It's deja vu all over again

[fpb]

I have often found myself in the position of having to say: "You are talking nonsense. I know what Fascists are like. I have met them in considerable number since I was a child. I was born in the same country as Fascism. I have studied Fascism as a historian. [insert personal or group name] may be a detestable person, and his/her/their views may be obnoxious, but they are not Fascist. Do not cheapen real evil."

Now I am worried I may have to start saying: "You are talking nonsense. I know what Communists are like. I have met them in considerable numbers since I was a child. I was born in a country where Communism was a power in the land. I have studied Communism as a historian. President Obama may be a detestable person - or not - and his view may be obnoxious - or not - but he is no Communist. Do not cheapen real evil."

You don't believe me? http://townhall.com/columnists/LauraHollis/2009/10/21/they%E2%80%99re_all_communists

Comments

[inverarity.livejournal.com]

While I haven't read Spencer's books, I do occasionally read his blog and his columns.

He's very critical of Islam, but I don't recall him ever using the term "Islamofascim," and his criticisms are quite specific. Likewise Daniel Pipes.

But because they are so critical of Islam, they are darlings of David Horowitz and his crowd, who are the ones who propagated the term "Islamofascim."

Now, clearly Spencer and Pipes are willing to go along with the people who butter their bread, which is why Spencer participated in "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week." But I'll bet if you sat him down in private and discussed it, he'd agree that "Islamo-fascism" is an inaccurate pejorative that essentially renders the term "fascist" meaningless.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I'll bet the opposite. My beef with Spencer is that he does very little indeed to discourage the racists and hate-mongers who make up a considerable amount of his following. I volunteered to be moderator on his site for a few months, and gave up in despair, because the amount of hate, sometimes to genocidal pitch, was simply too much. Spencer may feel, because of his own background, that anything will serve so long as it serves to fight Islam; I do not. And then there is his friend Fitzgerald, the intellectual leader of Jihadwatch, who advocates the expulsion of all Muslims from the West and the transformation of the whole Muslim world into a kind of gigantic ring-fenced Indian reservation; an attitude I find both absurd and criminal. So yes, I do not think that Spencer would greatly object to "Islamo-Fascism". For that matter, Horowitz's arguments for assimilating Islam and Fascism are based on Umberto Eco's account of the Fascist mind, which is arguable but certainly not ignorant. (I wonder what he would do if he realized that Eco is an old-time leftie on the edges of Italian Communism?)