May I just add that the rhetorical use of the word fascism to describe the Bush administration actually enhaces the chances of fascism coming to America wrapped in an American flag.
and so Carrol wrote:
I would agree with this, but I think there is another danger that such rhetorical slovenliness enhances even more -- a steady increase in repression until we have the equivalent of fascist repression within still democratic forms.
While I think the overuse of the term fascism is best avoided, I disagree that doing so increases the likylihood of such happening. I think that argument needs more substance than it has received here if it is to have legs. The posts so far seem to be an appeal to consequences more than anything else.
Overuse would probably empty the term of any precise meaning but help to bring it about?
How else, other than wrapped in the flag, would a fascist regime likely come to power in the US?
John Thornton