Today's Lesson: Fascism

Let's get a couple definitions of fascism:

Fascism is defined as that economic system in which Private Industry controls the means of production, but where the Federal Government controls who produces what merchandise, what quantities will be produced, and to whom it will be distributed - from CuttingEdge.org

Historians typically define fascism by the characteristics it assumed in Italy, Germany, and Spain during the second, third, and fourth decades of the 20th century: authoritarian capitalism, superpatriotism, militarism, state secrecy, xenophobia, scapegoating, totalitarian suppression of dissent, and dictatorship. Of these, only the last has not yet appeared on the American scene — though, as Bertram Gross argued in his 1980 book Friendly Fascism, it may be possible for a nation to become fascistic while maintaining formal elections. - from "Bombing our way toward fascism" By Richard Heinberg Santa Rosa, Calif.

Does any of this sound familiar to you, girls and boys? Or were you sleeping through your history classes?

Maybe I was the only person in my age group who actually took a class in European History; it became very clear to me early on what President Evil and his minions were trying to do...

More later......