Thursday.....Politics.....Liberal Fascism

One of the disappointments in writing this blog is that I might write on a certain subject and after the passage of time, and many additional blogs, fully expect that no will come across it again. Today, because of this, I would like to copy a blog from April 22, 2009, that blog being a book report on Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism. This administration no longer just has fascist tendencies, it is a mature fascism. Hard to believe? Few Americans know the origins and the characteristics of this early 20th century political philosophy and what they had heard during the Bush administration, as charges of fascism was leveled against it, was an absurd reversal of protagonists. If you do read this book, and are awakened as to what is going on in Washington D. C., please invest in some more copies and give others the opportunity to join the effort to stop it.

     There are two secular books that I consider necessary reads if you are concerned for America. One is an expose, the other is a manifesto. They are Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism, The Secret History of the American Left From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning, and Liberty and Tyranny (which I hope to reprint tomorrow) written by Mark R. Levin and No.1 on the best seller chart. Goldberg begins his last chapter with this, I have argued that modern liberalism is the offspring of twentieth century progressivism, which in turn shares intellectual roots with European fascism.....in the United States, the movement known elsewhere as fascism or Nazism took the form of progressivism. Part of Tom Wolfe's blurb on the back states, Love it or leave it, "Liberal Fascism" is a book you won't be able to put down, in either sense of the word. It is startling, table gripping and ultimately quieting because it makes sense of what has been going on. This book did not plant the seed within me on today's liberalism having the potential of becoming totalitarian, I had already discerned that. It did show me that it had been done before in America. Goldberg begins with...in reality, international fascism drew from the same intellectual wellsprings of American Progressivism-moralistic social crusade from which modern liberals proudly claim descent-is in some respects the major source of the fascist ideas applied in Europe by Mussolini and Hitler. As we read through the history of the Progressive Movement, we can see clearly the goals, methods and schemes that are being presented to us today. The term, fascism is thrown around today much as Stalin did in using it for anything he didn't like. In fact, fascism was highly thought of by the American Left in the 1920s, as was Mussolini. President Woodrow Wilson's writings and actions are thoroughly detailed by Goldberg as he writes indeed, it is my argument that during World War I, America became a fascist country, albeit temporarily. Goldberg begins with the French Revolution, the first fascist movement, and the philosophy of the Jacobins. As an example of this he writes, they replaced venerated holidays, with pagan, nationalistic celebrations. The Cathedral of Notre Dame was renamed the "Temple of Reason."  Again on the French Revolution.....it was also seen as a left-leaning one for breaking with the Catholic Church and empowering the people. The current philosophy that has enraptured so much of the American psyche has shown every sign and has the potential to rule with the rod, as Goldberg writes of  fascism, It is "totalitarian" in that it views everything as political and holds that any action taken by the state is justified to achieve the common good. Robespierre's comment there are only two parties in France, the people and its enemies is too close to the current effort by the administration and media to place the charge of extremism on free speech advocates, Tea Parties, gun owners, Christians, the military and opponents of abortion, illegal immigration and same-sex marriage. Goldberg states that Mussolini coined the term "totalitarian" to describe a society where everybody belonged, where everyone was taken care of, where everything was inside the state and nothing was outside: where truly no child was left behind. Hitler wanted a non-smoking, vegetarian, holistic, environmental nation where, as his youth manual stated nutrition is not a private matter. Goldberg did not coin the phrase liberal fascism. Progressive H. G. Wells did as he told the Young Liberals at Oxford that Progressives must become "liberal fascists" and "enlightened Nazis." Goldberg says, and I agree, that liberals are not interested in their intellectual history and thus can accuse conservatives of being fascist. Mussolini was heavily influenced by the Pragmatism of William James. Does this from Goldberg on fascists sound familiar,  any belief that is useful is therefore necessarily true. Conversely, any truth that is inconvenient or non-useful is necessarily untrue? This is the theorem used on global warming, the war on terror, talking to dictators, the Constitution, assisted suicide and a host of other issues that we have wrung our hands over in past years. Goldberg proclaims that fascism, is a democracy gone mad. There's a chapter on Woodrow Wilson. He believed, the individual must marry his interests to the state. He was the first President to speak disparagingly of the Constitution. I mention Wilson's comment on the military draft because it so resembles the linguistic mumbo jumbo that Hillary Clinton so often uses, It is in no sense a conscription of the unwilling: it is, rather, selection from a nation which has volunteered in mass. Again from the book, Wilson's Sedition Act banned "uttering, writing, or publishing any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the United States government or its military. Had radio talk been around, broadcasting would have been mentioned. Again from Goldberg, the Justice Department (under Wilson) created its own quasi-official "fascisti" known as the American Protective League or APL. They were given badges, many of which read "Secret Service" and charged with keeping an eye on their neighbors, co-workers, and friends. On Hitler, in speech after speech Hitler made it clear that his goal was to have no dividing lines between rich and poor. Quoting the head of the Nazi German Labor Front. the Nazi party was intending to change the whole concept of labour relations, based on the principle of co-determination and shared responsibility between management and workers. Does this not sound like what is in the works with the auto industry? On economics, Mein Kampf is replete with attacks on "divided hungry businessmen." There's a chapter on Hillary Clinton but there are numerous books that document her philosophy to anyone concerned enough about her role today. Relaying here but one paragraph, After graduation Hillary was offered to an internship by her hero Saul Alinsky-famed author of "Rules For Radicals"-about whom wrote her thesis; "There Is Only One Fight. An Analysis of the Alinsky Model." In an unprecedented move, Wellesley sequestered the thesis in 1992, even refusing to divulge the title until the Clintons left the White House. This book is 405 pages, I have only given a small sample of the evidence that this New Progressivism has fascism bursting at the seams to get out. The book emphasizes that the Nazi hatred of the Jews was peculiar to them an not shared by other fascists. Goldberg strongly infers that fascism will not enter America as a storm trooper but as a smiley face that knows what is best for you. Barack Obama is mentioned only twice, as this book was written in 2007, in many respects, Alinsky's methods inspired the entire 1960s generation of "New Left" agitators (Barack Obama, for years a Chicago community organizer, was trained by Alinsky disciples). What is the  importance of this book? Many Americans tend to think that the politics and agenda of the current administration is indeed new, but good and needed; when in reality, it is not new, it is rising from the ashes of fascism that led much of Europe into destruction in the last century.