Leftists customarily throw the term "Fascists" around with gay abandon. But there is usually some consistency in their usage. They use it to imply Right-wing extremism (even though the original Fascists were far-Leftists!).
Evidence that Leftists really use it simply to describe anything they disagree with emerged yesterday in Australia. A former Leftist Prime Minister of Australia (Keating) who is noted for his talent at abuse was commenting on the widespread criticism of his party's proposed new pro-union laws:
"Now, this is what ... and, you know, all those middle-of-the-road fascists, you know, in the News Corporation papers, all going on this morning, on the front pages of The Daily Telegraph and The Australian, and the hand-wringing, you know, the conservative columnists in The Sydney Morning Herald, you know, they're ... these people would not have the wit to compose an industrial relations policy.
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It takes Paul Keating to think you can be both middle of the road and a Fascist.
He may be more correct than it appears, however. "Third way" Leftism is very popular in much of the world today -- with Tony Blair being the leading exponent of it. And the "Third way" is supposed to be a particularly moderate form of Leftism. Yet various writers (example here) have pointed out that the "Third way" policies concerned bear a striking similarity to the policies of the founder of Fascism -- Benito Mussolini. So who are the Fascists now?
