![]() ![]() In the end, “Liberal Fascism” was an exercise in sandbox casuistry: “I’m not a fascist. Goldberg isn’t much interested in complexity or moderation, though. ![]() Another is its essential moderation, with, I’ll concede, a certain libertarian tinge. One of the lovely things about American political life is its complexity. But there are more than a few self-described conservatives who believe in that sort of socialism, too - about 70 percent of the American public, according to most polls, supports Medicare in its current form. There are exceptions, and a liberal belief in government-managed health care may be one of them. They may favor government action to bail out the auto companies, but they don’t favor government auto companies. There was one small flaw in this argument, though. But his essential point was a simple one: fascists believe in state control of almost everything, and so do liberals. He argued that liberals who routinely denounce extreme conservatives as fascists should take a look in their own backyard, and he wasn’t fooling around: “It is my argument that American liberalism is a totalitarian political religion.” Goldberg has read around a bit, and he was able to lace his thesis with embarrassing quotations from progressives past who expressed admiration for Italian Fascism, eugenics and other assorted statist atrocities. Jonah Goldberg’s first book was called “Liberal Fascism.” It was a screed, of course, but a clever one. ![]()
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