WHAT'S IN A NAME?
The far left in this country have been waging a war of words for decades, and their favorite tactic is changing meanings of words to suit their needs. They are also fond of assigning labels, whether they are applicable or not. They love to disparage their opponents by using the "scary words" - racist, fascist, extremist. They know that people back down when they are called certain names, whether they apply to the situation or not.
The most common example is, of course, the claims that the Tea Parties are racist. There is no proof of this, but repetition brings on a sense of truth. If they scream it loud enough and long enough, people will believe it. Alan Colmes said today that just because there wasn't video of the alleged racial and homophobic slurs doesn't mean they didn't happen. Actually, Mr. Colmes, that's exactly what it means. With hundreds of cameras, several in the hands of the alleged "victims" themselves, the fact that there is no video proof whatsoever is in reality proof that the incident never occurred. And yet the narrative continues.
Today on Fox and Friends, actress Aisha Tyler was part of a panel discussing political topics. She is obviously an intelligent, informed woman (she has a degree in political science), but she said something that really irritated me, and it's something that definitely needs to be addressed.
One of the other guests commented that the current administration was fascistic. Ms. Tyler took offense to that term, and stated that fascism is a strictly right-wing policy and so cannot be used to describe the current left-wing administration.
Let's take a look at what Merriam Webster has to say about the definition of "fascism":
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
I have checked other dictionaries, but have not seen a single entry that states that fascism is a right-wing only term. The premise that the Nazi's were right-wingers has sprung up in acedemic circles and is being taught in our universities - Ms. Tyler's thought process is most likely due to her poli-sci degree. Why has fascism (and nazism) been assigned to the right? (via Free Republic):
According to a popular misconception, the Nazis must have been on the political right because they persecuted communists and fought a war with the communists in Russia. This specious logic has gone largely unchallenged because it serves as useful propaganda for the left, which needs ``right-wing'' atrocities to divert attention from the horrific communist atrocities of the past century. Hence, communist atrocities have received much less publicity than Nazi war crimes, even though they were greater in magnitude by any objective measure.
One also wonders if this attempt to demonize Nazism and make it a right-wing contrivance is because, unlike the atrocities perpetrated in the name of communism, the effects of nazism were photographed and documented for posterity. It is difficult to whitewash the horrors of the Nazi socialist state because the entire world was inundated with those horrific images. If that photographic evidence had not existed, would fascism still be considered a bad thing today? Communism, on the other hand, has remained in the shadows, because the communist dictatorships never allowed such information to be disseminated. Western cameras were not allowed into the gulags and firing lines. Documentation was destroyed, redacted or remains classified to this day.
But the history of the past century has been grossly distorted by the predominantly left-wing media and academic elite. The Nazis have been universally condemned -- as they obviously should be -- but they have also been repositioned clear across the political spectrum and propped up as false representatives of the far right -- even though Hitler railed frantically against capitalism in his infamous demagogic speeches. At the same time, heinous crimes of larger magnitude by communist regimes have been ignored or downplayed, and the general public is largely unaware of them. Hence, communism is still widely regarded as a fundamentally good idea that has just not yet been properly ``implemented.'' Santayana said, ``Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'' God help us if we forget the horrors of communism and get the historical lessons of Nazism backwards.
The left is revising history yet again in their attempt to portray the Nazis as right-wingers, but if you check out the real history, you will find that they were socialists - the term "nazi" stands for National Socialist Workers Party. Socialism is most definitely NOT a right-wing ideology. The Nazis ruled from a strong central government that regulated both the economy and society with an iron fist, and they were assuredly in firm control of the press. One need look no further than the death camps and all of the accounts of dissenters disappearing in the night to verify the "forcible suppression of opposition", and Hitler easily comes to mind when the topic of brutal dictators comes up.
The left also uses corporatism in their argument that the Nazis and Mussolini were right-wingers, but, again, this doesn't fly. Our past few administrations are perfect examples of corporations benefitting from both sides of the political spectrum, but with this administration there might be a little buyer's remorse happening. The left is just as arm-in-arm with corporations as the right, but there are one or two major differences between them. The republicans are pro free market capitalism, and aren't really interested in government control of corporations - Bush-era bailouts didn't come with the strings of governmental control. The left's bailouts come with strings so thick and unbreakable that they could be used as cables on the Golden Gate bridge. Under Obama, Pelosi and Reid, the federal government is becoming more and more entwined with and calling the shots more and more often for corporate America. The left also has something the right does not - the "power of persuasion" of it's union minions. Power they have been wielding quite effectively over the past year or so.
Hitler was vehemently anti-capitalism, because he felt that the capitalist system favored the Jews. Our current administration is anti-capitalism because of their quest for the perfect socialist utopia. The reasons may be different, but the end result is the same - the destruction of the free market economy and the slide into socialism.
For those who scoff at the socialist label, I offer this definition of state socialism, which could also be considered "european-style" socialism:
an economic system with limited socialist characteristics that is effected by gradual state action and typically includes public ownership of major industries and remedial measures to benefit the working class
We have allowed the left to hijack our history and turn it on it's head. Up is down, left is right, and disinformation rules. We must take back the narrative and set the record straight. So the next time you hear someone call you a fascist because you lean right, set them straight. Keeping silent allows their version to become the accepted reality. Standing up to them will be a hard fight, but it's one worth winning, and it's one that most definitely CAN be won.
Our quest over the next few years isn't just to take our country back politically, it's to restore our history, and teach it to our kids. We must restore the true meaning of names and labels and thus strip the liberals of their power. Always remember - "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Read more...
