Reply #7: Some branches of Islam actually are not disimilar to fascism.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

There is no major American political movement anything like fascism - the attitude of the American right to the role of the state is diametrically opposite of that of fascists.

By contast, there are certain strands of Islam, or perhaps more accurately certain strands of Islamic thought that advocate creating a military/theocratic dictatorship for the public good, extending the role of the state, total subservience to authority (all of which are anathema to Republicans) and the other hallmarks of fascism.

So one is a crude but not entirely innacurate rhetorical device, and the other is on a level with yelling "I know you are, I said you are, so what am I".

All fascist political movements are bad. Most bad political movements are not fascist.