Why George W. Bush is Not a Fascist

Before I begin, I must say that I'm approaching this material out of contempt for those who remain ignorant as to the actual nature of fascism and its place in history. Fascism is highly distinguishable from any mainstream political trends in the west, and dare I say George W. Bush cannot logically (or correctly) be labeled a fascist by any means, much less a Nazi. This articles seeks to distinguish between fascism/National Socialism and the neo-liberal policies of George W. Bush and the Republican party. 

Firstly, this is to all those whom find it suitable to label George W. Bush a nazi or a fascist. There are certain aspects to these respective ideologies that make any comparisons with Bush completely, and utterly false. First and foremost, we're going to examine fascist thought and the basic tenets of this beliefe. Perhaps the most widely accepted defining piece of contemporary literature on fascism was undertaken in The Authoritarian Personality by Stagner. Stagner developed a scale for the assessment of fascistic attitudes. Throughout his observations of German and Italian fascistic writings, he identified seven characteristic content areas: 1)nationalism, 2)imperialism, 3) militarism, 4) racial antagonism, 5) anti-radicalism, 6)middle-class consciousness, and 7) a benevolent despot or strong man philosophy of government. These trends, while perhaps only two of which are exemplifeid by mainstream politicians in the United States (nationalism and imperialism) are far from defining characteristics of the presence of any American fascist government. Simply looking at the psychology of many of the captured Nazis from WW2 indicates different characterization causes that separate Bush from fascism. What has since been defined by most political psychologists as an "authoritarian personality," this sense of sycophantic obedience towards higher authorties and sharing a common goal of statist supremacy are in staunch contradiction to the actions and beliefs of our current president.