[lbo-talk] Using the label "fascist"

W. Kiernan wkiernan at ij.net
Sun May 18 05:28:11 PDT 2003


Stannard wrote:
>
> Charles Brown wrote:
> >
> > If you don't feel threatened by the current drift of the
> > U.S. you must be politically numb.
>
> Of course one should feel threatened---that's a red herring.
> I'm talking about your argument that it's okay to use
> inaccurate, unscientific hyperbole because what really
> matters is manipulating the public to react how we want
> them to. I'd rather die on my honest feet than score some
> dishonest political victory.

You can not be serious. You'd rather die than employ one possibly overheated epithet. You'd rather that I die than be associated with people who use somewhat exaggerated invective. What do you think world politics is, a chess game? a logic puzzle? Me, I'd far rather exaggerate or even outright lie my way out of the gas chamber, than walk in with my head held high.

Calling Bushism "fascism" is no lie anyway. About "unscientific hyperbole." For example, "We have proof that Saddam Hussein's government possesses four thousand kilograms of weaponized anthrax," that's a statement that is either true or false, and provided the material facts are known there can be no grey area for dispute. "Kilogram" is a precise "hard science" word, whereas "fascism" is a "soft science" word. There is no such thing as a universally agreed-upon precise "scientific" definition of the word "fascist." All you would mean by saying "The Bush Administration is a fascist junta" is that the Bush Administration's international policies and actions bear a considerable resemblance to the international policies of Hitler and Mussolini. Which obviously they do.

Yours WDK - WKiernan at concentric.net



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