> You have the facts on your side. Use them to win the argument, already.

I agree it would have been educational for many here to include a few of the definitions of fascism[0] as a political/idealogical term, just to drive home the point of how closely Trump is skirting the edge already after only a week or so.

[0] there's not a single generally agreed-upon definition, but you don't get extra points if you "only" hit a couple of them.

However, to address your point that the term was used for name calling:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_fascism#Fascist...

Now of course the word "bully" is a purposeful understatement (and of course saying "fascist" when you mean "bully" is no proper way of arguing on HN). And that would be that, if this were some other frivolous topic. But it's quite fair to argue that the situation is a lot closer to the various serious definitions of fascism than it is to the mere vague pejorative. The world is looking in horror, and we're all thinking it. Maybe another week of these "crazy antics" before we can say it without being downvoted? Don't wait too long though, or you might not be allowed to say it at all.

If you can't do better than name-calling with a flat-earther, I don't know what to tell you.

My point is that facts do nothing to those that are committed to fiction. Presenting facts or debating gives their position legitimacy. Better to just dismiss lunacy with a pejorative term and move along.

No, as you can see, that's just a way to get your own comments flagged. If someone writes something so bad you can't respond to it, that's what the "flag" button is for.