# Is the Democratic party becoming fascist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 23, 2000, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468 "2000-08-23T17:35:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/1 "2000-08-23T17:35:22Z")
[Sorry about the inflammatory title, but I _did_ get your attention, didn’t I?] I have just finished reading an article that I find very interesting. The title is:[ul][Fascism, corruption and my ‘Democratic’ Party [sub]By Bob Just[/sub]](http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_excomm/20000725_xex_fascism_corr.shtml).[/ul] My own opinion is that the writer has many valid points. I have seen some of the attitudes he speaks of (some of these attutudes are displayed by the far right, as well, but they don’t have nearly as many representatives in office). I also recall when each party viewed the other not as an evil force to be opposed at every turn, but as a group that shared the same objectives, but disagreed about how to best serve the nation’s best interests. Whether you agree or disagree, please take the time to comment. If you disagree, keep in mind that a reactionary reply will tend to support the author’s position. ~~Baloo ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/2 "2000-08-23T18:02:48Z")
No, no, no. The Democratic party is _Communist._ The \*Republican[/] part is fascist. You need to keep your terms of opprobrium correct. ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/3 "2000-08-23T18:25:59Z")
I messed up the first time. I’ll ask the mods to remove the first post. > [@](#): > > I see clearly now that the path the party is taking will eventually lead to its destruction and to the destruction of liberty in America. Of course. Spitting on honor gaurd by a few people=party is going to destroy America. How could I have not seen it before? I was so fucking blind. > [@](#): > > Hatred and corruption - the roots of fascism - are on the march in America as they have never been before. Ok. I was following him till then. Anyone that can seriously put forth that hatred and corruption are **the** roots of fascism can’t be taken seriously. This man has no understanding of what fascism means. > [@](#): > > These two men allegedly took direct action to destroy Windom’s reputation in the community, shame him before his family, and basically ruin his life. As if this hasn’t been done in “democracies” countless times before. This man also suffers from politcal naive. > [@](#): > > These two “Democrats” were apparently willing to destroy everything precious to a Republican man because he stood between their party and political power. It is the totalitarian choice. The question is, how deep does it go into the party and what motivates it? He states that totalitarians are willing to use dirty tricks. Democrats are willing to use dirty tricks. He then leaps to the conclusion that democrats are totalitarian without any proof. > [@](#): > > re has nothing to do with American politics. In fact, I worry that as the Democrats increasingly adopt fascist tactics they will cease being a genuine political party, focused on honest debate and decision by fair ballot. They could become one day something more related to the fascists of 1930s Germany. Again no evidence is given of fascist tactics. And the connection to the brown shirts isn’t even near being realistic. > [@](#): > > They spoke high-sounding words of outrage, but, in the end, actions betrayed words. In the end, even these honorable men defended party over principle. How many times have democrats in the past toed the party line? How many times republicans? **THIS** leads to fascism. Equating these actions with people who would slaughter jews sickens me. This article is starting to sicken me. Let’s see if I can get through the rest of it. > [@](#): > > They let one man’s behavior compromise the integrity of the Democratic Party. MY GOD MAN!! Since when have the Democrats had integrity? HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING ON MARS? > [@](#): > > Imagine. A grand room full of powerful Democrats, representatives of America’s oldest political party, and the F-word is being said, over and over again with cameras recording! I’m getting the feeling that this whole article is a joke. Either that or this man is seriously deluded. If it’s a joke, I’ll be pissed that I wasted my time on it. > [@](#): > > This is not about politics. This is about corruption. Stop and think about it. Somehow Robin Williams knew that no one would object if he used the F-word and the S-word continually - even on national TV! How did he know no one would walk out on him? Apparently, Williams knows something about the Democratic Party that most “little guy” Democrats like me don’t know (not to mention the “little guy” Republicans who are still embarrassed by MTV, thank God). He knows the party has become corrupt. What the fuck? I am literally in shock. > [@](#): > > However, for the “new fascists” in the party, Again I’m sickened. He just called lieberman a “new fascist”. Hmmmm. > [@](#): > > Right now the specific labels don’t matter, and there are too many to name here, from corporate greed to union greed to organized crime to “special interest” causes. It is a long list. However, the core desire of this group, conscious or unconscious, is to tear down everything traditional and decent in this country. What is “traditional and decent” and why do the cororations and unions want to destroy it? Could you offer some further explanation please? > [@](#): > > “This administration sets their own standards of loyalty. If they don’t think you’re ‘one of them,’ they don’t want you around,” said one Secret Service agent I talked to recently who has served under a number of administrations at the national level, including serving the current one. "It’s something you expect from a Nazi Germany - the party over all, the Party Does this mean that the King of France was Fascist? What does party loyalty have to do with fascism? Have the republicans never demanded party loyalty? > [@](#): > > Thus, traditionally neutral governmental agencies, from Energy to Defense to State to Justice to the IRS, increasingly, seem to be loyal to something other than the American people. And this is news? When was the IRS “loyal” to the American people. Please tell me. > [@](#): > > Those who are “disloyal” pay a price, but those who are “loyal” are rewarded. Again I ask. So what? > [@](#): > > Rage is everywhere in our adult society too. Just listen to the words of “Gangsta” rap music, or the words spoken at some of the radical rallies in Washington, D.C. And there wasn’t rage during the American Civil War, during WW2, during the 60’s, during the American Revolution? [He writes a bunch of crap about Al Gore inciting the emotions of voters here] not even worth commenting on. [quote] The key to successfully confronting the New Fascist movement is, first, to see it for what it is. [/quote[ Which you have not done. Fear mongering has a name. That name is Bob Just, not the Democrats. > [@](#): > > Fascism inspires an emotionalized, cultic allegiance, and many of these people can’t see what they are trapped in Maybe because it’s not fascism. Has this man ever read anything on fascism. Does he know anything but soundbites? My intial impression is no. > [@](#): > > The principle here is something Mahatma Gandhi, the great liberator of India, called “force of righteousness,” “love force,” or “soul force.” Gandhi was a great admirer of Judeo-Christian thinking and Americans will recognize the wisdom Considering that Gandhi;s solution to the holocaust was to have the Jews let the Nazi’s slaughter them, I don’t think he’s the appropriate person to be quoting here. > [@](#): > > Of course, fascists reject the idea of a truth higher than the party, and hate is their driving impulse. He still hasn’t shown how hate is the driving influence of the democrats. > [@](#): > > When they were children, these people deserved love, and they didn’t get it. Can we blame them for being angry? And finally the truth of the matter. We can fight fascism by…ending single parenting. How simple. Why didn’t someone think of this before? Simply give every chil a loving home and fascism will no longer be a problem. Let’s get some legislation on this right away. > [@](#): > > The “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll” socialist creed of the 1960s and '70s didn’t just affect the Clintons and a few other famous people Damn. If I had known that socialism preached sex, drugs, and rock and roll, I would have become one much sooner. > [@](#): > > If you are wondering how this belief system has affected liberalism in the last decade, just read the words of long-time, liberal Democrat commentator Mark Shields writing in the Washington Post last month: “Today to be a liberal there is one test,” said a frustrated Shields. “Unqualified support for all legal abortions ideally joined by an almost libertarian commitment to no societal limits on individual behavior or autonomy.” And this conflicts with fascism in a number of ways. Once again the writer proves his ignorance on general matters. > [@](#): > > Once Democrats like Shields start to recognize in large numbers what has happened to our party, the fascist power base will be greatly weakened - mainstream Democrats will all back away from it. Catholic Democrats will certainly run the other way. So will most teachers. I’m sure church-going African Americans and Latinos won’t stand for it - and neither will patriotic union workers. If that is a dream, it is a good dream. And like the one of Dr. King’s, it is up to us to make the dream a reality. He has still failed to mention what exactly happened to the party, aside from the sweeping term “corruption”. The fact that the party is corrupt should surprise no one. Also he had previously mentioned evil unions as a force against whatever it is he stands for, I must admit I can’t quite figure it out. Now? Now, they will fight against these “new-fascists” of which they are a part. His mention of church-going leads me to believe that he wants more religous observance in our society. Does he know that many fascists were very religous? Again, he puts words together, but they make no sense. > [@](#): > > After several of the commandos die in the struggle to blow up the bridge, Col. Nickolson realizes to his horror that his passionate dedication to “the cause” has led him to forget his first loyalty - his country. Severely wounded, and with his last bit of energy, he blows up the bridge himself. Preaching loyalty to the country above all else will have little effect on fascism. What side is Bob Just on anyway? and he ends with this > [@](#): > > Right now we have two parties that are becoming like two different countries - which are increasingly acting like enemies. God forbid it, and please make us again one nation, a shining city on a hill for all the world to see, where love can reign and truth prevail, and where freedom can be enjoyed by all. After reading through all this crap I can come to only one conclusion. The man is talking out his ass. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/4 "2000-08-23T19:21:22Z")
…which was the source of this ridiculous piece, and of many others cited by some of the more out-of-it elements on this board: the WorldNetDaily isn’t exactly a source of unbiased journalism, folks. It’s about as one-sided as a Mobius strip. Citing commentary pieces on WorldNetDaily is a bit like citing Rush Limbaugh. (One can only hope they check their facts better than Rush and his staff.) Their ‘news,’ what little they have of it, is pretty slanted too. Also, regardless of whose factual or opinion piece you’d like to link to, a _precis_ of what we might find there is useful. And if it’s an opinion piece, a summary of the argument in your own words is good; this is Great _Debates_, not Links to Great (or not-so-great, or downright terrible) Opinion Pieces. If you can’t be bothered to outline your ‘own’ position, why should anyone else bother to rebut it? (But thanks, oldscratch, for taking the trouble to saw that preposterous column to bits anyway.) There’s nothing wrong with linking _in support of_ an argument - we’re big on that around here - or linking to a more in-depth treatment of an argument. But linking _instead_ of making an argument…well, there’s nothing to stop you from doing it, but there’s nothing that says anyone should have to take that approach seriously enough to respond to it. ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/5 "2000-08-23T20:57:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Da Ace \* > \*\*No, no, no. > > The Democratic party is _Communist._ > The _Republican_ part is fascist. > \*\* Actually, if you are talking about the doctrines of the Nationalised Socialist Party (a.k.a Nazis) – their idea of nationalizing everything (like health care) falls much more inline with the democrats. The idea that the Nazis were right-wing while the commies were left-wing is mythical. They were both left wing. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/6 "2000-08-23T21:04:06Z")
The problem with the Democratic party is this: They presume guilt. They want to restrict personal liberties, from freedom of speech to the right to bear arms, because they assume people use those liberties to abuse others. When I see a gun, I see a target-shooting piece and, possibly, a fun afternoon. When a Democrat sees a gun, they would have you believe they saw a homicide waiting to happen. That, in addition to tax issues, is why I am not a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/7 "2000-08-23T21:13:10Z")
I remember on an Elian Gonzalez message board, there was this one idiot who insisted that to the Left was everyone who was bad-Hitler, Stalin, fascism, communism, etc. THEN, he insisted that to the far RIGHT was everything GOOD. And that the middle ground was wrong, because it was half evil. Of course, this was the same idiot who worshipped William F. Buckley Jr. and Senator Joseph McCarthy. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/8 "2000-08-23T21:22:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jmullaney \* > Actually, if you are talking about the doctrines of the Nationalised Socialist Party (a.k.a Nazis) – their idea of nationalizing everything (like health care) falls much more inline with the democrats. > > The idea that the Nazis were right-wing while the commies were left-wing is mythical. They were both left wing. I’m sure these characterizations would have come as a surprise to the founders of the national socialist party. They always tried to portray themselves as opponents of communism and on the other side of the political spectrum. One of the main justifications for doing so, from an ideological point of view, was their emphasis on nationalism. The National Socialist party argued that the strong should rule over the weak, and that the german people (the “Herrenvolk”) should rule over its neighbours (and ultimately the rest of the world.) The communist party, on the other hand (remember that its anthem is the “International”) proposed a union of the workers of all countries, regardless of nationality, to combat the ruling classes (which is one reason that the USSR used to justify its pulling out of World War I.) ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/9 "2000-08-23T22:16:02Z")
They did both believe in the socialization of industry under state control. The main difference between them was propaganda. (Stalin killed more Jews than Hitler did) I’m not saying far right wingers aren’t sometimes nuts, but calling them Nazis is the wrong word. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/10 "2000-08-23T22:29:19Z")
jmullaney: you seem to be emphasizing the “socialist” part of “national socialism”, but in practice, the german government under Hitler was more concerned with the “national” part (patriotism, strong military, etc…) which is the part totally opposed to communism (and more similar to the views of the Republican Party as opposed to the Democratic Party). ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/11 "2000-08-23T22:37:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \* > \*\*jmullaney: you seem to be emphasizing the “socialist” part of “national socialism”, but in practice, the german government under Hitler was more concerned with the “national” part (patriotism, strong military, etc…) which is the part totally opposed to communism (and more similar to the views of the Republican Party as opposed to the Democratic Party). \*\* Well, heck. I don’t really buy into the whole two-dimensional view of politics. (I had a view at one point that if you go far enough right you end up on the far left – that it really is a continuum, but I don’t think about politics much these days.) The Soviet Union was patriot, had a big military, etc. too, so maybe they are all “right wing.” But I’ll bow out of this debate and concede your point. ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/12 "2000-08-23T22:46:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jmullaney \* > \*\* > > I’m not saying far right wingers aren’t sometimes nuts, but calling them Nazis is the wrong word. \*\* Just throwing in my two cents, even though you did concede a point to Arnold. Correct, calling far right wingers Nazi’s would be innapropriate. However, calling Fascists and by extension Nazi’s far right-wingers is entirely apropriate. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/13 "2000-08-23T23:31:40Z")
The way I see it, the farther you go to either extreme of the spectrum, the more similar their _methods_ become; but the philosophies in service of which the methods converge remain entirely divergent. Not that the methods don’t eventually render the philosophies moot (what’s the difference, really, between a Socialist totalitarian and a Fascist totalitarian?), but Naziism is by no means a leftist philosophy. As far as the “democrats assume guilt” argument, personally I think that’s naive bunk. The Republicans assume that some people are _expendable_, and the Democrats legislate to protect these people. And by what stretch of the most bizarre (not to mention hypocritical, flag-burning-amendment-proposing) imagination have Democrats legislated against free speech? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/14 "2000-08-24T23:29:37Z")
I will agree that Communism and Fascism were definitely similar in methods used…a professor of mine who spent time in a gulag in the early 80s told me that they are very much alike. It is their philosophies that differ. (Nazism is to Bolshevism, as Fascism is to Communism, if you want to use those terms…) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/15 "2000-08-24T23:49:06Z")
> [@](#): > > And by what stretch of the most bizarre (not to mention hypocritical, flag-burning-amendment-proposing) imagination have Democrats legislated against free speech? Don’t sling invectives. The lyrics are there, but not the music. Besides, I’m vehemently against flag-desecration amendments. Democrats go against free speech in political correctness. They try to be ‘fair’ by treating us like children, meaning we wind up with a bunch of politicians passing ‘nanny laws’. Not my idea of a good government. Why do they treat us like children? They assume we are all going to be just as irresponsible as they let us be. That’s the exact opposite of what history supports. In reality it is government with a history of corruption. Look at the unrestrained governments: Stalin, Hitler, King Louis XIV, King George. Every time the government usurps power from the state or the people, Conservatives have fits because most of them remember World War II. Our Constitution was written explicitly to prevent that from happening, but if people ignore it by trying to make things ‘fair’ it won’t work. Life is not fair. You can die a thousand ways, plenty of them extremely painful and degrading. Some people are self-destructive, others willfully ignorant, and the balance just apathetic. Bottom line: You can’t save those who don’t want to be saved. A good government lets people live their lives. After all, we are adults. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/16 "2000-08-25T00:37:14Z")
I’m assuming you’re referring to King George III-his government was hardly unrestrained…Britain has now, and had then, a constitutional monarchy. George’s problem was that he suffered from poryphoria, which caused his insanity. ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/17 "2000-08-25T01:51:38Z")
Well, the Demos are Nazis because Robin Williams said “fuck”. Bring out your armbands, and let’s start goosestepping now- it is the end of Western Democracy! :rolleyes: Did he read or hear the Nixon tapes? “expletive deleted”! I could not find a single valid major point. And at the top, the banner ad, the flag that all of the 'right thinkers" salute, “PROOF” that Darwin was wrong (and also evolution). 'nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/18 "2000-08-25T02:14:03Z")
Oe more point. This kind of thing shows how compltetly out of touch the “Religious right/Republicans” are with the mainstream of America. They actually think that somebody who is not already 100% convinced that Pres. Clinton is the Antichrist is going to be swayed by that rubbish. Well, in a way they are right. I think they just “swayed” me into voting for Gore. Thanks, Baloo, that was actually helpful, for a while I was undecided. ---
**Author:** ![APB9999](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB9999](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB9999)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/19 "2000-08-25T05:35:43Z")
Actually, Daniel, the author was not a Republican or member of the religious right, he is a Democrat. I think the article was longer than the point he had to make really justified, and it was quite hyperbolic. However, he had a central point, which a lot of the nitpicking here seems to overlook, IMO. That point was that the Democratic party has lost what it had thirty years ago: a concerted and constructive sense of moral purpose; the author feels that the mechanisms of political action employed by the Democrats have become fractious and destructive, and that our two-party system is dangerously debased by this trend. He likens these techniques to those of the Nazis, but that is essentially a simile and debating the validity of the likeness says nothing really to the point. I generally agree with him; my main objection is that I don’t think you can discuss these changes in the Democratic Party without looking at the exactly parallel changes that have occurred in the Republican Party at the same time. If anything, IMO, the Reps are even more guilty of the charges he levels than the Dems are (not that I mean this as any sort of absolution for the Democrats). The traditional picture of twentieth century politics has generally put communism on the far left - a totalitarian government controlling all aspects of life for the good of the members of that society. Next to that (moving down the scale) is socialism, often characterized as a partial communism or a “transition state” on the way to communism. Considerably more toward the center is liberalism, which we usually associate with the Democratic Party in the U.S., in which the government takes an active role in structuring social change for the good and equality of everyone, but does not exert total control, particularly in the market. Passing the midpoint one arrives at conservatism, usually tied to the Republicans, in which the government is active in promoting traditional values, even at the occassional expense of marginal groups; moreover the market is only slightly regulated. Moving on, eventually we come to dictatorships and fascism on the far right, in which again the government is totalitarian, “for the good of the people” just like communism, but now “the people” is a much more exclusive grouping. This extreme right end is basically just the rule by whatever group is strong enough to take power, and that power is maintained by promoting hostility between the disenfranchised groups and flattering those in the elite. At least that’s how I understand the “left-right political spectrum” (vastly simplified, of course). I think both parties have become overly partisan and inclined to use the _sorts_ of political tactics (fanatical us-against-them thinking) associated with the fascists - granted, in a much milder fashion than Hitler’s and Mussolini’s boys did!. I don’t think any call for change can ignore the fact that these parties are in balance, and a large change of behavior in one party would be very disruptive for both parties. They have spiralled down together, and there is enormous inertia created by this “synergy”. Just’s call for a return to a higher tone will inevitably fail if it is a movement within only one party. My personal response to the problems he points out has been to avoid both parties. I’d like to say I’m an enthusiastic Libertarian, but unfortunately I can’t respect the political manifestations I’ve seen of this philosophy. Like a lot of people, I feel SOL, failed by the pettiness of this nation’s political leaders. ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468/20 "2000-08-25T08:21:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by APB9999 \* > \*\*Actually, Daniel, the author was not a Republican or member of the religious right, he is a Democrat. \*\* Sure he is :rolleyes:, and we know that because… he says he is. Riiight. OK, the author is: Pro-Bush, Anti-Clinton, anti-evolution, anti-abortion, Pro-reagan, Anti-Gore, Pro establishment of religion, and calls the Demos “fascisst & racists”. And, he writes for the most right wing, pro-fundie site I have every seen. (go to the bottom, click on “page one”, scroll thru the litany of anti-Clinton, anti-abaortion, anti-evolution hate filled messages of the the far religous right). If Kaddafi said he was a Christian, would you beleive him? LOOK at the rest of the freaking site folks! These folks are looney rightwing religous bigots of the 1st water. They probably don’t support Buchanen, as he is too liberal for them! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-becoming-fascist/30468.md?page=2)