Apparently the latest fad in right wing slurs is socialist.

“Earlier this week, we heard the world’s best salesman of socialism address the nation,” Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, said on Friday, referring, naturally, to a certain socialist in chief.

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas decried the creation of “socialist republics” in the United States. “Lenin and Stalin would love this stuff,” Mr. Huckabee said, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference here over the weekend, a kind of Woodstock for young conservatives.

“Socialism is something new for us to hit Obama over the head with,” said Joshua Bolin of Augusta, Ga., who founded a Web site, “Reagan.org,” which he calls a conservative analog to the liberal MoveOn.org.

It would be nice if this provided an actual discussion of what socialism is and what a socialist social organization might mean for the US. I doubt it will happen though. I also doubt that we'll see much of the Democratic faithful embrace socialist at a label the way they've re-embraced liberal.

The truth is, liberal and socialist are not synonymous. In discussion with my liberal associates, there is little interest in nationalization, worker control of the means of production or any support of a truly socialist transformation of society. Most people seem to be more than content to find ways to find ways to patch the existing system. For example, observe the repeated calls for shoring up the "middle class" during our current economic crisis as opposed to a discussion the working class. One of these terms obscures social relations and those between workers and owners, while aligning the interests of some workers with those of owners and against other members of working class. The ruling class likes it when fight amongst ourselves. It keeps us occupied.

Resistance to socialism seems to be founded mostly on misconceptions of what socialism is and can be. Coupled with this is willingness to associate socialism with autocratic regimes that self-identify as socialist or communist. It's interesting that many people are willing to recognize that politicians and governments are more than capable of disingenuously embracing the terminology of democracy, for example, as an ideology to legitimize their claims to power. Why is it that they are unable to make this distinction between rhetoric and political reality when it comes to socialism? Fear?

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. -Marx & Engels

Finally, I'm sure we'll eventually hear some on the right speak dismissively of class warfare if they haven't started this already. They never talk about class warfare when they're winning, when the capitalists are getting their way. It's not that there isn't an ongoing war or that class warfare is merely when workers air their grievances. It's just worth mentioning when they're making gains. But they're always at war with us. The operation of capitalism is, ultimately, always against the workers.