Is Sarah Palin a fascist? That might fit the template in certain political circles today, but additional information may require second thoughts among nuanced observers.
For one thing, it is progressive champion H.G. Wells who had more than a little to do with letting the phrase liberal fascism out of its cage, writes Prof. Angus Menuge in a just-published review of Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg.
Here are a few points from the Menuge review, which appears in The Pearcey Report. Among others, fans of Obama, Hillary, Gore, and big government conservatism may want to take note.
* For Obama fans: Something at work in mainstream culture “makes it easy for Barack Obama to champion a new New Deal (mentioned 9 times in his book The Audacity of Hope) as the solution to our economic woes, without anyone recalling the connections between Roosevelt’s and Hitler’s ‘new deal’ (122, 130-131) and the more sinister sides of Roosevelt’s authoritarian statism.”
* For Hillary fans suspicious of the traditional family: “While being pro-family often elicits the ‘fascist’ label today, the Nazis were opposed to the family –- and not merely because unregulated unions led to unfit offspring. The larger issue was that the ‘traditional family is the enemy of all political totalitarianisms because it is a bastion of loyalties separate from and prior to the state,’ the same reason statist progressives like Hillary Clinton ‘are constantly trying to crack its outer shell’ (377).”
* For disciples of Al Gore: "While today’s progressives are frequently pacifist, they continue the tradition of 'crises,' such as Al Gore’s global warming or European disdain for American foreign policies, which cannot be debated because the time for government action is now."
* For religious and political manipulators: “Both fascists and progressives find it expedient to be disingenuous in the propagation of their ideas. There is an outer core of ideas for popular consumption, surrounding an inner core circulated among the elect.
“For example, fascists and progressives encounter resistance when they express their true contempt for revealed religion. So the attempt is made to accommodate broadly religious themes to the agenda of the state (216-217), emasculating any specific teachings of the religion (e.g., on the sanctity of human life) that are inconvenient. This creates the external impression that progressive ideas are the outworking of faith, while in reality, religion is being co-opted by a divinized state (219).”
* For votaries of big government conservatism: “Many self-styled conservatives have also boarded the statist juggernaut, promoting an ever larger role for government as a surrogate parent.”
Read the review . . .
More on breaking news at The Pearcey Report . . .
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Comments
Your comments and Angus' review of Goldberg's book are outstanding, Rick. When it comes to fascism, what especially grabs my attention is the fact that eugenics (a favorite method for "purifying" the human race that was employed by Adolf Hitler) was being promoted heavily in states like Minnesota in the 1920s and 1930s. And, as Christine Rosen has shown in her 2004 book Preaching Eugenics, mainline Protestant pastors were extraordinarily complicit.
It is astounding that a college professor doesn't see the authoritarianism in progressivism today. Surely he is familiar with the speech codes on campuses? With ENDA and FOCA? With the homosexualist violence against Mormons and Christians? With the violence of abortion?
Watching the actions of the anti-Prop 8 crowd should put an end to the lie that progressives are not violent.
While I appreciate (and even as a liberal, agree with) the analysis and explanation of the use of the term "fascism," I wonder if the author would advocate as strongly against the misuse of the terms "socialist" "marxist" and "communist" as applied to Obama this past election cycle. The fact of the matter is that no one these days seems to appreciate the true meaning of these words or the principles behind them. So "fascist" is misinterpreted as Nazi-like which conjurs up horrible images... "Communist" becomes the evil of the Soviet Union, etc. We should quit using words like these in political soundbites until there's a better understanding of what they mean by a broader swath of the public.
The claim was made by “Michael Mann, a professor of sociology at UCLA, suggests that the essence of fascism is “violence and authoritarianism,” something not evident in liberals today.” I live in San Francisco, and can attest from personal experience that local liberalism is both violent and authoritarian. That is particularly true of that “oppressed” group, the homosexuals. Time and time again I have been reminded of another homosexual group, Hitler’s brown shirts, reminded by local actions. I won’t go into the authoritarian aspects of local government, other than to mention it is here too.
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