American Fascism Awareness Day

FrontPage, David Horowitz's indispensable website, notes that in response to his 100 college campus "Islamo-Fascist Awareness Week" a gaggle of Leftists will sponsor an "American Fascism Awareness" event in Washington. The "reasons" why America is considered Fascist by these luminaries like Cindy Sheehan and Sean Penn drip with anti-Semitism, Rush Limbaugh bashing and other forms of hatred.

I do have one qualm with the term "Islamo-Fascism." Radical Islam, as I have noted in many past articles, is not "Islamo-Fascism." It is Sinisterist. My new book, Sinisterism: Secular Religion of the Lie (Revised and Updated) explores in depth why these words matter. Sinisterists wear many masks, but are all the same sort of evil. Fascism is considered on the "Far Right," but there is no "Far Right" in politics at all.

Fascism, which existed in power in only one nation, Italy, was the mortal enemy of Nazi Germany for most of its history. Not only was Fascism not anti-Semitic, but many Jews were enthusiastic Fascists. No one in Fascist Italy could have held an event with called "Italian Nazi Awareness Week" just like no one in Germany could have held an event called "German Fascism Awareness Week" and no one in the Soviet Union could have held an event called "Russian Fascism Awareness Week" or "Russian Nazi Awareness Week."

The deliberate blurring of that evil group of gangsters called "Fascists" with that even more evil group of gangsters called "Nazis" limits our power to see clearly, and we need to see our enemies clearly. Just as we should not confuse al-Qaeda with Shia extremism or Baathist Party terrorism - not because each is not evil, but because we need to be able to think clearly - so we should not confuse which evil gangsters we are fighting by using the right names.

The myth of an ideological spectrum with an evil "Far Right" and an equally evil "Far Left" allows the very real Left (note all the friends of so-called "Islamo-Fascists" have among the self-described Left in America) to pretend that the enemy of good people is not the Left, but rather extremism of any sort. This is poppycock. Moving "too far" in the direction of Ronald Reagan always leads to better, happier, more limited government.

Nazis, like Fascists, were movements of the very real, very dangerous "Far Left." The Hitler of Tehran is an ardent socialist. The Baathist Party of Syria is formally communist. Islamo-Fascism is simply another incarnation of that great evil of Sinisterism (radical Leftism, whether it calls itself that or not.) The opposite of these Sinisterists are ordinary, decent, honorable people who wish to live their lives in peace and friendship.

But put aside, for the movement, the error of calling Sinisterist Fascism "Islamo-Fascism." We all know what well-intentioned conservatives mean by "Islamo-Fascism." They are using the term fascism has come to mean - a brutal, one-party authoritarian or totalitarian state. The absurdity of having an "American Fascism Awareness" event on government property becomes immediately evident.

Is America a "one party" state? Hardly. Congress is almost evenly divided; the political parties at the state level are likewise almost evenly divided; the presidency is very much up for grabs, and even the nomination for the presidency is up for grabs. Is America authoritarian? The most common complaint is that we have gridlock and no one seems able to tackle serious problems like entitlements, energy or health care. Is it brutal? The very fact that a bunch of Leftists hacks are going to have a virulently anti-American demonstration while we are at war shows how compassionate and freedom loving Americans are. Perhaps only in America could these dim bulbs of Leftism be able to do what they are planning to do.

If Sean Penn and Cindy Sheehan and all the other Sinisterists really want to test the thesis of which states are "fascists" and which are not, then - just as an experiment - they should first hold a "Cuban Fascist Awareness Week" in Havana or a "Syrian Fascist Awareness Week" in Damascus or an "Iranian Fascist Awareness Week" in Tehran. Allow at these events vocal protest against the governments of those states. See how it works, Sean and Cindy, if either of you have guts or honor.

The smart money, I will tell you, is on your pampered cravenness. Do the easy, safe, popular thing. Dance your angry dance of spoiled Sinisterism on the graves of those brave men and women whose sacrifice you mock and whose blood has given you the right to screech in public that "America is Fascist."