I think the media play some roll in the near pathological resistance to using the word fascist by many on the left. The media will treat the Hannity's and O'Reilly's with kid gloves when they misuse words like communist, socialist, treason, or whatever. Generally media will be less forgiving of those on the left who label anything the US does in a negative way. You can say "bad things" happened because of US policies but you have to add that the US had good intentions. Almost anyone saying the US had bad intentions in the first place should expect either an immediate violent reaction or else expect to be ignored. Obviously this does not hold true 100% of the time. I am coming to believe that if enough people use the term fascist or authoritarian to label US behaviour that a real debate on some policies may come about. Maybe I'm just overly optimistic.
John Thornton