Few words have the power to upset individuals and corrode a conversation more than the N-word. Its very use short-circuits rational discourse. Thrown around with frequency in certain circles, the N-word provokes and torments, gaining totemic power with each use.

The N-word I refer to is, of course, “Nazi.”

Over 60 years after the end of World War II, the N-word and its relatives, the F-bomb (“fascist”) and the H-bomb (“Hitler”), continue to wreak havoc on our language and political discourse.

For years, leftist critics have been quick to brand their rightwing opponents as fascists and spiritual heirs of der Fuhrer. Just months ago, the cultural critic and erstwhile Democratic political consultant Naomi Wolf published an entire book dedicated to the proposition that America is sliding toward fascism.