The funny thing about name-calling is that the more it is done, the less insulting it is. And that is doubly true for those who call their political opponents fascists.
The elections for the Parliament of the European Union were notable for the increase in support for so-called far-right parties such as the National Rally in France, the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, the Freedom Party of Austria, the Alternative for Germany, and the Brothers of Italy.
The results were alarming to legacy media institutions and the long-entrenched center-right and center-left parties that have dominated European politics for decades. There are numerous reasons for that dominance, but among them is that at one point or another, the entrenched parties have accused each of the aforementioned “far-right” parties of fascism or of harboring fascist sympathies.
The calculus was simple. The scars…
