Right Wing Says Museum Shooter Is Leftist! | 46 comments (46 topical, 0 hidden)
Not pretending or denying (3.33 / 1)

 

Thanks. I don't know why, but after 6 years I'm getting into political again.

 I had to get some help from an old colleague who I emailed earlier asking if Fascism right or left wing.  He responded that boths extremes are so close they become almost the same. Also, he asked, which version of Fascism? Italy, Japan, Germany, Spain.

There is a lot more, but this format doesnt work well to expand to such a complex debate on fascism. I assure you, it really isn't as simple as you make it to be. I wanted a simple answer, knowing full well that the issue is heated among historians and political scientist, but he gave me links that were essentially term papers with with more links to Mussolini writings to Hitlers mien kampf!

What I got from it is that these simplistic labels really need to be addressed, because they are too crude and is just an excuse to not to think about ones views and positions. One of the most common questions the average person ask “Am I a democrat or republican? Am I conservative or a liberal”

Hey, I like social freedom for all, like gay marriage, but I like small government and fiscal responsibility. So what am I?

Many would consider that person a libertarian, but even that would be challenged by those who weigh certain issues more important than others; and those singular or few stances define them. 

Bottom line, time to drop the intellectually dishonest labels.  Can we agree on that?


 

by mikej on 06/11/2009 09:05:01 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Thats Ken's way of saying he needs a friend to (5.00 / 1)
help spread misinformation and GOP propaganda.

by MRFred on 06/12/2009 10:56:34 AM EST

[ Parent ]
No (none / 0)

I think it's quite obvious that he was a right wing nut-job. I'm not interested in a getting side-tracked by a pseudo-philosophical/semant ic discussion that misses the main point of my original post.

You Wrote: "Hey, I like social freedom for all, like gay marriage, but I like small government and fiscal responsibility. So what am I?

Many would consider that person a libertarian..."

Answer: You're probably a fiscal conservative. If you include legalized prostitution and drugs and a non-interventionist foreign policy *then* the libertarian tag would be more appropriate.

PS---I recognize that not everyone fits a phrase 100%, but I also recognize that if someone fits the core principles heavily, completely avoiding the phrases is silly and cumbersome. And I'm sorry, but there is no serious debate (outside maybe right wing think tanks, etc.) about Hitler being "left".

At any rate, it's clear that left wing extremism is also terrible (obviously), but thankfully we don't have a violent outbreak of that in the US at the moment to worry about on top the right wing extremism (the threat of which was highlighted by the DHS).

by Tom Hanc on 06/11/2009 09:22:41 PM EST

[ Parent ]
There is nothing to debate (none / 1)

it really isn't as simple as you make it to be

Sure it is. History closed the book on Nazi and fascists years ago. There is no reason to quibble about a few definitions. The answer to the big question is clear for all to see in Buchenwald, Auschwitz, Dachau and the other camps. There is no moral equivocation big enough to blur the definition and the true intent of the Nazis.

As far as von Brunn is concerned he supported and followed neo-nazi groups, he wrote about the threat of "liberalism" and followed the nativist veiw of the Consitution that he claimed was subverted by the Jews. It doesnt get much clearer than that.

by MRFred on 06/11/2009 10:09:41 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Exactly, MRFred (none / 0)
You're exactly right, MRFred- there is nothing to debate. The difference here is Political Science 101 stuff. This was a right-wing extremist, plain and simple. I think you and ihavenobias are being overly nice in taking the time to respond on this one. I'm all for critical thinking, but this one is not really that nuanced.

by ProgTruth on 06/11/2009 10:50:30 PM EST

[ Parent ]
I'll say (none / 2)

DHS sez

 

(U) Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and
adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups),
and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or
rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a
single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

Case closed

by MRFred on 06/11/2009 10:55:59 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Indeed. (none / 0)
The sad part about this is none of us will ever get the time back we lost responding to this initial post.

by ProgTruth on 06/11/2009 11:16:17 PM EST

[ Parent ]
You choose your investments (none / 2)
I would gladly "waste time" countering revisionists that use fading memory, and fallacious arguments to somehow mitigate the true horrors that right wing extremists like the Nazis have caused.

by MRFred on 06/12/2009 10:55:26 AM EST

[ Parent ]

Right Wing Says Museum Shooter Is Leftist! | 46 comments (46 topical, 0 hidden)