>Hitler is not the only fascist in history. South African fascists outlawed >Communists as the McCarthyite did. In other words, McCarthyism is comparable >to Apartheid fascism. Do you agree that Apartheid South Africa was fascist ?
LP: No, I would characterize it in the same way that I would characterize Israel, a racist state with authoritarian features. ^^^^ CB: Was Nazi Germany the only fascism ever ? Doesn't make sense to preserve the term "fascist" only for Nazi Germany ^^^^ CB:>The McCarthyite attacks on Communist and radical union leaders is comparable the acts of various fascists. LP: Hitler made ultra-nationalist speeches. So did Teddy Roosevelt. But Roosevelt was not a fascist. CB: Making ultranationalist speeches is not a sufficient condition to make Hitler a fascist either. Attacks on Communists and radical union leaders was one of the things that made him a fascist. Therefore, the McCarthyites had a fascistic trait in common with Hitler that Roosevelt did not. ^^^^ CB: >Also, a major part of Nazism was illegal war. It didn't just consist in the characteristics you describe above. Bush is carrying out an illegal war and >conquest, like the Nazis did. LP:You are committing a logical fallacy. Lions eat meat. So do I. I am not a lion. CB: The act of waging illegal war _is_ a sufficient condition to make that act a fascist act. Eating meat is not a sufficient condition to make one a lion. QED ^^^^ CB:>Of course, the Democrats were complicit. Before McCarthy, the Truman >administration jailed the National Board of the Communist Party. That it was >bipartisan makes it even more like a one party state. LP :The key term is "like". I am like Lenin in that I write about the need for socialist revolution, but I am not identical to Lenin. CB: Fascist_ic_ means fascist like. You are a Lenin_ist_, not identical with Lenin, but like Lenin. ^^^^^ CB>If the things at UCLA are merely intramural competition between bourgeois >liberals and conservatives, just a "witchhunt" why should we worry about it, >unless it portends something more grave ? Like fascism ( which is not >identical with Nazism )? We should worry about it, but we also have to respect the need for scientific rigor. If you have a headache, brain surgery is not indicated. If you have a rightwing graduate from UCLA setting up a website, armed struggle is not indicated. CB: How are conservative attacks on liberal professors different in kind than Republicans stealing elections from Democrats ?
