Liberal Fascism

Since the release of the Doughy Pantload's book "Liberal Fascism", the wingnutosphere has gone into absolutely goofy overdrive, bellowing ad nauseum that Fascism is a left-wing concept. The "Proof" they most often cite is Hitler's National Socialism.

In the world according to the right-wankersphere, the modern parallel to Hitler's Fascism is the politically-correct liberal agenda being jackbooted straight up the ass of every god-fearing, hate speech-loving, politically-incorrect conservative. "See!?" squeal the politically ill-informed, "Hitler was a socialist! Lefties are the Nazis, not us!" Yesterday in my Christian Government newsletter I found the "Hitler = Fascist = National Socialist = Left-wing" equation repeated yet again:

Enough is enough: time to put this meme to rest. This sounds like a job for... the Political Compass!!

According to the Political Compass, the Left/Right dynamic is only half the story of political identity -- the other, more important part of the equation is the Authoritarian/Libertarian axis. Fascism is Authoritarian, and like its opposite, Libertarianism, not exclusive to left or right.

Here's where some well-known people stand:

Let's review:

In the upper right (authoritarian/fascist) quadrant, we find the Usual Right-Wing Suspects -- Georgie Bush and *gasp* Stephen Harper. (Social conservatives who consider Harper "too liberal" because of his failure to enact more intrusive, authoritarian laws should think about where that puts them).

The lower right (right-wing anarchist/libertarian) quadrant is blank but it's safe to say that this is the domain of Ron Paul and his tinfoil-hatted supporters.

The upper-left (left-wing authoritarian/fascist) quadrant is where we get the goods on those whining wingnuts: it includes nationalist dictators like Robert Mugabe and presumably, Hitler. And... and... what's this?... the Pope?! Oh, yeah. Although the Catholic church's anti-war stance puts it left of center, it's no surprise that the Pope and his minions are authoritarians. These, after all, are the freaks who'd presume to impose "morality" and demand unquestioning obedience to Rules and Laws that dictate even the most personal aspects of peoples' lives. There's your "Liberal Fascism"!!

And lookee here! in the lower left (left-wing libertarian) quadrant, far far away from the Authoritarian/Fascist side......me! And probably, most of the other "lefties" that the denizens of Wingnuttia errantly denounce as "Liberal Fascists". Nice try, but the Political Compass doesn't lie. "Liberal Fascism"? Take it up with Pope Benny!

(Where are you at? Take the test.)

UPDATE: See? Ha! Lower left quadrant rocks!