Quote Quandry of the week

I can certainly understand this inability to reconcile common rhetoric with reality:

“How people that just want to be left alone (TEA Party types) can be called fascists, while the meddling do-gooder class are considered champions of freedom, has always eluded me.” (emphasis added)

Whenever I hear people hurl the charge of 'fascist' at those who, say, disagree with union thuggery in Wisconsin, I want to channel Inigo Montoya: "I doona think thata word means what you think it means..."

The worst that can be said of the Tea Party rallies to date is that ideas have been reasserted that challenged decades of left-leaning, pro-statist indoctrination.  And yes, some feelings might have been hurt as a result, though the racist rhetoric seems FAR more prevalent from the other side.  Regardless, protesting ever-bigger government is a long, long, LONG way from Kristallnacht.

Make no mistake: when you have people predicting the 2012 election will be the 'most racist ever,' it's because they already plan to use the charge to shut down legitimate debate and criticism, not just to decry the odd Klansman who crashes a protest.  During the Cold War, Communists saw opportunities to divide the West over race (admittedly, this was possible because of ugly policies and practices of the past).  Their ideological descendants are just as prone to use the same battering ram.  In many cases, it's all they've got.  The sad thing is, by hauling out this old canard yet again there's serious risk of setting back what real progress has been made in race relations over the past forty years.  A high price for a trite political trick.

(HT: Instapundit)