Reply #25: You raise an excellent point.

[SidneyCarton]

My intention was not to argue that the danger was passed, though I can see how it could be interpreted as such, so I apologize for my lack of clarity. We have been given an opportunity to reconstruct our democracy, at a far lower cost than the Germans did, and on far more favorable terms, for they are terms of our own devising. There were numerous, and justified worries that Fascism would re-emerge in Germany in the years after 1945 (hence some anti-Fascist laws that remain on the German books, despite the fact that they are arguably antithetical to the principle of freedom of speech) There are many good reasons to fear a neocon relapse in the coming years, and we must do our best to root out this corrosive ideology from our government and the body politic. However, we are fortunate to have come to this point without being brought to our knees.