They're not sophistry and it is important to make these distinctions, if only because not doing so allows those who continue to profess allegiance to these ideo

They're not sophistry and it is important to make these distinctions, if only because not doing so allows those who continue to profess allegiance to these ideologies to get away with it. As a case in point it should not come as a surprise that there are few places in the world where those who present themselves as 'National Socialist' or 'Fascist' are given a warm welcome. What should be surprising but is not is that this does not go for those who present themselves as 'Communist' or, more recently, 'Islamist'. This is made possible in part by the use of the term 'fascist' as a stand-in for all those unsavoury ideologies as it serves to wash them clean of the crimes committed in their name by allowing their proponents to claim that those who committed the crimes were not 'true' Communists or Islamists or any other -ists.