Bush calls Muslim Terrorists "Islamo-Fascists" again

Geoffrey Nunberg is the author of Talking Right, a book about politics and language. In today's LA Times, Nunberg says Bush doesn't really know what he's talking about. Bush has used the term before, but the current use of the phrase signaled that the administration was shopping for new language to defend its policies at a time when the evocations of the "war on terror" don't seem to stem rising doubts about the wisdom of "staying the course" in Iraq.

Nunberg rightly says that this administration is attempting to link its "War on Terror" to World War II, the last "just war." He quotes Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) from last month, as he raised the specter of the Islamists' dreams of "a new, global caliphate where Islamic fascism will rule mankind," and he reminded the audience that "we had no problem understanding that Nazism and fascism were evil racist empires. We must now bring the same clarity to the war against Islamic fascism."

By lumping ex-Baathists, Al Qaeda and Shiite mullahs; Chechens and Kashmiris; Hezbollah, Hamas, British-born Asians, and the ACLU together as Islamo-Fascists, the neo-cons are attempting to turn the complexity of the world into a simple fable. (Perhaps they'll call it "My Pet Goat.")

But what is Fascism? Well, The Project for an OLD American Century lists the 14 points of fascism.

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.



2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.
Bush threatens to veto $442b defense bill if Congress investigates detainee abuses.


3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause. (Ann Coulter: Godless: The Church of Liberalism

4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism. Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

Funding for job training, rural health care, low-income schools and help for people lacking health insurance would face big cuts under a bill passed Friday by the House.
In a pop culture allegory of military might, three cable channels now feed news, information and entertainment about the armed services into millions of living rooms 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

5. Rampant sexism. The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy. (The whole "Gay Agenda" thing.)

6. A controlled mass media. Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with national security.

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together. Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Power of corporations protected. The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated. Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts. Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
Bush's new economic plan cuts funding for arts, education
Artists from all over the world are being refused entry to the US on security grounds.

12. Obsession with crime and punishment. Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

The problem with Gonzales is that he has been deeply involved in developing some of the most sweeping claims of near-dictatorial presidential power in our nation's history.

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption. Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent elections. Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Robert F. Kennedy's Rolling Stone Article about the 2004 election.


Remember, it's not fascism when WE do it.