Ooh, boy. Jonah Goldberg's long-awaited book appears to have finally hit the printer and the early leaks are just fantastic:
Fascism was an international movement that appeared in different forms in different countries, depending on the vagaries of national culture and temperament. In Germany, fascism appeared as genocidal racist nationalism. In America, it took a "friendlier," more liberal form. The modern heirs of this "friendly fascist" tradition include the New York Times, the Democratic Party, the Ivy League professoriate, and the liberals of Hollywood. The quintessential liberal fascist isn't an SS storm trooper; it is a female grade-school teacher with an education degree from Brown or Swarthmore.
Deep stuff, for sure. I think conceptually, though, Jonah's really onto something here: Fascism = Stuff I Don't Like. Brussel sprouts? The most fascist vegetable on the planet. Televised figure skating? Wholly fascist programming. Paper cuts? Oh yeah, they're fascist too.
The last word goes to Jon Swift in one of my favorite blog posts of all time.
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Brian Cook was an editor at In These Times from 2003 to 2009. He now works on the editorial staff of Playboy magazine.
