Video: Jonah Goldberg explains Liberal Fascism on The Daily Show
posted at 8:36 am on January 17, 2008 by Bryan
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Liberal Fascism is of course the title of Jonah’s book. Explaining the nuance of that title’s meaning to Jon Stewart is the Mother of All Uphill Tasks.
Update (AP): I replaced the RedLasso version with the Comedy Central version since it includes the mea culpa from Stewart that the Corner’s buzzing about this morning.
Here’s more Goldberg from Hannity & Colmes last night, having an even more contentious time with A.C. over his jacket art.
Update: Heh. The Daily Show’s website is getting hit with call after call to post the entire interview rather than the edited version. Free Jonah!
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Bad link.
Hilts on January 17, 2008 at 8:42 AM
I saw part of this last night while flipping through the channels. I don’t watch Jon Stewart, but when I saw Goldberg, I stopped to watch. It was ponderous. How do you explain liberal fascism to a liberal fascist? You don’t. Stewart proved that you can’t get through the pea sized brain of the lib.
RWLA on January 17, 2008 at 8:46 AM
Willfully ingorant is worse than just simply ignorant, Jon
hillbillyjim on January 17, 2008 at 8:47 AM
Comedy Central video *no longer available*
hillbillyjim on January 17, 2008 at 8:50 AM
Ugh. What really saddens me is how many people my age act just like Stewart when you try to explain this concept to them. We really have reached a point where a large segment of the population cannot listen to an explanation of a political mindset, without using the political codewords they’re used to. Boil it down to basic principles, and they constrict. Hell, I’ve even seen it occasionally on this site with some posters.
Kudos to Goldberg for trying, but trying to explain modern liberalism to a liberal like Stewart (even though he dodges that label) is like trying to explain to a three year old the importance of supply-side economics.
MadisonConservative on January 17, 2008 at 8:51 AM
It’s like trying to teach a chimpanzee to fish with a rod and reel and not a piece of grass.
Mindcrime on January 17, 2008 at 8:53 AM
The whole point is, Stuart didn’t read the book.
Even if he did, his group think doesn’t allow him to think outside the heard.
RobertInAustin on January 17, 2008 at 8:54 AM
I like how Stewart tries to define “liberalism,” is given an example of Hilary being a complete fascist and thus anti-”liberalism,” and refuses to complete the syllogism.
And the worst part is - all those college kids in the crowd that laughed at every Stewart joke, and who were completely distracted from Goldberg’s message (brilliantly)?
They’re all voting this November. And all they’ll take away from this show is “Haha, those National Review guys think anyone with mustaches are fascist. What losers.”
emailnuevo on January 17, 2008 at 8:55 AM
HILLBILLYJIM—
“Willfully ingorant is worse than just simply ignorant, Jon”
RIGHT ON THE MONEY!!!
KUDOS!!!
woodswalking1 on January 17, 2008 at 8:57 AM
Pro-abortion, gun-control, high-tax, big-gov’t, but other than that, there are absolutely no similarities between Nazis & liberals!
jgapinoy on January 17, 2008 at 9:00 AM
Both links worked for me.
Jon was pandering. Alan was wandering.
Ugly on January 17, 2008 at 9:00 AM
Well…to be fair, nobody’s entirely sure how bushy Hillary’s mustache is when it grows unhindered.
James on January 17, 2008 at 9:01 AM
My fisrt thought last night was that Jon was out of his element when talking to Jonah, hence, the awful editing..
Pam on January 17, 2008 at 9:03 AM
I understand Goldberg has written a serious book that attempts to make a serious case about what Fascism is and how it relates to modern progressives but clearly it’s a waste of time. Modern American liberals are simply too stupid to engage seriously.
Drew on January 17, 2008 at 9:04 AM
Best exchange:
“You put the little smiley face of Hitler on the cover! On the cover it says Liberal Fascism! You think liberals are like Hitler!”
“So, you’re judging my book by its cover?”
“NO!”
What a tool.
P.S. Dear Alan:
If it’s wrong, politically, to associate Bush with Hitler, because Bush is (or is seen as) a conservative, it stands to reason that were someone not conservative, he could be reasonably associated with Hitler.
And guess which group is definitely not conservative?
emailnuevo on January 17, 2008 at 9:05 AM
Republicans are leftists, Nazis, Socialists and Communists, Capitalists, Nazis and Nazis add any other tag of a horrific philosophical idea on…
Liberals are like little angels, with anointed little smiles shone on them by Jesus Christ himself.
benrand on January 17, 2008 at 9:06 AM
Thanks for reminding me again why I no longer waste my time watching H&C.
Bicyea on January 17, 2008 at 9:06 AM
I watched Jonah on H&C and Colmes once again proved how utterly dense he is. He didn’t give Jonah any time to explain the book because he couldn’t get off the cover art. Colmes is an idiot. Liberals are absolutely blind to the fact that calling for government intrusion into our lives IS fascistic and that is the type of government they want. Stewart was just a total moron.
DerKrieger on January 17, 2008 at 9:07 AM
That should have read, “all those college kids not in the crowd,” as I think the crowd saw the whole interview; the rule probably applies to them, too, though.
emailnuevo on January 17, 2008 at 9:07 AM
Wow, just watched the H&C bit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Colmes so indignant. What a little slime. He took a couple of instances of the word Nazi out of the book, out of context, and pointed them out as evidence that the whole book is about comparing Nazis to liberals, based on the cover. Great comeback by Goldberg that he is judging the book by its cover, though! Colmes seemed like he was just reading off what he planned to say without even listening to the response. What a hypocritical little sleazeball.
MadisonConservative on January 17, 2008 at 9:07 AM
Bah… Trying to open a page at The Corner is like trying to pry a ham bone out of Rosie O’Donnell’s fist.
Lehosh on January 17, 2008 at 9:07 AM
I’m biased, but I thought Stewart came across as a tool.
JohnTant on January 17, 2008 at 9:08 AM
Wow. How hard it is to grasp that modern American liberalism wants to use the government to control you more than modern American conservatism? Stewart acts like this is an incredibly shocking thing. Doesn’t he read?
I will say, though, that when I taught world history in high school, the textbooks all clearly taught that Fascism was an extreme form of conservatism. They did teach that Communism was a leftist philosophy, so their point was that both the right and the left was “evil” if it went too extremes. As much as a high school textbook teaches that anything is “evil”. I lectured a lot, and used the book very little.
TX Mom on January 17, 2008 at 9:17 AM
Is Jon Stewart stupid? Or just, you know, stupid? He was rude, unprofessional, completely unwilling to listen to any point Goldberg was making.
Bah. It just makes me want to buy the book more.
P.S. I get it, Stewart is going to vote for Hillary Clinton.
mjk on January 17, 2008 at 9:18 AM
Bah… Trying to open a page at The Corner is like trying to pry a ham bone out of Rosie O’Donnell’s fist.
ROFL. I spit coffee on my keyboard at this…
null on January 17, 2008 at 9:18 AM
“liberalism is the individual over the state.”
This moron went to an ivy league school, huh. Says it all about the ivy league, folks. Think about this when you are sending your kids. You kids will not change these institutions, these institutions will poison your children.
“I don’t know what you are saying.”
Yes, jon, because you are a moron.
peacenprosperity on January 17, 2008 at 9:18 AM
I gotta get that book. I wonder if my local Barnes and Noble has it? Methinks not. AMAZON, BABY!
robblefarian on January 17, 2008 at 9:19 AM
wow, Alan make me soooo mad…. He has argument, which is the reason he wouldn’t let Jonah speak. I can’t stand Colmes most of the time.
j_ehman on January 17, 2008 at 9:19 AM
Gaahh! Neither Stewart or Colmes let Goldberg finish a frieakin’ sentence. It’s as if they were afraid that if he got a whole thought out there, they might be forced to agree with him….ya think?
Priscilla on January 17, 2008 at 9:19 AM
I watch Stewart every night, and knowing where he comes from going in makes it a little more tolerable. Personally, I would really like to see the whole 18 minutes, not just the part that was aired. Wonder if that will be available?
Overall, I actually think Stewart is usually a pretty good interviewer. He does “go after” conservatives harder, and tries to box them in with their own words, but most of the time he is at least fair.
I recall the last time Tony Snow was on, they both went at it full throttle for the six minutes, and I figured they could have kept it up for an hour. And I would have loved every minute of it.
JamesLee on January 17, 2008 at 9:19 AM
Global Warming
Ropera on January 17, 2008 at 9:22 AM
Why do conservatives always seems nervous chatting with Stewart?
Jonah did a fair job, but I wish he would just express himself with more confidence. Maybe it’s the liberal audience…IDK.
Vanbasten on January 17, 2008 at 9:22 AM
Well, if Goldberg wanted to do - as he did - a serious, scholarly work on the historical roots of fascism and how those roots connect liberalism - it probably wasn’t a smart idea to have a smiley-faced-Hitler-mustachioed cover. Or to call it liberal fascism.
You’re just not going to reach any widespread audience with such an approach. And you’re just giving a straight line to folks like Stewart to use against you.
The book - and the reaction by many on the left - does underscore how completely ignorant progressives are about the dangerous possibilities of using the state to reach into so many areas of our lives. This danger manifested itself about a half-a-century ago in fascism. Today, it shows up in something different but still dangerous.
And yes, conservatives also need to recognize the elements of fascism in many things they wish to do.
SteveMG on January 17, 2008 at 9:22 AM
Jonah must have made some clear and understandable points. That’s why the dirtbag said “Can we air any of this?” These lowlifes will not ever allow the truth to be aired again if they get both the White House and congress. It’s been clear for years that the demofascist party hates our system of government, hates our economic system and hates and looks down on our people. This jerkoff, stewart, is the embodiement of the elitist, foul scum that are very close to taking over and destroying our country. If you think there are tensions already in a country where there is unlimited opportunity, wait to you see the fun we’ll have in their socialist paradise.
peacenprosperity on January 17, 2008 at 9:22 AM
Me think so
Ropera on January 17, 2008 at 9:23 AM
They probably did go on for an hour, you saw the six minutes they let you see. Bennett said this morning they chopped his interview all up also and made him look like an idiot.
You just keep on allowing that show to come into your house, pal. You’ll be ripe for the revolution.
peacenprosperity on January 17, 2008 at 9:25 AM
Ladies and gentlemen, we have our quote of the day!
thejackal on January 17, 2008 at 9:30 AM
Anyone else tired of Colmes bouncing up and down in his chair talking over people his entire alloted time? I don’t thin Jonah was able to get out a single complete answer without bing talked over.
Tyrs Fury on January 17, 2008 at 9:31 AM
Einstein said, insanity is doing the same thing over and over an expecting a different result. These people know exactly what’s going to be done to them yet they continue to participate. They play the Liberals game by the liberals rules and then they complain when the Liberals always win. At some point, you’ve got to stand up and take responsibility for the outcome if you decide to play a fixed game.
I remind my son almost daily that you can’t blame a dog for being a dog. Accept them for what they are and act accordingly.
TheBigOldDog on January 17, 2008 at 9:31 AM
Goldberg is brilliant and well-educated on this topic. He made Stewart and Colmes look like ignorant children. Unfortunately, he made them look stupid to US–educated political junkies–not the ones who need to realize how stupid Stewart and Colmes are and how wrong progressivism is on a very deep philosophical level.
aero on January 17, 2008 at 9:32 AM
Not likely. Unlike a lot of that audience, I don’t watch it to “get” news or opinion. It is a comedy show, and as such should NOT be taken seriously.
If you are a public figure, in the media, or in politics, and agree to go on that show, you should know what you are getting into. And if you don’t, then there is a problem.
JamesLee on January 17, 2008 at 9:33 AM
It’s individual freedoms over the state. It’s never about individual responsibilities. Those always fall back to the State (socialized medicine, social security, education, etc., etc., etc.). But, to liberals, individual liberties are absolutes, even to the detriment of the rest of society– except of course, for the Second Amendment and speech that doesn’t please them (Steyn).
I don’t think Stewart’s quite smart enough to understand the context of what he argues. He’s got a platitude that is the core of his outlook– but he doesn’t really know what it means.
snickelfritz on January 17, 2008 at 9:35 AM
The point of the title is not to communicate nuance but to make a bold claim that stirs conflict and creates buzz. Goldberg’s appearance on Stewart is worth a lot of book sales and there are few other entertainment shows that regularly book academic or political writers. Stewart disagrees with Goldberg but he gave him a chance to get his points across and he doesn’t impugn the person’s character as Hannity or O’Reilly often do with guests they disagree with.
Comedy Central should post the whole 16 minutes and they should regularly post unedited interviews on their website. The web-only content could contain stronger language and be a traffic generator.
dedalus on January 17, 2008 at 9:36 AM
I heard Glen Reynolds interview Jonah a few weeks back, before the book was released. Goldberg was nervous about the cover (his publisher’s idea), because he thought it would give people like Jon Stewart and Allan Combs an excuse for faux outrage — without reading the book. Turns out he was right.
The cover’s symbolism is on target though, since Goldberg is trying to explain that fascism didn’t begin as a bunch of jack-booted thugs killing people and breaking things. It began with the sweet socialism of the nanny state as proclaimed by such as Hillary.
Nichevo on January 17, 2008 at 9:36 AM
When the gov’t starts injecting itself into what kind of light bulbs we will be allowed to use, I would say that fascism is already here… Low flush toilets weren’t enough and, anyone trying to raise a couple of kids in a house with low flush toilets knows what I am taking about…
Babs on January 17, 2008 at 9:39 AM
Amen brother
Bladerunner1701 on January 17, 2008 at 9:40 AM
Stewart is right: “Liberal Fascism” doesn’t make any sense. We on the right are guilty of using “Liberal” to describe people who aren’t.
SlimyBill on January 17, 2008 at 9:41 AM
I’ll have to look up Glenn’s interview. Their author interviews are excellent! They take as long as they want and give the author plenty of time to make their point. There’s no 6 minute time constraint.
Clearly, Jonah was right to be nervous about the cover. It leaves him spending an entire book tour saying, “but that’s not what I said in the book! Did you read the book?”
TX Mom on January 17, 2008 at 9:42 AM
At the end of a gun barrel. That’s why throughout history it ‘always’ comes to that.
Griz on January 17, 2008 at 9:42 AM
Zell Miller and Tammy Bruce are liberals (classical liberals). Hillary and Kos are progressives with fascist tendencies.
aero on January 17, 2008 at 9:43 AM
Did Milton Friedman ever appear on “The Daily Show”?
Professor Friedman could give you a great rundown of the points Goldberg is making in his book.
One thing is clear, Jon Stewart really doesn’t know anything about terms like liberalism or fascism and how their definitions have shifted.
Look no further than Daily Kos. They shun the term “liberalism” and “liberal”. They are self declared “progressives”. They are not in favor of free trade. They are not in favor of the free flow of goods, services, and therefore people. They are not in favor of the market. They are not supportive on minimal government regulation.
These are qualities that gave rise to the liberals, in the classical sense, in America.
gabriel sutherland on January 17, 2008 at 9:49 AM
There are important differences too. Liberals tend to be anti-military, anti-corporate, not strong nationalists and supporters of civil liberties.
I think reducing the size and power of government is the best way to prevent fascism, but the liberals I know who disagree with me seem more interested in the rights of individuals and less interested in the rights of the state.
dedalus on January 17, 2008 at 9:57 AM
I like how Alan Colmes mis-characterizes and demagogues any subject he feels threatened by or threatens his political beliefs, which he defends with a religious zeal. He said, to paraphrase, that that Republicans get upset when the left calls Bush Hitler, but thinks it’s alright to compare and debate liberalism and progressive ideas to fascism and the Nazi’s.
Sometimes I just want to shake Alan Colmes and say “do you know the difference between a personal attack on someone without any basis and debating political and social ideologies?!?”. He equates one so easily as being like the other. You would think if Colmes had it his way it would be ok to call people names and defame them as long as they don’t believe what he does, but nevvvvver evvvver deconstruct Alan’s political ideology or dare to rationally show the connection between progressives, liberalism and fascism. In Alan’s book, that would be a greater sin than breaking any of the ten commandments. “Rationality” and “common sense” are two things seldom ever found in the liberal vocabulary today.
You think Colmes might get the drift if I actually stooped down to the liberals level and called him “Hitler” and “fascist” everytime he had something to say instead rationally explaining why he is wrong? Of course, I never would do that because I believe in other things like “class” and “integrity”.
Planet Boulder on January 17, 2008 at 9:59 AM
Stewart say he believes that
conservatismlibertarianismliberalism is the power of the individual over the state; really, Jon?PolitiNOOB on January 17, 2008 at 10:00 AM
You must be joking. What, precisely, are the elements of fascism by which conservatives are so plagued? You’ve clearly been brainwashed by the “fascism is right-wing, communism is left-wing” lie.
The key points of American conservatism (which boil down to “don’t tread on me”) stand in stark opposition to fascism and liberalism. Fascists don’t like free speech. Or free press, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, low taxes, or personal sovereignty. The people who wish to do things with “fascist tendencies” are not conservatives, though clearly they’ve fooled you.
Don’t come online (better, don’t go anywhere) and think rattling off “conservatives have fascist tendencies” will make you look like a smart “independent”-minded thinker. Because it doesn’t.
emailnuevo on January 17, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Correction from above…
“nev-v-v-v-ver ev-v-v-ver”
Didn’t know my v’s ran together, looked that much like w’s.
Planet Boulder on January 17, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Colmes proved, once again, that liberals are recklessly hellbent on silencing the opposition. Leftists have become confrontational, rude, arrogant and bulling fascists, because they fear that logic and truth will reveal their stupidity and true agendas. I hope Goldberg’s book becomes one of the most read books of all times. I am ordering it today.
sinsing on January 17, 2008 at 10:05 AM
I would go so far as to say that Huckabee and many of his supporters are “liberal fascists” (according to Goldberg’s definition as I understand it). Huck wants to use the power of the state (and citizens’ money, taken forcibly from them in the form of taxes) to impose his value system on the nation. Just because many of us are Christians and happen to agree with much of what Huckabee presumably believes is right and good does not mean that we should support using the power of the federal government to force everyone to live according to our value system. Example: a national smoking ban. Though Huck has backed off of this idea, it is a perfect example of the way he thinks. Everyone agrees that smoking is bad (even most smokers), so it should be a no-brainer to ban it, right? But using the federal government to ban it is fascism-with-a-smiley-face, just like Goldberg tries to point out.
aero on January 17, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Goldberg is very defensive, and tries hard not to take credit for his book. I imagine he has good points, but he seemed to try to duck responsibility for the book and got torn apart for it.
Rode Werk on January 17, 2008 at 10:07 AM
You’d be defensive too if the only topic of your book that an interviewer on the most-watched television network asked you about was the ****ing COVER!
MadisonConservative on January 17, 2008 at 10:11 AM
That logic works for marijuana. Is the ban on marijuana and the billions spent on the war on drugs another sign of creeping fascism?
dedalus on January 17, 2008 at 10:12 AM
Alan Colmes is probably one of the most publically available examples of a liberal fascist in western society and most definitely in America. I’m to the point I have to turn the channel when he appears. I haven’t seen a complete H&C in more than a year. I just can’t take it.
Griz on January 17, 2008 at 10:12 AM
No, he was ducking or dodging persistent mischaracterizations of his book. That’s why he kept asking both interviewers if they had even read the book.
If he was dodging anything about his own book, it was the cover design. As someone pointed out earlier in the comments, the cover was not Goldberg’s idea, and he resisted it for the very reasons proven in these two interviews–it makes it easy for those who haven’t read the book to mischaracterize it. He “dodged” by pointing out that the art and the title are allusions to other people’s ideas. I think that adds credibility to his premise, but others just take it as an excuse to bash the book without reading it.
aero on January 17, 2008 at 10:13 AM
The book was actually very good, and the response Stewart and Colms give is part of the liberal mindset, which Goldberg describes in the book, that makes it impossible that liberals were ever wrong. It is definitely worth reading.
spyman740 on January 17, 2008 at 10:14 AM
Colmsey knows that by monopolizing the time allotted to the segment, Mr. Goldberg won’t have a minute to explain his thesis. Especially after Hannity explicity asks Goldberg to explain.
I bet there’s some rancor in the H&C staffs today.
desertdweller on January 17, 2008 at 10:16 AM
This is Colmes’ M.O. He has a set of talking points, a series of unanswerable, unrelated questions, and he just plows through them.
fourstringfuror on January 17, 2008 at 10:17 AM
notice how Colmes at the end repeates Ron Paul who didn’t even know what he was quoting…pathetic. However it is a good example of the type of political damage a nut like Paul is doing.
Colmes knows how to filibuster with the best of them.
jp on January 17, 2008 at 10:24 AM
I bought the book just to spite that little douche Stewart.
His old show was better, when he stuck to fluffy topics, as is is wont. That really is about all he is good for, he’s a media creation, like a slightly smarter Brian Williams.
Had good music on it tho…
benrand on January 17, 2008 at 10:25 AM
I get your point, but smoking regular tobacco does not cause intoxication or an altered mental state that endangers others when the smoker attempts to drive a car or work with heavy machinery. I do get your point, though, which is that it’s a slippery slope. Alcohol is legal, and it causes intoxication and/or an altered mental state that potentially endangers others when the user gets behind the wheel of a car. Also, what’s the definition of “endangering others”? Some say secondhand smoke endangers others, making it just as legitimate to ban smoking as any other substance deemed harmful to the general public.
I have a tendency to be a social libertarian (though I live my life as morally and cleanly as I can and teach my children to do the same). I’m actually open to arguments toward legalizing marijuana and enforcing DUI laws just like with alcohol. Let employers fire people who get high or drunk on the job. Let schools expel kids who show up to school intoxicated on any substance. Arrest people driving recklessly under the influence of any substance, legal or not. But let adults choose whether or not they want to kill brain cells in the privacy of their own homes. Collect sales taxes off this huge industry for a change. So, yes, I guess I do think the federal government banning what people choose to put into their bodies opens the door to creeping fascism.
Basically, I believe that the less the government interferes in people’s private lives and personal choices, the better off we all are. God doesn’t reward us in the hereafter for having a government that forced us to live right. He rewards us for making the good choices, of our own free will, that He would want us to make.
aero on January 17, 2008 at 10:26 AM
I’ve made the argument of this book before with Liberals, usually after they insunate “Bush is Hitler” in the past, and pointed out how Hitler was a Socialist and a modern Lib. Got same reaction as Goldberg is getting here.
jp on January 17, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Alan Colmes is a friggin’ moron, and, so overcome with righteous anger, proved Goldberg’s point about liberal fascism by not letting Goldberg even talk and explain himself.
amkun on January 17, 2008 at 10:28 AM
Great points. I agree with nearly everything you said.
dedalus on January 17, 2008 at 10:32 AM
When the Fascists take over we can’t say we weren’t warned.
Browncoatone on January 17, 2008 at 10:33 AM
http://constitutionalistnc.tripod.com/hitler-leftist/id9.html
jp on January 17, 2008 at 10:34 AM
LOL, if it quacks like a duck (Bill) it has feathers like a duck (Silky) and it waddles like a duck (Hillary)…its fascism.
Speakup on January 17, 2008 at 10:35 AM
Seeing Johah Goldberg get this treatment from Stewart was similar to how Bill Maher treated Victor Davis Hanson on his show.
Un-serious people putting on airs of seriousness behind the “progressive” clown mask.
larkydozer on January 17, 2008 at 10:37 AM
And you don’t breathe the air to get the pollution, right?
peacenprosperity on January 17, 2008 at 10:37 AM
I beleive Fascism was known as being on the Left and Modern Liberalism, until Academia got hold and re-wrote history in the 1960’s on the subject.
jp on January 17, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Todays liberalism is not about individual freedoms, it’s about the greater good and the power of the state to determine that.
peacenprosperity on January 17, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Modern liberalism has NO ties to any failed ideology.
I mean, that’s what we are being forced to believe. That it’s pristine and pure positive ideology and philosophy.
That whole Cuba thing, nevermind, Marxist economics killing thousands, nope…
The denial is expected.
Honesty to liberals is like sunlight to a vampire.
benrand on January 17, 2008 at 10:40 AM
Vizzini: “Inconceivable!”
Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you you think it means.”
Spurlee on January 17, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Great link, thanks.
RushBaby on January 17, 2008 at 10:45 AM
I love the “you have a smiley face with a Hitler Moustache on the cover of your book, why should I read your book” rationalization of Jon Stewart and Colmes. I’m reading “The Rise and the Fall of the Third Reich” right now, guess what’s on the cover of THAT book?
mjk on January 17, 2008 at 10:47 AM
another reason why i NEVER watch John Stewart
blatantblue on January 17, 2008 at 10:49 AM
“It is a religious system.” fascism? Uh, tell that to Messrs. Stalin and Hitler Jon…..
max1 on January 17, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Thank you, Jonah, for setting the record straight, finally. I hope this book makes you rich.
petefrt on January 17, 2008 at 10:56 AM
Stewart and Colmesy CAN’T acknowledge the truths in this book because they are so threatening. They’d rather deny their cognitive dissonance and plead with an audience how anyone could ever make sense of this book.
A book that is what, #3 on Amazon?
“It’s confusing as hell but it sure seems to have generated a lot of sales…”
fudgypup on January 17, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Not for nothing, but I just can’t stand the shouting Alan Colmes, whom puts forth his opinion in the guise of a pseudo question/accusation, then spends the next five minutes shouting over the individual who is trying in earnest to ANSWER said question/accusation.
So, that’s it. I’m buyin’ the book.
Frickin’ sold.
ChipDWood on January 17, 2008 at 11:02 AM
If you mean what I think you mean by that, which is that we are being “polluted” just by being exposed, then maybe we all need to re-examine things.
I’m not so blind or open to suggestion that I am swayed by any and all things I see/hear/read. Jon Stewart does not change my mind about anything. If you actually watched the show, you would also know that during the “monologue” segment, he takes down Democrats just as hard as Republicans.
If by chance I happen to breathe the pollution, it simply makes me examine why I think it is wrong, why I believe differently, and often allows me to reinforce my own beliefs.
If we are so insecure in our beliefs that some criticism and comedy are so horrible, then the problem lies with us.
JamesLee on January 17, 2008 at 11:08 AM
.
& where they can’t take a serious candidate seriously unless the nightly news spins them like a top 40 hit.
political codewords = the ‘hook’
.
.
& have permanent brain damage from recreational drugs.
drug use = political suicide when voting.
.
.
No friend, you have that wrong. 1st identifying principle of identifying a liberal….no association w/ The Lord in any word, way, or form.
annointing little smiles = ‘all paths lead to god.’
.
What was it the Fred said yesterday…..mickeymouse TV interviews while staring down the barrel of a nuclear attack..? Never try to reason w/ a liberal. They have non.
.
note to Gregor: great thread responses @ “Diebold effect”!!
lobosan5 on January 17, 2008 at 11:21 AM
AC, the champion of allowing people to define their own meanings engages in telling Johan what he thinks when AC has never even read the book.
I expect the fascist AC to demand Johan were a smiley face on his lapel.
csdeven on January 17, 2008 at 11:29 AM
heh, I had this page bookmarked at Work which is behind a firewall. Now I notice its been blocked and labeled a “Racist/hate site”………this same company that runs this firewall blocked LGF and several other conservative sites awhile back briefly.
Libs, proving the point of the subject.
jp on January 17, 2008 at 11:32 AM
Goldberg should have said he’d be happy to discuss the book’s art design if that’s what they wanted to do — the title font, the logo design, the pretty colors, etc. — and then open it up and say, “But I was hoping we could talk about all these little words inside the booky-book!” If they’re going to behave like children, treat them as such.
And the second somebody like Stewart says “liberalism is the individual over the state,” that’s when you ask for his opinion on gun control.
Jim Treacher on January 17, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Thankfully, the Stewart link is running so choppy for me that I fell justified in not watching it. The Colmes bit, however, borders on the comical. I don’t think I’ve seen an interview with an author where it’s more apparent that the interrogator hasn’t read the book.
Blacklake on January 17, 2008 at 11:38 AM
‘Liberal fascist’ or progressive fascist, they appear to have an abysmal grasp on history or logic. I’m not sure it’s entirely due to post-secondary education. K-12 has gotten very good at indoctrination, certainly in the public schools anyway.
sloopy on January 17, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Well, except for Episcopalians, but the ‘Lord’ is simply a vehicle for them.
sloopy on January 17, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Creeping censorship - all the more reason to spread these links as far and as wide as possible. Thanks again.
HA: Appreciate this thread, too. I had this book in my shopping list; now it’s on its way.
RushBaby on January 17, 2008 at 11:50 AM
stewart has never really done comedy. what he does is this:
he makes note of something which challenges the party, and then he makes a funny face.
over and over. night in, night out. it’s not even what you’d call a “schtick” because it’s not comedy. it has a utilitarian purpose.
what it is is a communication to the party sheep that “we can’t answer this, so we’re best off mocking it.”
and i’ve never seen stewart so incoherant and desperate in this practice as he is in the clip, even with the editing.
jummy on January 17, 2008 at 11:52 AM
I agreed completely with Stewart for once. When Goldberg gets to the idea that organic food is fascist, he becomes silly beyond words. Ideas like organic foods have been embraced by all sorts of people. I have met libertarians into eating organically. And then to associate gay acceptance with fascism like Goldberg does is to turn history under its head. The gays were among the first into the concentration camps.
In short, I don’t see any good coming out Goldberg’s book. What I do see is some people on the right using it for cheap name calling and to avoid actual confrontation with the ideas out there in the Democratic Party. We on the right would do much better patiently explaining why government intervention in the economy is not necessary like Ron Paul does when he is at his best. We would also do much better to call the muslims the fascist rather than the Democrats we share a country with.
thuja on January 17, 2008 at 12:00 PM
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