semi-connected thoughts

Under the weather here, and somewhat medicated, but on occasion some synaptic activity rises above of the fog, I think (hope?).

I'm still troubled by the term FASCIST when talking about Islamic governments.

1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

That definition could reasonably be used to describe any and every non-democratic government extant, or that ever existed.

So, yeah, it fits well enough, but misses the mark when describing the threat to the west.

Internal politics may be ugly, but it takes the added dimension of IMPERIALISM to generate a threat.

2 : the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas; broadly : the extension or imposition of power, authority, or influence imperialism>

North Korea, for instance, may be fascist, but has severely limited imperial ambitions. Cuba has both a fascist government AND imperial ambitions, but still practically limited - it's unlikely Castro will attack Houston directly.

Islamic imperialism, however, is the greatest single threat since the USSR dissolved.

Said another way; if Iran wishes to live as a fascist state, so be it! I would prefer it didn't. but it's not a threat to me and mine.

Islamic Imperialism perfectly describes the threat.

It's of note (but a bit of a side issue) that historically those countries and cultures that have fallen to Islamic Imperialism have NOT been converted to Islam by force, but dealt with as Dhimmis.

From Dhimmi Watch

Dhimmitude is the status that Islamic law, the Sharia, mandates for non-Muslims, primarily Jews and Christians. Dhimmis, "protected people," are free to practice their religion in a Sharia regime, but are made subject to a number of humiliating regulations designed to enforce the Qur'an's command that they "feel themselves subdued" (Sura 9:29). This denial of equality of rights and dignity remains part of the Sharia, and, as such, is part of the law that global jihadists are laboring to impose everywhere, ultimately on the entire human race.

There were times in this country where we had a democracy but women and blacks couldn't vote. We could easily have a form of government that was a democracy, but non Muslims couldn't vote.

From Wikipedia: Spain under Islam.

Spanish society under Muslim rule became increasingly complex, partly because Islamic conquest did not involve the systematic conversion of the conquered population to Islam. At the same time, Christians and Jews were recognized under Islam as "peoples of the book", and so given dhimmi status. Christianity and Judaism shared with Islam the tradition of the Old Testament, and Islam considered Jesus Christ a major prophet. Most importantly, the Islamic Berber and Arab invaders were a small minority, ruling over a few million Christians. Thus, Christians and Jews were free to practice their religion, but they had to pay a prescribed poll tax. They were not permitted to build new churches or synagogues, and clothing conventions were used to mark them out. Conversion to Islam proceeded slowly at first but then at a steadily increasing pace, as it offered social and economic advantages and an escape from the humiliations of dhimmi status. Merchants, nobles, large landowners, and other local elites were usually the first to convert. By the eleventh century Muslims outnumbered Christians in Al-Andalus.

The Roman Catholic Church in Muslim Spain continued to function, although it lost contact with religious reforms in Rome. Muslim Spain came to include a growing number of Mozarabic Christians, people who adopted Arabic script and culture and preserved the old Christian rites from Visigothic times, that differed from the newer rites in Rome. Under some Muslim rulers, many Jews held prominent positions in commerce and the professions, and sometimes even positions in government.

The Muslim community in Spain was itself diverse and beset by social tensions. From the beginning, the Berber tribespeople of North Africa, who had provided the bulk of the soldiers, clashed with the Arabs of the Middle East, who formed the ruling elite. The Berbers, who were comparatively recent converts to Islam, accounted for the majority of Moors in Spain and they resented the sophistication and aristocratic pretensions of the Arab elite. They soon gave up attempting to settle the harsh lands of the northern reaches of the Meseta Central handed to them by the Arab elite, and, complaining of Arab duplicity, many returned to Africa during a Berber uprising against Arab rule. Over time the relatively tiny number of Moors gradually increased with immigration and cross marraiges. Large Moorish populations grew in the south, especially in the Quadalquivir river valley, the narrow but fertile Mediterranean coastal plain and in the Ebro river valley, south of Barcelona.

Like most parallels it isn't exact, but is useful because it offers a view of what we might expect. Imagine Islam laid over an existing democracy? Moorish Spain was NOT a fascist state.