Is your neighbor a secret fascist? Are there fascists at your work? Not really something you might think about, right? No, me either. That is until recently.
The comment thread on my last post on American Fascism grew rather quickly into a debate of whether fascism was an ideology of the Left or the Right. In that debate I had reason to recall a self-proclaimed fascist that I had met on AOL after a short piece I did there on fascism. However something odd had happened. He had deleted his blog: The Face of Fascism. And he had changed the name of his website and political party from one about fascism to the Corporatist Party. Well most political science geeks would recognize Corporatism as essentially the same thing as fascism so I didn't think much of it. It was, afterall, Benito Mussolini who once said,
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power."
Thus it didn't really bother me or make me think much that the party name and site name had been changed. It was still the same party platform; I figured it was merely a marketing strategy.
This is where the plot thickens. After the comment thread had cooled down I decided I would contact the head of the Corporatist Party, Lucas Hile. It is an interesting time for Mr. Hile. He is currently running for the City Council in Troy Ohio. I asked him if he would like to be interviewed for an article on my blog. He said he would under one condition: he not be labeled a fascist.
To say the least this was a little confusing. In my last conversation with him months earlier he had openly admitted to being a fascist. His blog was in support of fascism. And his political party was the fascist movement. I voiced my confusion to him and he assured me that he probably just wasn't clear.
This was getting interesting. The problem was, of course, that I had no real proof that he was secretly a fascist. I hadn't logged our conversation. His blog was gone into the ether of cyberspace. The name change on his website and political party was also gone. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps he wasn't all that clear and I misunderstood him. However, one thing stood out in our earlier conversation. He assured me that there were fascists within both political parties who simply do not advertise their real ideology. Whether or not this was true, the essential point was that the growing fascist movement was on the down low to be sure.
Then I hit pay dirt. I found the following quote from Mr. Hile on a fellow AOL journalers blog, which can be found by clicking here (note: you'll have to highlight the comments with your mouse to see them due to the color scheme of this particular journal, but they are there. There is also a quote from me there):
"Now, after your self-righteous tirade, I'll point out where you were wrong. First off, France is SOCIALIST, which is further from FASCISM then America is. Second of all, you greatly underestimate The National Fascist Party's influence over both Democrat and Republican politics. In addition, don't group us with Nazis, they don't practice Fascism, they practice National Socialism (there is a big difference)."Now, with that said, I voted for Bush, because I didn't think that the Socialist "Vladymir" Kerry and "Karl" Edwards would have been a very good decision for this country. But face the cold reality, the true Fascists are closer than you could really imagine. Next time you're out, smile more, you never know when the man standing next to you is Pro-Fascism.
Until Our Second March,
Luke (emphasis mine)
This comment from Luke should erase all doubt of whether or not he's pro-fascist. But my point here is not to attack a single person. Rather, I think it's important that we consider the very real possibility that there is a secrative and growing fascist movement in this country. But am I imagining his desire to keep his pro-fascist agenda secret? Consider the following remarks found on his Corporatist website:
It seems that a journalist with the local newspaper has it fixed in his mind that I am, in fact, some sort of leader of a Movement supporting the installment of a Fascist Regime in America. My supporters, I need not demonstrate the idiocy of this allegation, or elaborate its hilarity.
Hilarity? There is nothing funy about someone running for public office and not disclosing their true political ideology. It seems that the press in this case have done their job and rooted out his fascist ideology. Couple his comment from the journal above, coupled with my own interaction with Mr. Hile, and it's clear that he is attempting to dupe the people of Troy, Ohio.
There are, of course, those on the Left and the Right who carelessly throw around the term fascism to mean little more than a "bad guy." It's a term that carries a lot of baggage. But I don't think we're that far off the mark when those of us on the Left point out the fact that America is moving towards fascism. The party of Luke Hile and other pro-fascist sites are no doubt small, but these movements play on fear and ignorance and a false sense of patriotism/nationalism and have a tendency to grow rapidly. I think it's important that we start considering the fact, also, that may fascists may not be so quick to admit their fascist ideology: not even fascists like being called fascists!
Then I hit pay dirt. I found the following quote from Mr. Hile on a fellow AOL journalers blog, which can be found by clicking here (note: you'll have to highlight the comments with your mouse to see them due to the color scheme of this particular journal, but they are there. There is also a quote from me there):
