Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Word of the Day for Wednesday July 13, 2005From my daily Dictionary.com email: 9:53:18 AM | malfeasance mal-FEE-zuhn(t)s, noun: Wrongdoing, misconduct, or misbehavior, especially by a public official. Would that be a specific public official perhaps, one with the broad forehead of the unmasked Darth Vader and the beady eyes of Joseph Goebbels? Nah. 
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Will someone please get Tom Friedman a dictionary?fas·cism (f
 sh  z  m)n. The principles and organization of the Italian Fascists, the Italian Fascist movement; a similar nationalist and authoritarian movement in another country; loosely right-wing authoritarianism. Fascist A n. A member of a body of Italian nationalists, which was organized in 1919 to opposed Communism in Italy and controlled the country from 1922 to 1943; a member of any similar nationalist and authoritarian organization in another country; loosely any person with right-wing authoritarian political views. B adj. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Fascism or Fascists. (From the OED shorter, vol. 1. The emphasis on loosely is theirs.) Okay, Tom, we need to review. Islamic fanatics who use terror to disrupt civil life are not "Islamo-fascists." They are not fighting for a nationalist cause. They are not fighting their own government for authoritarian control of that government. In fact, we're always being told that in Iraq they are "foreigners" who aren't Iraqi. These terrorists are not nationalists. Neither were the men who blew themselves up in London, or the nineteen 9/11 hijackers. I'm quite certain that bin Laden does not want authoritarian control of the United States or England, though he leads a religious fundamentalist movement that advocates acts of terror against both countries. The Christian conservatives in the US who have infiltrated government are fascists. They are nationalists who desire to have authoritarian control over the United States. They are also theocrats. They wish to have their right-wing, authoritarian, nationalistic government led by evangelical Christians under religious fundamentalist law. Perhaps the right-wing Israeli settlers in Gaza are fascists. They do want control of their own government, in their own country, and they are nationalists. They seem similarly minded to the Christian Fascists in the US. But please, your mis-use of the word "fascist" regarding Islamic terrorists is just plain wrong. It doesn't help at all; in fact it further confuses the situation. Please, Tom, use a dictionary!!
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Last update: 8/3/05; 12:28:32 AM .
