[gisely]

Hmm? No equating happening in my comment. The point was that just because statement is about a political group doesn't mean it's a only an opinion. Mentioning Nazi Germany is just using an extreme example to make clear that statements about political groups aren't inherently mere opinions.

[throwway120385]

Yeah, insofar as there are distinct political philosophies with defining features like fascism, democracy, nationalism, oligarchy, et. al., then it is entirely possible to accurately call manifestations of those philosophies by their names and have it be an expression of fact. This is basic ontology.

We have opinions about these philosophies but the philosophies exist independently of our opinions. And to have a rational conversation we sometimes have to use terms that may provoke strong reactions. If we can't look past our strong reaction and explain why the category doesn't apply then there's no way to make sense of each other's worldview.

If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it must be a duck or we cannot have a rational conversation about the duck. We can dispute whether it quacks or walks but disputing whether it's a duck in light of evidence of its duckness is irrational.