Republican opposition to democracy is nothing new. Their very name would suggest such. However, they have never before had an engaged number of ignorant voters who could be propagandized into supporting their claims.

The base that can swing elections for Republicans without understanding the meaning of fascism (I'll say it for you without hesitation) and how closely we are skirting around that reality has grown considerably since the rapid shift to the right started by the TEA party.

I certainly wouldn't give any support to fascists, but I would point out that the Democratic party has, for decades, presented its own version of fascism with its more than obvious leaning toward neoliberalism and a "market-driven" economy. They simply don't have the political chops to present it for what it is as Republicans have. They hide behind social issues of race and gender that are, at their core, economic issues anyway.

Fascism is now guaranteed for America in the very near future. The only thing left in question is how minorities, women and the gay community are treated as the middle class is eroded to the point where it is no longer detectable in our class structure, so those non-standard groups have little to gain economically from inclusion.