The Anatomy of Fascism (new book by Robert O. Paxton)

[carolinayellowdog]

Here's his definition as quoted in the current NYTBR:

"A form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."

Put that way, it does seem that 9/11 was essential in turning America towards fascism. Let's hope it can be turned back from the brink this November.

Here's a bn link:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=mHu1zg9ZdH&isbn=1400040949&itm=1

[liberalron]

1. From an expert

"The first stage of fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power"
                      --Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), Fascist Dictator of Italy

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/mussolini-fascism.html