Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg talks about the history and re-emergence of the word in American political debate.

When the 'Right' says.."Down with Socialism"..they mean down with progress, compassion and empathy.

I've been a fan of Nunberg's for years (one of my degrees is in linguistics, so he's "one of us"); he's a regular guest on NPR's "Fresh Air", and I've been listening to him there for about twenty years now. I've read all but one of his six books. The one remaining is titled "Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show" - there's a waiting list at the library for this one.

That interview left me wanting to read more...very interesting, thanks mas

The right can't fight with ideas, so they fight with words that they redefine to mean what is often the opposite of what they really mean.

A lazy coward's tactic.

It`s been a very successful strategy though, since Ronald Reagan really, in this manifestation. Patriotism, traditionalism, low taxes; why would you need useful or realistic policies when you can just manipulate emotions in the population ?

The question is more, to an outsider at least, why does the US population (largely), live in such an an opaque bubble, that they are vulnerable to such crude manouvres as `Socialism` ?

Most Americans wouldn't know socialism if it bit them in the butt.