Over at the Smirking Chimp, there's a fascinating window into the mind of the average liberal -- and, no, that's not hyperbole -- called "When America Went Fascist" by Chris Rowthorn.

Now, I know a lot of you are rolling your eyes already because what could be more common than an America liberal calling America "fascist" or comparing this country to Nazi Germany?

But, isn't that the point? When screeds like this are practically an everyday thing on the Left, what does it say about modern liberalism?

From the column,

It is a truism in the blogosphere that one more terrorist attack will turn America into a fascist state. People speculate about what fascism in America will look like, or how they might fight it. Others boast that they plan to flee the country ahead of the coming fascist takeover of the United States. One cannot read these posts without a sense of bitter irony, because one thing is clear to those who are watching carefully:

The United States of America is already a fascist state.

The United States turned fascist on December 11, 2000. On that day, the Supreme Court essentially appointed George W. Bush president of the United States, stopping the recount of Florida votes, and, hence, the democratic process. The justices of the court then slipped away by night, ashamed of their role in murdering America's great experiment in democratic rule.

The Supreme Court decision of December 11, 2000 is the modern American equivalent to German President Hindenburg's swearing in of Hitler as chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. By swearing in Hitler as chancellor, Hindenburg set in motion a process which led to the Nazi dictatorship and World War II. In the case of the Nazis, the Reichstag fire of February 27, 1933 was the catalyst they needed to cement their grip on power. In the case of Bush and his backers, the tragedy of September 11, 2001 was the catalyst they needed to complete their full takeover of the American government.

...In 2007, the average American is in exactly the same position as the typical German, Japanese or Italian citizen of the early to mid-1930s.

...Thus, in the last seven years, the United States has gone from a weak democracy, in which the people had weak but nominal control over their government, to a system where the government is under the control of "a unitary executive." And, of course, "unitary executive" is how you say "fuhrer" in modern American English.

...Whether it be the swastika of the Nazis, the rising sun of imperial Japan or the fasces of the Italian National Fascist Party, simple, visually striking and endlessly repeated symbols are the "look" of a fascist government. Check out any Bush speaking engagement, from his "mission accomplished" speech on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln to the Republican National Convention, and you will see him surrounded by the Stars and Stripes. And where Nazi leaders wore swastika armbands, American fascists wear American flag pins on their lapels.

Now you're probably thinking, "Well, the average liberals can't possibly believe this nonsense. It's insane."

Oh? Well, then how can it be the people commenting on the article overwhelmingly agreed with him? How can it be that the article has a 9.9 out of 10 rating on the site? How can comments like the ones you're about to read are representative of the comments in the thread?

The sad truth

Thank you, Chris, I have been thinking this for a long time. I knew one day when I went home and my mother had George Bush's picture framed on the wall, that we were precisely at the stage of Germany in the late 30s. When BushCo attacks Iran, or some other catastrophe happens, make that the 40s.

Electing a Hillary will solve nothing. She will just govern as an Eva Peron-type stand-in, leaving all these fascist laws in place, until another Republican gets elected to finish the job.

Scary times, folks, because we have not nearly hit bottom yet. Look what it took to overcome fascism in Germany and Japan.

We like to blame Reagan for everything but

the roots go back further (I mean, did Ronnie ever have an original idea?). Chalmers Johnson pushes it back to WWII and the beginning of the Cold War. With the establishment of large, permanent standing armies and the CIA the seeds are there. We've been overthrowing Latin American governments and meddling in their internal politics since the Spanish American War, if not earlier.

I know my college buddies and I seriously talked about Nixon crossing that line in the early 70's. It's been more transparent since Ronnie was President, but it's been here for a long time.

People wonder why conservatives and liberals can't work together in Congress.

Well, how do you work with people who feel and represent constitutents who feel that America is a fascist dictatorship, Bush was behind 9/11, flag pins are the new swastikas, and who think that their own country is the primary force of evil in the world and deserves to be punished?