Editor's note: Michael Ackley's columns may include satire and parody based on current events, and thus mix fact with fiction. He assumes informed readers will be able to tell which is which.

We saw a political cartoon of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, the import of which was that Republicans are hypocrites because they excoriated the philandering Bill Clinton.

The leftist syllogism this represents of this runs along these lines:

"Republicans didn't like Clinton's morals. Philandering Mark Sanford is a Republican. Therefore, Republicans are hypocrites."

This passes for logic among eager Democrats, who seem quite comfortable with any pseudo-intellectualism that reinforces their preconceptions, just as they seem comfortable with the corollary that we may posit:

"Many Democrats are reprobates (Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, Antonio Villaraigosa, Gavin Newsome … take your pick). Democrats defend reprobates. Therefore, Democrats are not hypocrites."

They probably would be less comfortable with the obvious conclusion – "therefore, all Democrats are reprobates" – if they ever thought deeply about this, or about anything else in this Age of True Belief.

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Over the past several months we have written frequently of the parallels between fascism and Democratic Party/Barack Obama policies. We have noted that fascist movements spring from socialist motives and that fascist governments are characterized in part by state control of industry and the financial system.

Another parallel occurs to us as we ponder the weak, almost nugatory, response to President Obama's efforts to take over the American economy. Where, for example, are the lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of his policies? Where is the outrage among our captains of industry? Indeed, where is the ardency of Republican opposition, which has been lukewarm at best.

Perhaps we have found the glimmer of an answer in our reading of some World War II history. Although Hitler, Mussolini and their fascist minions sprang from the Left, they were embraced by significant elements of business and industry.

Why? Business loves certainty, and that is what fascism promises. Labor unions? Strikes? Don't worry about them; the unions are co-opted and under control. Unbridled competition? No problem; government will make sure businesses work together. Economic downturns? Don't be concerned; in a managed economy they'll never happen.

Obama, with his community organizer mindset, thinks he's calling the shots for Wall Street. We tend to think it is just as likely that Wall Street is playing him. So each believes it is guiding the other. For all of us, it's a dangerous game.

Get thee to a dictionary: In her dissent in the New Haven firefighters' case, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg argued that in writing the Civil Rights Act, "Congress endeavored to promote equal opportunity in fact, and not simply in form."

Ginsburg concluded that black firefighters taking a promotional exam lacked an equal opportunity for promotion, even though all test takers were told in advance what would be covered, were given ample time to study, and all agreed that the test procedures were fair.

Clearly, Ginsburg and the other dissenting justices have confused the word "opportunity" with the word "outcome." If their law libraries include a dictionary of the English language, they could look up the two words. And if they have as much trouble with alphabetical rules as they have in honestly interpreting the law, perhaps their clerks could provide the necessary assistance.

Exercise in futility: We know it is useless to fight mass-media-driven erosion of the English language, but we must try. Constantly we see and hear the following construction: So-and-so advocates for (insert favorite cause here). Ladies and gentlemen, "advocate for" is a screaming redundancy. "Advocate" comes from the Latin, ad + vocare, literally, to speak for. So, "to advocate for" is "to speak for for." If you must use the preposition "for," please use the noun form of "advocate," as "he is an advocate for."

Thank you for your kind attention.