The new pejorative "Islamic Fascist" or "Islamofascist" bothers me. It is created from two words that do not work well together, that lack meaning in the same phrase. What is an Islamic fascist?
The truth is I don't believe the words are intended to work together; they were never intended to be given any great thought.(and seems to be a favorite of pundits lacking the capacity for thought) The intent behind the phrase is to equate by co-location, Islam and the emotional reaction, the aversion, moral disgust, most people have to the word "Fascism".
This is an oft used trick of the neoconservatives. They create phrases like "Compassionate Conservative" and "Islamic Fascist" to create associations in the minds of people where no link exists in reality. These phrases are not merely wordplay, they are psychological tactics.
More below on which group really represents the ideology of fascism.
If you look up
Fascism you will find that:
o A philosophy or system of government that is marked by stringent social and economic control, a strong, centralized government usually headed by a dictator, and often a policy of belligerent nationalism." (From The American Heritage Dictionary)
o A totalitarian political system led by a single dictator who allows no opposition, promoting an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
www.summit.org/resource/dictionary/
o An extreme form of nationalism that played on fears of communism and rejected individual freedom, liberal individualism, democracy, and limitations on the state.
www.comune.venezia.it/atlante/documents/glossary/nelson_glossary.htm
o A political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government (as opposed to democracy or liberalism)
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn/
o An extreme form of nationalism that played on fears of communism and rejected individual freedom, liberal individualism, democracy, and limitations on the state.
www.comune.venezia.it/atlante/documents/glossary/nelson_glossary.htm
Islam, however you may feel about it, does not have many of characteristics of fascism. Islam is a religion not a system of government or a political philosophy. While Islam is used as a basis for government in many Middle Eastern countries, they do not seem to be able to agree on a single version of Islam. Islam, like other major religions, does promote its rules over the needs of individuals. While individual groups within Islam may have strong centralized control by a Mulah, Islam itself does not appear to be centrally controlled. Islam is a broad umbrella composed of many different groups much like the term "Christianity" which includes Greek Orthodox Catholics and evangelism.
The truth is, if you were to look around for a group of people that represent and promote the elements of fascism today, it would not be Islam, it would be the originators of the phrase, the Neo-Conservatives.
If there is a modern group that represents the heart and soul of fascism, it is the neo-conservatives. It is the neo-conservatives and their representative in the administration that:
o Want a centralized government controlled by the "Executive"
o Reject limitations on the executive's power
o Actively violate and continuously argue against individual rights guaranteed by the constitution
o Promote a belligerent nationalism using fear and veiled racism.
Rumsfeld was right yesterday; our nation does face challenges in confronting the rise of a new fascism. The challenge is the rise of fascism within our country, within our own government, within the neo-conservative administration. How very ironic it is to have the rise of fascism pointed out to us by the very (I almost wrote living) embodiment of the Nazi mentality, Donald Rumsfeld.
It is time to promote a meaningful phrase "Neo-Conservative Fascist", perhaps shortened to "Nazi-Conservative" or "Nazi-Con".