• Corporatism - John T. Flynn, in his 1944 book As We Go Marching, said about fascism, "Thus we may now say that fascism is a system of social organization that recognizes and proposes to protect the capitalist system and uses the device of public spending and debt as a means of creating national income..." As we have recently witnessed, state intervention in the economy, when it is in the interest of the state and the wealthy elites who support the political machine, is wholly supported by the Republican party (with a few exceptions - thank you Ted Poe). According to Roderick T. Long, "Fascism seeks to incorporate... private ownership into the state apparatus through public-private partnership." The result is an economic system that is somewhere between capitalism and socialism. The camels nose was already under the tent; now the camel (thanks to the Bush administration, aided and abetted by McCain and the Republican Congress) is not only in the tent, but is in your bed snuggling with your wife.
• Nationalism - Whereas communism stresses class struggle, fascism emphasizes the struggle of the nation. The nation is the unifying force of the people. The nation is depicted as facing some never ending crisis (e.g., "The War on Terror") and must rally against the common enemy (e.g., Islamofascists, Ahmadinejad, bogeyman, etc.).
Dissent is grounds to question a person's patriotism. A perfect example is Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Bachmann asking about her political opponents, "Are they pro-America or anti-America?" The incessant flag waving, chants of "USA" and "Country First" banners at the Republican convention are indicative of a brand of nationalism that, as a Christian, I believe to be idolatry (and according to Rep. Bachmann, my opinion, of course, is indicative that I am anti-American ).
• Collectivism - Republican conservatism was traditionally associated with rugged individualism, so McCain's slogan "Serving a cause greater than self-interest" does not pass the smell test for me. I'm not for Ayn Rand-style selfishness, but if the state is the cause that McCain refers to, then "no thanks." McCain's belief in the state over the individual (my interpretation) is common to both fascism and socialism/communism.• Totalitarianism - According to the definition, fascism has a strong central government usually head by dictator. The United States is not ruled by a dictator as commonly perceived (i.e. one man), rather we have a single party government (with Republican and Democrat factions) and a newly installed economic dictator. The government does not serve the people, but vice versa. This is not what the Founders envisioned.
• Militarism - Militarism is common to all fascist states. The worship of all things military is prevalent in the Republican party. Even while our country wages an unjust, unprovoked war against a country that posed no threat to us; a war that has resulted in the deaths of scores of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians and 4,000+ dead American soldiers and marines - the overwhelming majority of otherwise decent, God-fearing people that I worship with every Sunday morning still support the President and his abhorrent policies because we must "support the troops". McCain has surrounded himself with neocon advisors so one can only expect the everlasting war to continue, with potential new fronts in Iran and the former Soviet republics.Because the lesser of two evils is still evil (and it is difficult to determine in this election which is the lesser evil), I have followed the advice of John Quincy Adams and voted for Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party candidate for President.
"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." John Quincy Adams
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