Fascism

The question of what is a Fascist is brought up because Fox News and right-wing talk radio shows keep talking about IslamoFacists.  Most of us know that Fascism existed in Nazi Germany.  My question is what is Fascism?  I researched Wikipedia, on-line dictionaries, on-line commentaries and my own American Heritage Dictionary.  Here is what I found.

Fascists are not merely dictators. The most notable characteristic of a fascist country is the separation and persecution or denial of equality to a specific segment of the population based upon superficial qualities or belief systems. 

Simply stated, a fascist government always has one class of citizens that is considered superior (good) to another (bad) based upon race, creed or origin.  It is possible to be both a republic and a fascist state. The preferred class lives in a republic while the oppressed class lives in a fascist state.  Thus parts of the United States that legalized oppression were Fascist.  Oh, that hurts. 

IslamoFacists apparently are Muslims who are also fascists.  That might be every dictator, president, king and his followers in North Africa and the Middle East.  I call them potentates.