Political Accelerants

Anti-semitism has a long history as a political accelerant, working like gasoline or kerosene to ensure that the fire of hatred and, thus, the political views which espouse the hatred, are spread quickly and effectively.

The Center for American Progress has issued a report on Hatred of Islam (the term used by them - and by everyone - is "Islamophobia" which is a nonce word made up for cable tv that I really cannot bring myself to use).

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/islamophobia.html

Rep. Bachmann is cited for her gifts to the bonfire of the inanities and hatred in general, as well as FOX News, which is not too shocking, since they have already as much as admitted they are an organ that advances a political agenda... the fact that the agenda might contain the roots of fascism does not strain credulity in these times of dishonor and disrepute.

Many political movements have used the crowd appeal and the motivation of hatred of some target group to get the masses going. It was an important component of Nazism, although it was not so much in Italian Fascism nor Spanish Falangism.
However, everybody has somebody they hate, and many political movements try and use that hatred as a prime motivator, and it works very well.

As I see it, we have the Radical Right and the Radical Republicans with:

1) an opposition to democratic processes as displayed by their refusal to negotiate and discuss, showing their essential authoritarianism, and

2) a large part of this group displaying different types of Focus of Hatred politics as a primary motivator for their adherents.

By the time we have exhausted our catalogue of their infamy, we shall have lost everything.
--