The other night, I was listening to BBC radio and heard the "tea party" movement described as a "conservative movement", a polite description, considering just how right wing they are. At first, I thought how "fascist" was apparently too polite a term but then I thought that this isn't the right description.
Fascism is technically an autocratic government aligned with corporate interests where the masses are kept in line through fear. Certainly, there's no shortage of either fear or corporate astroturf in the Tea Party but calling them fascist still doesn't fit quite right.
The previous administration comes closer. The corporate cronyism, fear-mongering, wars of aggression, torture and citizen-surveillance of the Bush administration indicate that they came as close as they could get away with. The sentiment in the Tea Party seems to be that Bush wasn't right wing enough. Given how the stoking of hatred of Muslims and immigrants go well beyond what Bush called for, the further shift to the right is evident.
So what's to the right of "fascist"?
More importantly, there's a certain coherency to fascism that the Tea Party movement lacks. Debate with a fascist and you may get arguments like "Saddam had ties to Al-Qaida". It's not true but at least it's a coherent statement. Debate with a Tea Partier and you may get an argument like "Obama is a secret alien from planet Zenutenar who's in league with the lizard people to steal my baby to sacrifice to Cthulu."
Fascism is technically an autocratic government aligned with corporate interests where the masses are kept in line through fear. Certainly, there's no shortage of either fear or corporate astroturf in the Tea Party but calling them fascist still doesn't fit quite right.
The previous administration comes closer. The corporate cronyism, fear-mongering, wars of aggression, torture and citizen-surveillance of the Bush administration indicate that they came as close as they could get away with. The sentiment in the Tea Party seems to be that Bush wasn't right wing enough. Given how the stoking of hatred of Muslims and immigrants go well beyond what Bush called for, the further shift to the right is evident.
So what's to the right of "fascist"?
More importantly, there's a certain coherency to fascism that the Tea Party movement lacks. Debate with a fascist and you may get arguments like "Saddam had ties to Al-Qaida". It's not true but at least it's a coherent statement. Debate with a Tea Partier and you may get an argument like "Obama is a secret alien from planet Zenutenar who's in league with the lizard people to steal my baby to sacrifice to Cthulu."
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
