Is Obama a liberal, moderate or conservative? Yes, but he's also an excellent neofascist

By selectively rescuing some corporations and industries while allowing others to fend for themselves, President Obama is asking for trouble. No one likes to be passed over by a savior, especially those who actually will fade into history if they are passed over.

As time goes by, and the U.S. government runs out of Chinese money, the list of those passed over will grow. As a result, even if the Republican Party remains stuck on stupid, more and more voters will long for the next chance to vote against Obama.

Another strange phenomenon also is at work. Obama frustrates those of us who love language and are determined to use words accurately.

Given the long sweep of history, what are we to call Obama's approach to governance?

Liberal? A case can be made. It is obvious that one of Obama's central objectives is to reduce disparities in income.

Moderate? A case can be made. He hasn't pulled the plug on his predecessor's effort to pacify and normalize Iraq even though his campaign themes suggested that this would be at the top of his agenda.

Conservative? Odd as it may seem, Obama is continuing some of the worst policies of his predecessors, allowing the teachers unions to continue to mismanage the public schools while showing no interest in policy initiatives, such as charter schools and vouchers, that could force improvement in those schools or drive them out of business.

Absent a traditional course in his presidency, I have chosen to describe it as "neofascist," in light of Obama's emphasis on statist remedies and his remarkable willingness to run roughshod over privately owned corporations.

The trump card was played by historian Roger Griffin, who wrote, "The core mobilizing myth of fascism which conditions its ideology, propaganda, style of politics and actions is the vision of the nation's imminent rebirth from decadence."

Could Obama's politics be described more accurately than that?