Just so we're all on the same page...

I thought that I'd clarify a lot of the stuff being flung about at town hall meetings and in the blogosphere. Courtesy of The American Heritage Desk Dictionary, here are some handy references when you read about or hear some terms being used. Or if you choose to use them yourself, please do us all a favor and make sure you use the terms correctly. Communist: a member of a Communist Party. A person who believes in or advocates communism. communism: any social system characterized by the absence of classes and by common ownership of the means of production and common sharing of labor and products. fascism: a political philosophy of the extreme right, marked by strict government control of the economy, nationalism, and suppression of all opposition. Nazi:a member of a fascist party founded in Germany in 1919 and brought to power in 1933 under Adolf Hitler. Short for Nationalsozialist. Nazism: the doctrine and policy of the Nazis, including state control of the economy, racist nationalism, and national expansion. socialism: a doctrine or movement calling for public ownership of factories and other means of production. A social system that practices this doctrine. In Marxist-Leninist theory, the stage of society between capitalism and communism. Socialist: a member of a socialist party. Sooooooooo. From this we can draw some parallels and we can also see some freaks of logic (meaning, some parallels that defy logic). Folks who call the Democrats Nazi socialists are obviously confused. The two systems are polar opposites. Folks who call the Democrats fascists are obviously confused. And most likely to be Republicans - the more conservative of whom are actually closer to fascism than the Democrats. Folks who say that the plan(s) - because there are what? Five of them floating around - to "socialize" our health care are obviously confused because socialism advocates ownership, and if there's a public option as proposed in at least one of the plans floating around, there's no socialism. There's choice. For those who continue to bandy these often-misunderstood phrases around, I hope that by providing this compendium of definitions, I have helped clarify your thoughts. You may now return to your regular programming - which, by the way, can be improved by using your own brain and thinking instead of swallowing talking points.