National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg argues for the rise of Liberal Fascism in the U.S.

This is the text displayed underneath the video has it plays on the Comedy Central site. Unbelievable.

Lambeaux on January 19, 2008 at 6:06 PM

Well.. er.. that’s what he’s doing, isn’t it? If he didn’t believe it was happening he probably wouldn’t have written a book about it.

Anyhoo, would’ve been nice to keep the Redlasso video up, as CC’s ’streaming’ video makes RL look a helluva lot more appealing. It won’t even precache the friggin’ thing. And youtube’s got nothing..

This is the text displayed underneath the video has it plays on the Comedy Central site. Unbelievable.

You cannot expect to have a rational conversation with Colmes.

Recently a terrorism expert blew him out of the water and Colmes got so upset he actually cried, “This is my show! You are a guest!” just because the guy told him REPEATEDLY that he didn’t know what he was talking about.

Allan Colmes, boy you can tell when the truth hits close to home just by the reaction. Modern “porgressive” ideas starting
with the Nazi party. I guess their secret is out and they cannot stand it. Now they cannot compare Bush to Hitler anymore since his ideas were the same.

Nazi = National socialism.

Socialism is a liberal concept.

profitsbeard on January 18, 2008 at 2:49 AM

Actually, the full definition of Nazi is National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

And, yes, as others have pointed out, Fascism manifested itself on the Left-side of the political spectrum. It’s a fact that those on the Left choose to deny or are completely ignorant of.

The left must put names with the words to cloud the true meaning of the words. Notice how quickly Colmes tagged the smiley face as a fascist Hitler-guilt by association?

Hitler and Hitlery are not fascist they wanted and expect dictatorial rule over the population where there is really no choice except that which they have choosen for you.

A true fascist is a pawn in a group that use fascism (a neat word) as the moniker to rationalize the groups goal to annihilate the population so they can start all over again and allow anarchy to prevail where the strongest would prevail over all.

Hitler was a dictator who used those who believed in fascism to gain control over the population. His suicide was the realization that he would be dethroned by either the Allies or the fascists, practicing fascism that helped him to gain his dictatorial control, would turn on him.

What I took away from all of the hoopla was that simply putting a scribble between the dot (representing a nose) and an upturned line (representing a smile) caused so much mental angst-it was only a scribble.

According to Hot Air, Jon Stewart’s Daily Show is getting calls to release the full, unedited 18 minutes of their interview with Jonah Goldberg yesterday. This was boiled down to six minutes to air on TV. In and of itself……

besides a spot-on snark from george orwell, the following commentary by Robert O. Paxton strikes me as particularly relevant (which contemporary group of maniacs does this remind you of most?):

“Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victim-hood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.“[11]

Paxton further defines fascism’s essence as:

…a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond reach of traditional solutions; 2. belief one’s group is the victim, justifying any action without legal or moral limits; 3. need for authority by a natural leader above the law, relying on the superiority of his instincts; 4. right of the chosen people to dominate others without legal or moral restraint; 5. fear of foreign `contamination.”[12]

Socialism is a liberal concept.

With the State (the “fasces”, or bound-together populace) as their instrument to implement this “progressive” ideology.

Nazi-ism’s only difference with Communism was that the Nazis were for their country, alone (and their specific ethnic group), while the communists were internationalists (and post-ethnic, thus more liberal)

A strong, centralized State is the ideal of the fascist mindset.

With laws that can be easily changed to “fit changing circumstances“.

That their aim has sometimes been classically “liberal” (health codes, basic education, anti-discrimination, etc.) is simply the sugar-coating on the bitter and poisonous pill at the core of Government Control.

The goal is illiberal: the State mandating its expanding will.

Instead of cautiously preserving our inherent freedoms.

The balance should always tilt toward restraining the government.

Stewart’s show is a pointless place to do anything more serious than try to wrestle a seal in apple butter.

Origins and and Doctrines of Fascism

Giovanni Gentile: The Philosopher of Fascism

Fascism has its roots in neo-Hegelainism. Also, Mussolini was a Hegelian scholar and was married to a jew, which did not sit too well with Hitler. Many Italians housed and protected jews as they were driven south. Thousands of jews made it to the USA on boats via Italy in WWII.

Goldberg is not as smart as everyone thinks, and he has his job because of who his parents are. His book may be good, but this kind of nepotism needs to be called out.

Stewart uses the Letterman tactic of pretending to be an idiot to disarm his guest’s argument.

Valiant on January 17, 2008 at 12:59 PM

No, he’s pretty much and idiot all the way through. If his guests ever appear a bit rattled it might be because they are witnessing first hand how even small minded fools can achieve fame and fortune if they possess the talent of good comedic timing.

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

Perfect opportunity! Go into B&N and give them crap about it. That’s what I did when I ordered the Judge Thomas autobiography. There were 50 gazillions books on display right near the front door by one liberal idiot after another–including Jimmuh Cahtuh–but conservative titles? Not a chance. So I went to the order desk and asked the snippy woman back there why there are no books about conservatives in the front of the store, particularly the Thomas memoir. She told me it had been up front but was sold out. I said, “Maybe you ought to put some more conservative books up front–who knows how well they might sell.” If looks could kill. . . Heh.

About fascism coming wrapped in a good package–how about the “Candadian Human Rights Commission?” It was created to handle complaints by people who feel they’ve been discriminated against for some reason or another–what could be wrong with that, right? But it’s morphed into the second coming of the Inquisition. http://ezralevant.com/

That’s what all the textbooks say, but it never made sense to me. Nazism, fascism, and Communism were always kissing cousins, and variants of socialism.

Yeah, I never thought it made sense, either. I’m sure I always covered it with the kids, but I can’t remember how I explained it. It’s always tricky when you teach history because if you don’t teach them the standard lefty formulation, they will bomb standardized history tests. That’s doing your students a disservice. But, of course, not teaching them the truth is doing them a disservice as well, and you don’t really have enough time to cover all of the material twice from two different viewpoints. After all, it is the history of the entire WORLD in one year. Dude.

One of the many reasons that I now homeschool my own rugrats.

Let’s see what happens now to Jonah Goldberg at his speaking engagements on campus.

I don’t follow campus speaking, so maybe you are right about the way some students could behave. Still, the appearance on Stewart’s show does help raise Goldberg’s name recognition which is valuable to him as an author and commentator.

On the previous show Bolton and Stewart were discussing foreign policy. You can see the clip here. One doesn’t have to like Stewart, or agree with him, to see that he gives Bolton a chance to speak intelligently to an audience that otherwise might hold him in low regard.

I don’t know what happened with the Goldberg interview but sometimes conversations between people with opposing points of view can go completely off the rails. Stewart and Goldberg spent 18 minutes arguing about the application of big concepts like “liberal”, “conservative”, “progressive”. I’ve spent hours in conversations with a much narrower scope.

Both guys seem to have strong personalities. You could see another example of a Stewart interview going completely awry with Chris Matthews who isn’t conservative.

Let’s see what happens now to Jonah Goldberg at his speaking engagements on campus.

Stendec on January 17, 2008 at 9:29 PM

That’ll be a barrel of laughs, I’m sure.

I did not see the Bolton interviews, and I do not watch Stewart regularly, but I suspect that Bolton did not criticize Liberals or progressivism. Had he done so, I expect that the “attitude” would have instantly appeared in Stewart’s demeanor.

It looks to me that the point of Stewart’s interview with Goldberg, in its mocking style and its suspicious editing, was to signal the “liberal” university students (who I understand are the main demographic watching his show) that here is another legitimate and deserving target for their ridicule and contempt, that it would be righteous to deny him an invitation to speak on this subject, or to shout him down if he tries, or to throw a pie in his face. In other words, the interview itself is a western style fatwa, issued by a Liberal imam, to authorize fascist bullying.

As I said, I don’t watch Stewart regularly, so maybe you are right about his respecting his guests. However, I am skeptical about that, especially when fundamental Liberal ideas are being challenged or criticized. Let’s see what happens now to Jonah Goldberg at his speaking engagements on campus.

The heart of the right is not nationalism.

Right = Little Government
Left = Much Government

Extreme Right = Anarchy
Extreme Left = Totalitarianism

EH???????? (AFLAC Duck in the Yogi Berra commercial)

Has Jon Stewart been paying attention to liberalism lately?

Like Jonah says, only classical liberalism celebrates the individual’s rights versus the state.

These guys don’t even understand what their modern day movement stands for.

Fox News needs to make the right move and kick Colmes off the show. Hannity and Malkin perhaps? I’m halfway kidding..But that would be awesome.

Yeah, though I think Sean and Michelle agree on too many points for a debate show format. Given this thread, maybe Hannity & Stewart, if you could get the two big egos on one set.

Michelle would be great on a debate show–Malkin vs Powers. Right vs Left and easy on the eyes.

Long ago Buchanan and Kinsley were good on Crossfire, before it degraded to Novak, Tucker, Begala and Carville.