascism.