The F Word

One of my least-favorite words in the world is "Fascism" and its various related adjectives.

During the late eighties, I lost count of the number of times I heard graduates of places like MacAlester and Carlton Colleges, or the U of M College of Liberal Arts, use the terms so imprecisely it seemed to lose all meaning; for a while, I thought "Fascist" had become a general-purpose word to express mild perturbance with things: "My fascist landlord told me I had to get rid of my dog"; "They pre-empted 90210 this week, the fascists!"; "My boss told me to be at work on time; what a fascist".

But lately, the use has gotten, while arguably better-aimed semantically, even more crudely pointed.

The moonbat left has cried "Fascism" ever since long before George Bush's election in 2000 was confirmed.

Wikipedia defines "Fascism" as:

...any system of government resembling Mussolini's, that:

• exalts nation and sometimes race above the individual,
  
• uses violence and modern techniques of propaganda and censorship to forcibly suppress political opposition,
  
• engages in severe economic and social regimentation, and
  
• espouses nationalism and sometimes racism or ethnic nationalism.