Sorry for just getting to this now: An article in the N.Y. Times this weekend explores how academics want to broaden the definition of “fascism” for modern usage, broadening to the point of silliness:
Victoria De Grazia of Columbia University lumps Bush and Italy’s prime minister Silvio Berlusconi with Osama bin Laden: “I think the problem is that we are dealing with all sorts of new, strange political phenomena–Osama bin Laden, Hindu nationalism in India, the Le Pen phenomenon in France, Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, Bush’s doctrine of pre-emptive force–and we don’t have the right words to describe these things.”