It seems fascism can be a little tricky to define. We know it's supposed to be a bad thing, so this allows people to use the word very recklessly, defining it in such a way to demonize those they disagree with. I've seen liberals argue that the U.S. is headed in the direction of fascism (using their definition of fascism of course). However, any country must necessarily be headed in some direction and so may be headed in the direction of fascism or in the direction of communism or in the direction of democracy, etc. In regards to the U.S., it becomes rather meaningless to speak about direction and wholly dishonest, to put it politely, to speak of the U.S. as any kind of fascist state.
Any country will have something in common with almost any definition of fascism, but one can not therefore conclude that country is fascist, which is exactly what many liberals appear to do.
Brilliant commentary! Do you mind if I steal it???