I have taken quite a lot of flak about my continuing comments over Twitter saying that Obama has the same policies as Benito Mussolini in 1922 Italy. Mind you, most of the objections to my arguments center on the popular notion that fascism and naziism were the same thing. Though Hitler looked at what Mussolini was doing and refined it into the Nazi goals, and eventually convinced Mussolini to follow suit, the Italian fascism of 1922 is a different beast.

So, here is my proof. This comes from the Special Collections Library of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. It was penned by Stanley A Payne in 1998, and can be found on the web at http://specialcollections.library.wisc.edu/exhibits/Fascism/Intro.html.

Italian Fascism began on the left, seeking to combine strong nationalism with modern developmentalism and an aggressive new style of activism that prized violence, idealism, and anti-materialism. While reenforcing Italian colonialism, Fascism originally embraced national liberation and rejected extreme imperialism and racism. Mussolini did not create the movement but skillfully guided himself to power as its Duce (Dux, or leader), at the same time moving the party to the right and engaging in practical compromise with Italy’s established institutions. Though Fascists invented the term "totalitarian" for their new system, Mussolini was unable to complete a Fascist revolution and instead presided over a somewhat limited, semi-pluralist political dictatorship.

Though Fascists were at first wary of and even hostile to Hitlerism, the Nazi leader sought Mussolini as his chief ally. The Duce allowed himself to be convinced by the end of 1937, introducing Nazi-style racist and anti-semitic legislation in Italy despite the membership of many Jews in the Fascist Party.

"Aggressive new style of activism that prized violence"… hm, like what is going on in California with the gay activists trashing churches, vehicles, and the like?

"…idealism…" MoveOn.org activists, among others?

"…anti-materialism…" Class warfare rhetoric, the attacks against companies like Wal-Mart, maybe?

"…rejected extreme imperialism and racism…" The War on Terror? ACORN and other activists working against those evil, racist Republicans?

"…engaging in practical compromise with Italy’s established institutions…" The bailout?

Il Duce…The Leader… The One…The Messiah (as per Louis Farrakhan)

Ah but David, you may say, this is but one source.

From http://www.revision-notes.co.uk/revision/21.html :

Reasons for the rise of the Fascists (1920-22)

• Disgust in Italy at the terms of the peace treaties (didn’t obtain A.H. territory)
• The Fascists represented a means to stop the socialists and the communists (in the eyes of conservative politicians, who sought to moderate and control Fascism to their purposes) Despite their voting records being similar, Obama is considered more ‘reasonable’ than Dennis Kucinich and also garnered votes from people such as Chuck Hagel and Colin Powell.
• Mussolini was backed by wealthy industrialists and landowners (b/c of their fear of socialist reforms) George Soros, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, those that ran Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, just to name a few
• Support from Pope Pius XI and the Vatican (who saw the Fascists as an opportunity to normalize State-Church relationships) Black church leadership, moderate Christian denominations such as the Methodists, Scientology
• Lack of faith in Italy’s institutions (failures of WWI, post-war violence, high U…) George W Bush, financial markets, auto industry
• After the March on Rome (October 22) the King offered the post of Prime Minister to Mussolini
• The violence of the Fascists (i.e.: blackshirts) intimidated opponents On election day, voter intimidation occurred in Philadelphia, plus the threat of being labelled a racist.
• The complicity of the police and the army (who didn’t suppress Fascist violence) Police are doing little to quell Prop 8 protests, among other things.

The Establishment of a Dictatorship

The king remained the Head of State, but w/ Mussolini Italy moved gradually towards dictatorship (not to the extent of Hitler’s dictatorship however)

1922-1924: The Fascists strengthened their position by:

• Excluding Socialists from the coalition More radical supporters have not been placed in the proposed Cabinet
• Continuing to attract members (weakening opponents at the same time) The Obama Nation
• Continuing violence a/g political opponents Church attacks…more coming
• The fact that the Vatican became increasingly pro-Fascist
• The lack of unity amongst opponents Just read all the Republicans bashing each other
• The Acerbo Law (July 1923) which stated that the party of coalition which won an election was to be automatically awarded 2/3 of the seats in parliament (this made strong Gov. possible)
• Winning the April 1924 election w/ 374 out of 535 seats in parliament Near supermajority in the Senate, and dominance in the House
• Use of electoral fraud in the south of Italy (to ensure Fascist victory) ACORN

I rest my case…for now.

Tags: Fascism, Obama