The Ambiguous Abundance of Fascists
Notice how everyone's a Fascist these days?

Bush, Osama, Saddam, the protestors, Islam, capitalist nations, Republicans...

If anyone were to actually claim this title--become the self-proclaimed Fascist--it would be much more interesting and much less like children's insults.

None of us, of course, know a bloody thing about Fascism as a theory instead of an insult. We know all but nothing of Benito Mussolini or Francisco Franco. We just know fascists are bad, against all that is good and deserve the worst punishment.

Still, at least we're not making fools of ourselves by yelling "Nazi." "Fascist" is better than the "Nazi" slander that tused to fly, because it's less silly. Some of these people could actually be fascists. But, most of us can tell you what a Nazi looks like but have never seen a Fascist.

Was there even a war in Italy in 1945? What have Spain and Italy got to do with it? When's the last time you saw a Fascist in a movie?

Meanwhile, I'm off to read some biographies of Franco and Mussolini and some histories of Spanish and Italian Fascism.

Fascism: 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.