re: #540 Right Handed Neutrino

I have to admit, the whole thing feels somewhat silly to me. Does it really matter that we can or cannot pin a label on a 70 years old political movement? If they had bad ideas (i.e. invade neighboring countries, round up and kill minorities and political opponents), then we should be able to argue that these ideas were bad on their own merits, or lack thereof. If they had good ideas (i.e. nothing in particular comes to mind, but even Hitler and Mao must have had some reasonable opinions on, I don’t know, maintaining roads or something) then we should equally be able to argue that these ideas are good on their merits. But whether or not these ideas would today be categorized as “right wing” or “left wing” seems somewhat irrelevant.

It would be, except that this isn’t a scholarly quarrel, but a modern political one. When Glenn Beck parades Jonah Goldberg’s unscholarly and silly insistence that fascism is not only left-wing but ‘liberal’, there is a clear agenda of trying to smear contemporary American liberals as fascists going along with it

It’s worth trying to clarify what the discussion is really about. Similar with those people who keep popping up with scraps gleaned from “God’s Battalions”, insisting that the Crusades were a war of defense against the Muslim marauders. Changing history to suit your immediate political needs may be good propaganda, but it;s bad history.