Let's be clear: Bush is not a Nazi. The zealous proclamations of zealots aside, such rhetoric has no place in serious discussion. Bush hasn't killed six million of anyone.

But it's become increasingly clear that ideological neo-conservatism is in fact a new form of fascism.

Thanks to the behaviour of the aforementioned zealots, words such as 'fascism' have lost their meaning in modern discourse. Business men in three piece suits dismiss us as 'Communists'; street protesters decry them as 'Fascists'. For all their righteous indignation, both sides might as well just stand there, screaming 'fuck you' at each other with all they can muster.

But these words still have meaning -- and their meaning has value.

Ron Suskind recently described a meeting he'd had with a White House staffer attempting to explain the Bush administration's worldview. (The interview aired on Air America Radio's Majority Report, Suskind's comments were at 1:18:17)

Below, Suskind's story has been translated into a short, but accurate, transcript of the briefing as he retells it. Suskind's own extemporaneous comments are in italics:

Aside from revealing a deep level of paranoid delusion within the Bush administration, this is really scary.

But what's it got to do with fascism, you say? Fascism's meaning is clear: the legitimization of authoritarianism. Those capable of attaining power are best suited to wield it. Might makes right.

Neo-conservatives are more complex. Neo-cons seek a "new world order based on American strength and American values,... holding others at a maximum distance". If you think that's a bit of paranoid delusion on my part, I should let you know that that description comes from Richard Perle. Ahem.

Neo-conservatives don't simply believe that laissez faire, private interests and moral absolutism are the source of America's power. They believe that America's having achieved such power -- through that ideology -- reaffirms their mandate to impose these ideas upon others.

America has succeeded inspite of climate change, so global warming mustn’t be a threat.

Wealthy Americans have succeeded by way of private markets, so the public interest mustn’t be of concern.

America is the most powerful nation is history, so its way of life must be superior.

It stands as selfevident that anyone who should disagree can, by that very fact, be disregarded.

The denial of objective reality -- the denial even of its existence -- is simply a megalomaniacal version of the same philosophy.

Don't want to deal global warming? It doesn't exist.

Don't believe public entitlements help people? Starve them, they won't help anyone then.

Don't think multilateralism works? Do everything you can to make the UN irrelevant.

Movement conservatives are creating a manifest reality. Believing their ascent to be a triumph of virtue, they utilize their power to create a reality in which their ideals are indeed virtuous. They do so regardless of facts, regardless of whether their ideals were virtuous to begin with.

Believing the attainment of power to be validation of ones beliefs, neo-conservatives seek a national and international order in which power is unchecked, in which men are free to wield whatever power they can attain.

Neo-conservatives don't believe that might makes right. They believe that the fact they have acquired might is a validation of the underlying righteousness of their beliefs -- and mandate to enforce them. They believe that ideology, with power, can forge reality.

Yeah, so they're not fascists.