Just to connect the dots here: the politics of racial separatism / ethno-nationalism, isolationism, militant anti-immigration views, populism, and extreme social conservatism, combined with the paranoia that Marxists and the forces of multi-culturalism will overwhelm your country is a category of fascism known as Third Position. I haven't yet come across this label being attached to Breivik, the Norwegian rightist terrorist suspect, however he fits this perfectly.
Third Position adherents and movements often prefer decentralization over centralization; "leaderless resistance" over following a great leader, and generally are oriented towards pushing their agenda at home, or possibly linking up with like-minded fascists on an internationalist basis rather than building an international empire. There are the famous examples of "workerist" Strasserites within the Nazi party, and there are others who are far more religious, including The Nation of Islam and the terrorist Norwegian. (edit: apparently his religious commitment may be more cultural attachment than actual faith). He's apparently an admirer of Al Qaeda's methods and attacks- the two are mirror images of one another in methods and world-view.
In the US, the "soft" version of this would include elements of the Tea Party along with "paleoconservative" figures like Pat Buchanan. The "hard" versions would be armed neo-nazis and open Third Position organisations, who, while following national socialist ideology, are too much of a rabble to have been accepted by the SS.
There's historical forces at work here, though unwisely many are ignoring it and bringing out the same old clichés about the random "mad gunman". The same excuses were drug out to attempt to explain away Arizona shooter Jared Loughner. He, too was motivated by eerily similar social conservative views (anti-abortion and misogyny) along with nationalist obsessions with immigrants, conspiracies and currencies. An excellent statement from the League for the Fifth International stated "There is no doubt that the terror attacks are aimed at the Norwegian labour movement. Those who do not recognise this fact, are disarming the labour movement in front of future violent outbursts from extreme right-wing circles... Extreme right-wing violence is a reality and the organisations of the labour movement should be prepared to defend themselves."
On the rise of the far right, and the mainstreaming of their ideas, a NY Times writer described, "The success of populist parties appealing to a sense of lost national identity has brought criticism of minorities, immigrants and in particular Muslims out of the beer halls and Internet chat rooms and into mainstream politics. In recent years far-right statements have appeared to lose much of their post-World War II taboo even among some prominent political parties." Evidently, as the memories of WWII and its devastation fade, the shock-power of fascism also disappears.
The attraction of fascism, and the reason it's tolerated by the capitalist class should be obvious. Fascists provide scapegoats: don't blame the bankers for our economic crises, blame the immigrants. Don't blame capitalism for lowering living standards, blame multiculturalism. Or this example from the Six Counties in Ireland, where loyalist thugs attack working class Catholic communities because they have grievances over jobs and poverty. And so on.
One of the tasks of Communists is to act as the memory of our class. That way, the lessons of the past, learned through blood and sacrifice, don't have to be repeated. While many are trying to distract us, and prevent us from drawing logical conclusions, (such as this writer, who has said that solidarity and political conclusions are unacceptable, while only condemnation and sympathy are appropriate!) it's more important than ever before to connect the dots between capitalism's decline and fascist massacres of leftist workers.
UPDATE: It seems there was another attack, and another victim was shot in the head. It's not clear if it's a copycat or part of the same original plan as the other terrorist actions. I've been wondering if this was some kind of MKULTRA far right terrorist group, as it's hard to believe one man carried out a bombing of a secure government building, and then only a few hours later massacres over 90 people on his own. So if this latest attack is connected, there is likely a larger group at work.
