this will get banned - answer at your peril

Geez, don't you remember from your history books what good friends the Nazi's were with the communists? Oh wait, they hated each other! I'm guessing people lump those all together as "bad" without really knowing what they all mean...

Thanks for posting this. I hope it does NOT get banned! My ADD kicked in after the 3rd or 4th reply. I am going to have to come back to it later. I never put much thought into the similarities or differences between all those lovely words until I became interested in the political discussions here in mylot and was accused of being several of those lovely names. lol

Well, yes, they all refer to different government and economic systems, but they also aren't mutually exclusive. In his autobiographies Obama states pretty proudly that he sought after people he respected, they were the communist, socialist and other collective minded people. Wasn't it Obama who said that, if elected, he will "share the wealth"? Please explain to me how that makes him NOT socialist? Obama's vision of the federal government is to be a central power that controls the means of production. He has already gained control of the finance and auto industries... and is now working hard to control the medical field. He stated quite clearly that he considers the US Constitution a "charter of negative rights" because it tells the federal government what it can't do, but doesn't tell us what the federal government can to for us. Please explain to me how that isn't communism? Fascism... What does that mean? Isn't it a system that believes that people of different demographics are naturally in perpetual conflict, and it takes a strong central power to keep things in check? Doesn't fascism demand respect and honor to the government, and silence opposition and dissent? Obama, Pelosi and Reid have all came down on those of us who disagree with them. They close the doors of their "town hall" meeetings and only welcome those who agree with them. They claim to have open meetings but then pack them full of supporters. Pelosi called us "Nazis", Obama has demanded we "shut up". Today Obama had his "health care forum" by "invitation only". In that meeting he promised that he would get health care reform passed no matter what. Granted, he could be a lot more heavy handed, but he's off to a good start there. Nazi does have historic overtones that go beyond mere "National Socialism" that Obama proudly espouses (as to many American liberals). But the term itself isn't necessarily Nazi Germany. Just a question though, do you also object to Pelosi calling us "Nazis"? Liberal... this one is a lot more vague because most people who consider themselves liberals also seperate their liberalism from those they consider "extreme". However, go to any party of any US city where there is a plethera of liberals and you will see posters, bumber stickers and other images celebrating the historic heroes of communism and socialism... they have embraced the star and sickle, Che Quevera, Castro, Mao Tse Tung, Chavez.. etc. So, while I do agree with you that the terms aren't synonyms, it doesn't take much to observe examples of each in what Obama espouses.

They're not about to stop because their ploys are working! Most people in this country don't really know what any of those words plus throw in "socialism" TRULY mean, but they do know they're said as if they're one and the same. They know communists and Nazis are "evil" so when they hear them used with "liberal" they think that must be a horrible thing as well. That's why we're always hearing that the majority of Americans consider themselves "conservative". The funny thing is when they're questioned on specific issues their answers are totally different. Annie

LOL ok but, I don't really use any of them except for liberal.

I confess I have recently had to look up definitions of these terms to sort throught the pile. At least I've learned something. I think often times people also confuse a system of economics with personal freedoms. While they do overlap in some areas, they are primarily exclusive.

Good luck with that one JB.