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From: gsmith@BOSCO.BERKELEY.EDU
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,misc.legal,alt.flame
Subject: Re: The lawsuit of the year.
Message-ID: <8801221334.AA03414@wheatena>
Date: 22 Jan 88 13:34:50 GMT
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Reply-To: wheatena!gsmith (Gene Ward Smith)
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In article <2445@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> lazarus@athena.mit.edu (Michael Friedman) writes:
>In article <8801210557.AA01465@oreo> oreo!gsmith (Gene Ward Smith) writes:

>>And I think ignorance and bloody-mindedness is a bad combination,
>>a dangerous combination, and it is, I submit, the combination
>>which produces "facists" and many of the other depressing things
>>we like to throw at each other as labels.

>When I decided to respond to this posting I first tried to define
>'Fascist'. The sad thing was that I couldn't.

 Why is it that this doesn't surprise me?

>I checked the dictionary.

>Fascism - A centralized, autocratic, national regime with severely
>nationalistic policies, excercising regimentation of industry,
>commerce, and finance, and forcible suppression of opposition.

>I bet that most of you were wrong.

  I bet that you forgot the word "fascist" was not introduced by
me.  The word I used was "Paraguay". Somehow this got the point
got across.

 While no doubt few netters are going to support the whole
fascist program, a certain fondness for severe nationalism and
forcible supression of opposition seems to be not uncommon.
Certainly running someone over with a train is more forceful (but
we hope, less deliberate) than feeding them castor oil like
Mussolini did at first. And some seem to be applauding. Do I
sound paranoid? The history of this country and of this
controversy alike tend to produce a little paranoia at times.

ucbvax!garnet!gsmith   Gene Ward Smith/Brahmsgangster/Berkeley CA 94720
          "There are no differences but differences of degree
            between degrees of difference and no difference"