Ed, your "Fourteen Defining Characteristics of Fascism" sound like a capsule description of the USA in the present era, in almost every respect. This is something I've been keenly aware of ever since I lived in the USA back in the 1960s. It's exactly what troubles me about American politics, and it's why I oppose their aggressive foreign policy.

As for Harper, he is an open admirer of the neo-conservative (neo-fascist) movement that came forth in the USA from the time of the Reagan administration on, and it is clearly his wish to implement something quite similar in Canada if he possibly can...but he faces greater resistance here since the Canadian public is less inclined to support moves in that direction.