Is It Fascism Yet? Experts Disagree

Over at the vastly entertaining and provocative 10ZenMonkeys, RU Sirius has asked a bunch of wise men (and one woman) whether the U.S. is now a fascist country--a fair enough question given the way that various folks across the spectrum throw around the term. The responses range from hell yes to don't be stupid and worth a look. Here's a snippet from Ken Layne, blogger extraordinaire and a central player at the dearly departed Sploid:

Humorless liberals yell "Fascist!" at anything they don't like: NASCAR, Wal-Mart, or especially somebody enjoying a nice hamburger.

The Neocons have made the bizarre decision that Fascism is actually a 1,400-year-old Semitic religion from Arabia, even though that religion is virtually indistinguishable from the monotheistic Semitic religions they claim to follow. Of course, the Neocons are the closest thing to a purely Fascist party in America.

And my beloved libertarians have the bad habit of believing Fascism is a mom asking grandpa not to blow cigar smoke on the babies, or the cops asking some target shooters to point away from the pre-school….

It's not fascism, yet. And it's unlikely that the USA's post-9/11 dystopia will ever be called Fascism by future historians. It will never become outright Fascism if enough of us take our guns to D.C. and clean house.

More--from the likes of Michael Badnarik's campaign consultant, Howard "Smart Mobs" Rheingold, and sexpert Suzie Bright--here.