The word fascism has been thrown around a lot recently--by the current administration in describing terrorists, and, to a less extent, liberals; and by the left in describing, well, every action the Bush administration has engaged in. From what I know of fascism, neither side seems to be using the term correctly, although the way the left uses it seems much closer to examples of how fascism appeared in the past. But then, the other day, I ran into a quote from the godfather of fascism, old Mussolini himself:
[blockquote]Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism, as it is a merge of state and corporate power.
-Benito Mussolini[blockquote]
The republican economic policies of last thirty years can be summed up as exploring the benefits of merging state and corporate power. Keep in mind Mr. Mussolini was the leader of the only government to hold office while actually calling themselves fascists. If anyone can speak to its meaning, its him. Also remember how the republican party has moved away from the traditional 'small government, be-careful-about-changes' definition of conservative, and embraced using the government as a way to expand business interests. Seen in the light of an absolutist form of government, this suddenly makes much more sense, and justifies what we now realize about republicans as being greedy, nationalistic, and power-hungry, all while claiming to be defenders of values and the american way.
So if it takes both a state and coporations to make fascism, "Islamo-fascist" no longer seems very applicable, since terrorist seem to have their hatred partly based in the modern American state, and partly based in the idea of corporations. September eleventh was aimed at wall street and DC, the centers of American corporations and the American state. Simply calling them bloodthirsty terrorists seems more appropriate, the administration seems to be attempting to distract us from where the real fascism is occuring.
The advantage of the American model of government over the violence preached by terrorists is obvious-but we must not let that model be twisted and perverted into the worse form of a modern state, we must do away with those who would yield power over both the ability to make laws and the ability to make money.