8
Jonah In Da Middle
Mysteriously, all of the Amazon customer reviews for Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism have disappeared.*
All except this one, that is:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliant piece of research, January 8, 2008
By Peter F. Schweizer (Tallahassee, Florida United States)The amount research that has gone into this book is amazing. Those who attack Goldberg from the Left will undoubtedly avoid mentioning the facts presented in this work. Check out, for example, the admiration that Benito M. had for JM Keynes and his ideas. This is a book that should be read by anyone concerned about the power of the state. Peter Schweizer, Hoover Institution
Ah yes, Peter F. Schweitzer. Here’s the top Amazon review for Schweitzer’s book, Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Meticulously Researched, Deftly Argued, October 25, 2005
By Wynton C. HallThe quality of investigative research in this book would make even Woodward and Bernstein proud. What’s so difficult to understand is how the liberals he profiles have flown under the radar screen for so long. Why have reporters and television journalists not uncovered the explosive findings Schweizer uncovers? The answer, of course, is that reporters don’t find what they aren’t looking for. And it’s sad, honestly, because the level of ideologically driven reporting has further eroded the fourth estate.
[...]
Reporters and those profiled have some major explaining to do. This will become an instant conservative classic and raise some eyebrows from honest liberals as well.
Ah yes, Wynton C. Hall. Here’s an interview at Jonah’s main shack, NRO, with the authors of Landmark Speeches of the American Conservative Movement, Peter F. Schweitzer and Wynton C. Hall.
After some thought, we’ve settled on a term for this endemic practice of conservative logrolling. Such an arrangement will henceforth be called ‘a square jerk.’
* Correction: The ‘reviews’ we were thinking of are in the discussion section at the bottom of the page. This is the first customer review, since the book reached its official publication date today. I believe this only strengthens our point! (All such phrases ©1998-2008, Jonah Goldberg.)
Update: Groan. USA Today is featuring a whole extra load of Jonah’s crackpot revisionism, this time on Putin’s invocations of FDR, and how FDR was a fascist and so is Putin, and therefore George W. Bush is the opposite of what fascist liberals call ‘a fascist.’
Is it possible for a conservative to have an idea so stupid that he isn’t rewarded for it?
[Hanx! Cleek]
MzNicky said,
January 8, 2008 at 20:49
Ah yes. A splendid example of the old Spy magazine feature called “Logrolling In Our Time.”
mikey said,
January 8, 2008 at 20:51
Ok, I don’t have any idea how Amazon reviews work. How did he make them take them all down? Or did he do it? Did Amazon decide to do it on their own? Somebody ’splain this to me…
mikey
Righteous Bubba said,
January 8, 2008 at 20:51
Monie in the Middle.
Mister DNA said,
January 8, 2008 at 20:54
*sigh* I miss Spy magazine.
Grand Moff Texan said,
January 8, 2008 at 20:55
You’re not being fair. I mean, no one else is going to help them push laughable bullshit in the service of a dead ideology propped up only by raw cash, so they have to do this themselves.
.
Dave said,
January 8, 2008 at 20:56
Make sure to check out the tags associated with the book:
doughy pantload (98)
propaganda (86)
wingnut welfare (76)
editor promised cake (61)
i can has job mom (49)
Legalize said,
January 8, 2008 at 20:56
Broadsided again, eh Pantload?
Jim said,
January 8, 2008 at 20:58
And, just as was the case in Spy, we could get Tom Wolfe involved, if only , if only he had written a new book and if only Jonah had praised it.
Thursday said,
January 8, 2008 at 20:58
I was thinking more a daisy-chain…
Jim said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:01
Make sure to check out the tags associated with the book:
Man, how about:
banged out by howler monkeys (7)
books by rubes (3)
and
attend to luicannes bunions (2)
Jake H. said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:09
Hell, I think the fact that the three losers in question aren’t blood relatives of one another represents astounding progress towards meritocracy in the wingnutosphere.
Granted, maybe it’s just because Mommy was in the depths of a Bartles & Jaymes-induced “nap” when Jonah approached her to write the review…
Dhalgren said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:11
Just keep pressing “no” for “Was this review helpful” ?
What shameless wingnuts.
Blue Buddha said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:12
I didn’t even realize there were any comments before. In any case, if there were any, they probably took them down because the book technically wasn’t
unleashed from the depths of Hellreleased to the public until today.Gundamhead said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:14
That’s pretty pathetic even for that crowd. I suppose the fact that most of the Amazon reviews were (I’m guessing) critical of Doughey’s foam book is yet more proof of liberal repression, and they had to be removed (except for Schweitzer’s, who is obviously fair and balanced, unlike all the others) for the sake of getting the truth out. How courageous of you Jonah!
Kathleen said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:20
hilarious! I love thin-skinned conservatives.
bob said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:21
Mind bendingly stupid. LSD is far less disorienting than a conservative circle jerk. The number of unprovable assumptions, hyperbolic hypotheses and facts pulled straight from their asses contained in this simple referral to three of these dolts would, if it were explosives, be enough to destroy the I-95 corridor from Baltimore to New York.
El Cid said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:21
Could it also be true that never before has this argument been made with such care or in such detail?
crickett said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:23
It appears they took it down because it was not released until today and the assumption is anyone reviewing it before today could not have read it. They should let people post reviews now, however. If they don’t, then we should feel free to start screaming.
Anton Chigurh said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:26
The “Gastroanomalies” listed in the other interesting books section just kills me. Also, I swear the Sponsored Links had two weight loss books. These links rotate so I am not seeing them now, but they were there!
Snowwy said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:27
I wonder why they bothered. It will be so easy for people to pull up their old reviews or recreate then and post them again…
SamFromUtah said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:28
Where do you go to look for the bulk-buy statistics?
Blue Buddha said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:28
Yeah, that one always comes up when I look at his book.
Tim (the other one) said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:30
“Could it also be true that never before has this argument been made with such care or in such detail ?”
Indeed !!
SamFromUtah said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:32
Yeah, that one always comes up when I look at his book.
Along with breakfast.
Anton Chigurh said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:32
It’s back!!! Free Weight Loss Coaching at http://www.dietbug.com
Must be the tags that get picked up by Amazon’s advert software.
What a fantastic unintended benefit of “editor promised cake!”
tigrismus said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:32
Careful research indicates there are multiple vegetarian restaurants in Tallahassee. If there are also health clubs, we will all know what to think about Herr Schweizer.
cbear said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:39
A “square jerk” ???
Is that like “jerky cookie” for wingnuts, except everybody eats the cookie instead of just the last guy to, ahem, finish?
I’m so confused.
Kathleen said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:44
Jonah in Da Middle
It’s like some horrible Super-Stuffd Wingnut Oreo.
dBa said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:46
Today, a lot of stupider people will be created.
El Cid said,
January 8, 2008 at 21:50
Future humans who are today trapped in a pre-womb state will regret that they were not here for the publication of this book, a work in the face of which Newton would have abandoned both science and alchemy, and which would have made Shakespeare turn instead to bowling and tennis, since there would no longer be any point of attempting to write drama which matched the beauty and truth of this prose.
Cangrejero said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:02
Newton? You know the Nazis’ artillery calculations wouldn’t have worked were it not for Newton… he was the original Liberal Fascist…
Cangrejero said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:03
Oh, and Galileo too.
Ed Kennedy said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:04
They took my review but I think you have to use a real name.
actor212 said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:04
Technically, this doesn’t quite count for logrolling, since Schweitzer didn’t review a book by Hall.
“Square jerk” will be completed once Jonah reviews “Magnificent Bastards: Tools Of the Bush Administration I Have Known”, by Hall.
Of course, it’s a three-sided square, but conservatives never were much of ones for geometry.
El Cid said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:07
Yes, and that would be important if the Nazis had been important fascists. But as we have learned from this book which totally changed how we thought about everything the moment it even thought about being published, the fascists who are important for history are the real ones on the left, the liberal fascists like grade school teachers who sent Jo’berg to time out because he was sad when recess ended, until his mother finally saved the world from the liberal fascists and let Jonah have recess for the rest of his life.
Candy said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:08
Never before has so little been anticipated so long by so few!
That would be my review.
Wonderful! Never has a tome met our expectations so well in all particulars. Both weighty and deep! -
National Doorstop Collector’s Association review.
Kathleen said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:12
your correction is fab, Gavin.
Incontinentia Buttocks said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:16
For some reason I found this Pantload-related Amazon page particularly funny.
Flying Fox said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:16
Did you guys get a low to the two tags with “Censored by” in them? Somebody don’t know what censored means.
But seriously, as funny as so many of those are (I’m still giggling over ‘banged out by howler monkeys’) I love books, and I actually like amazon.com, I worry that abuse of the tags is a bad thing. But then again, people getting money for such crap like Master Shake’s magnum opus here is bad too.
ManOnBlog said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:17
Shit sandwich.
That would be my review.
El Cid said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:18
I have a suggestion, inspired by some previous insightful, brilliant comments above by such people as myself and me.
What if some as yet unknown group of people, perhaps on some internet blog somewhere which I’ve never seen, compted as to who could write the most impossibly, outlandishly laudatory 1 paragraph reviews of Liberal Fat-Systems: Give Me Back My Snickers which are guaranteed to both confuse and perhaps deter the intended readership?
Lesley said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:25
So um, Jonah has censored all but one review (his own perhaps?) How fascistic of him!
Btw, this little item may interest Americans:
I Like Trike said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:36
He already got a less than favorable review in the WSJ (yes, the Wall Street Journal).
Smut Clyde said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:36
Jonah In Da Middle
Shit sandwich
I have nothing else to say.
ahem said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:48
Private Eye just rounded up its back-scratching literary plugs of 2007. Always fun.
So, when will D.P. begin his Comedy Central plugathon?
NutellaonToast said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:51
Okie, I’ve been holding off on this for a while but I can’t resist anymore.
How did the doughy pantload thing come about? I’ve search but all I can find is people calling Jonah one, but no reference as to why. Is there an origin story?
ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:52
All references to my point are critical, and only serve to strengthen him further.
Incontinentia Buttocks said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:54
Thanks for the link, I Like Trike.
The politics lurking in the background of that negative WSJ must be fascinating.
It’s by the historian Fred Siegel, sometime I-didn’t-leave-the-Democratic-Party-the-Democratic-Party-left-me culturally conservative liberal who became a neocon (though he might reject this last title) and Rudy Giuliani’s hagiographer.
Interesting that he would speak some truth to Pantload in the pages of Murdoch’s latest venture.
Dagoril said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:54
We hear a lot about the Pantload’s wingnut mom, Lucianne. But we never hear a peep about the father.
I suspect it was Rube Goldberg.
I can’t wait to see what books Amazon recommends to purchase along with this excresence. My guess would be “Enemas For Dummies”.
Smut Clyde said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:55
“DP” concept created by Norbizness and perfected by ????
Grand Moff Texan said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:56
But we never hear a peep about the father.
He’s still pissed about the IUD failure.
.
dmgroves said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:01
I finally got around to reading Harry Frankfurt’s On Bullshit, which I realize is a little late and all, but I feel like someone could do a really, really good post on Liberal Fascism using the concepts her talks about. Frankfurt’s definition of bullshit (a lack of concern for the truth) is super solid for the kind of masturbatory rhetoricizing and loose association to facts that pretty much define the way he writes. I mean, Jonah’s not just lying, he’s just piling it on like mad.
a different mikey said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:02
You know I had only heard of the Pantload here at SN! and the tBogg. I don’t read the LA Times, would never go to NRO if it was the last thing on the toobz, don’t have a TV. I enjoyed the laughs but always thought you folks were, well, exaggerating. Nobody could be such a putz.
Then yesterday I was listening to HenPR and there he was, doing a bit about how Huckabee is going to ruin the conservative movement (ahem). He got stupid all over the inside of my truck! There’s some kind of event horizon around his brain that turns everything to boneheaded crushing idiocy.
Now I see why y’all have given him such special attention. Please carry on.
albany layman said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:09
David Neiwart’s snark-free review of I Never Said I Was Going to Discuss Hegel: Where Are My Pop-Tarts?.
Blue Buddha said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:18
And don’t forget Coriolis, who noticed that artillery shells always hooked to the right due to the rotational inertia of the Earth.
Arky - Fascitanata said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:18
They say laughter is the best medicine but cracking up at work makes the co-workers think you need medication.
And the tags, the tags at the bottom of the Amazon page!
[Slides under desk]
J— said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:23
Jonah Goldberg, “The Secret Files of the Anti-Hypocrite Squad: A Mirror to the Left.” National Review Online (October 28, 2005).
Blue Buddha said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:27
I noticed the other item on that page was The Point DVD. Another tag for that film was “fairy tales for simple people”. But alas, Jonah’s book doesn’t appear under that tag.
t4toby said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:39
My review:
That is all.
actor212 said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:39
Dagoril said,
January 8, 2008 at 22:54
We hear a lot about the Pantload’s wingnut mom, Lucianne. But we never hear a peep about the father.
Sid died several years ago (1992, I think).
t4toby said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:45
The Gastroanomalies book is penned by none other than James Lileks.
It really is a shame that Lileks has gone so far overboard, because he really is the King of Random Ephemera. I used to really get a kick out of his site.
Until I read the Bleat.
actor212 said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:46
Blue Buddha said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:18
And don’t forget Coriolis, who noticed that artillery shells always hooked to the right due to the rotational inertia of the Earth.
But he discovered this in the men’s room at the Minneapolis Airport, so I suspect he might have been Republican.
actor212 said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:46
Another tag for that film was “fairy tales for simple people”. But alas, Jonah’s book doesn’t appear under that tag.
An omission I just fixed.
Fozzetti said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:48
“Sid died several years ago (1992, I think)”
Persepacious of him!
Notice the price for this book was 27.99, marked down to 16.99. I could swear it was $18.99 yesterday, but I’m not sure and I don’t have the time to check it further, nor do I need to. Which doesn’t mean I’m lazy, indeed it is central to my point.
I am eagerly awaiting Jon Swift’s review.
t4toby said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:49
ten pounds of crap in a five pound book (7)
cheetohnacht (2)
lodenhosen (1)
nerf pundit (1)
professional simpleton (2)
actor212 said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:50
ten pounds of crap in a five pound book
I’ll take credit for that one, thanks. :-)
actor212 said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:52
Fozzetti,
Amazon bases the bold-print price on some bizarre average of all vendors selling the book thru the site.
So if a hundred thousand vendors couldn’t GIVE the book away, and one jerk actually paid $2.7 million for a goldplated copy complete with Monica Lewinski’s blue dress, the average would work out to $27.99 and be bolded.
Tim (the other one) said,
January 8, 2008 at 23:53
ten pounds of crap in a five pound book (7)
cheetohnacht (2)
lodenhosen (1)
nerf pundit (1)
professional simpleton (2)
Killin’ Me !!!!
Arky - Fascitanata said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:03
I discovered Lileks through tGoFC and never checked out his column. Years later I saw him mentioned (unfavorable) in a blog.
To this day I still have trouble reconciling Lileks King of Snark with Lileks Whiny Ass Bush Supporter. It’s like he has MPD or something.
J— said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:06
In response to this:
and to Niewert’s review (albany layman at 23:09), which discusses, upon other topics, academic work on fascism and its definition,
I bring you this:
From Vox Day’s interview with Jonah Goldberg. Your reading the whole thing will be central to my point.
Tim (the other one) said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:12
“a certain guild mentality”
Indeed, this is central to my following point. In my line of work, there are guitar players and guitar owners. Sometimes they’re mutually exclusive and not members of the same guild.
Tim (the other one) said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:14
oh and I forgot. MY Dad could make himself invisible !
Rickm said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:14
Its like there isn’t a highly respected conservative scholar of fascism who has secured a esteemed place in the academy. Oh wait. There is. His name is Stanley Payne, and I am sure he would never sign his name on something that claimed that ‘Hitler was a man of the left’.
J— said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:15
Indeed, some build Guild guitars while others play Guild guitars. This, too, is central to my point.
Principal Blackman said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:22
cheetohnacht (2)
lodenhosen (1)
Holy shit, these two are funny. “Cheetohnacht.” Fuckin’ classic.
a different brad said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:24
Oy.
It annoys me, but, having read it, I still don’t think anyone besides the idiot few who still support Bush and think we found the WMDs Saddam used on 9/11 in Iran and hippies won’t let us do anything about it will be able to take it the least bit seriously.
And it’s too long. The kind of people who’ll fall for Jonah’s kind of “scholarship” have never read a 400 page book in their life, and the folk who read long works regularly won’t have the patience to read more than 50 pages of it. I’ve only managed about half. It’s just terrible. I knew an untreated schizophrenic who had more convincing arguments that she was the female equivalent of Jesus and history was generated by echoes of her moods than Jonah has in LibFasc.
That might be the horrible genius of it. The book is so god awful no one who’s capable of responding to every horrible, stupid, inversion of reality based argument is capable of finishing it. I don’t know if Dave Neiwert knows quite what he’s getting into, but I wish him luck. If he survives, it’ll be a brilliant multi-part piece.
Tim (the other one) said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:25
Well ,that could be “begging the question” or “guilding the lily” as it were but I’ll assume you’ll take that as a badge of honor J.
J— said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:27
Self-correcting, self-conscience, mierenneukering blogosphere of one, activate!
uponamong other topicsTim (the other one) said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:28
“history was generated by echoes of her moods”
Wait; you mean that isn’t how history’s generated ?
Shit. All this time…..
mikey smells like shit said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:31
Jonah Goldberg has more intelligence than all you boring un-funny liberals put together! By the way liberals still suck!
mikey smells like shit
mikey smells like shit said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:33
You liberals love to make fun of President Bush for supposedly being stupid, lets see any of you retards try to handle the stress of the Presidency! Or did all that pot kill your brain cells.
mikey smells like shit
handy said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:34
Jonah Goldberg has more intelligence than all you boring un-funny liberals put together! By the way liberals still suck!
mikey smells like shit
Welcome to the board, Jonah!
Arky - Fascitanata said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:34
LoededHosen sez:
“Since I’m currently not smoking crack…”
Which implies that if you check back in a few minutes he might be sucking on a rock.
Lesley said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:44
We hear a lot about the Pantload’s wingnut mom, Lucianne. But we never hear a peep about the father.
Sid died several years ago (1992, I think).
Sid Dithers?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNUdHEpvt9Q
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMSq2TqL1nk
I hope those links work…I can’t confirm on work machine because it blocks youtube.
t4toby said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:46
No, that would be too good if it was the simpering little shit.
It’s Bastion Booger, aka Kevin, aka Fake Gary, aka Fucking Saul
Tim (the other one) said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:46
They work Lesley. Thanks for the memories.Perfect.
t4toby said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:48
Hey, mods-
What’s up with the Whois on mikeysmellslikeshit?
Does the IP look familiar?
In fact, you guys are much less than forthcoming about these trolls. You know where from whence the trolls come, yet don’t ever help us out.
t4toby said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:50
Now lets see…Which letter would fit the best in this statement about Jonah?
Blue Buddha said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:50
You’re talking about Anne Heche, right? ;)
jim said,
January 9, 2008 at 0:56
Read some of those comments on the USA Today site. Woo.
Does arguing about Jonah Goldberg’s BS help or hinder human civilization? Unfortunately, it does seem like arguing helps. I say “unfortunately” because even having to argue against that logically mush-headed crap is painful and insulting…
But if not argued with and appropriately mocked, that’s the sort of crap that gains traction with the unwary.
Good thing there’s a whole lot of mocking going on.
Anne Laurie said,
January 9, 2008 at 1:09
Sooo unlike Straussian economic thought. Oh, wait, Straussians applaud the “intellectual elite”, not the political elite!
And that luzer Orwell died broke and consumptive, while Doughy Jonah has a pantload of dollars and a nationwide promotion tour!
Gavin, I don’t think you can legitimately use a harsh verb like “jerk” in connection with the Doughy Pantload and his
enablersConservatard fellows. Their mutual “mental”-masturbation sessions are more of a circle fondle. Prolonged, inconclusive, absent-minded stroking of each others’ tender soulflesh, leading to nothing more harsh or energy-expensive than another nap snuffled together in the warm soft trough of Wingnut Welfare Wankery…They’re like a pillowsack full of very young piglets, except that piglets are smarter and cuter and actually serve some purpose in the world.
ahem said,
January 9, 2008 at 1:32
The D.P. has been informed of the googlebomb linking Liberal Fascism. I’m sure that Lucianne will be consulting her rolodex to find a way to stop this.
Principal Blackman said,
January 9, 2008 at 1:46
But if not argued with and appropriately mocked, that’s the sort of crap that gains traction with the unwary.
I think it gains traction anyway. That’s the depressing part of all the fun we’re having at DP’s expense: Sure, we know better, and reviewers are skewering the book’s intellectual deficiencies as well, but I’m quite sure that it will catch on with some people–even those beyond 28 percent.
Mister DNA said,
January 9, 2008 at 3:06
Not before she first consults Conservapedia to find out what the fuck “googlebomb” means.
Surprisingly, there’s an entry. Not surprisingly, it’s wrong.
Brandi said,
January 9, 2008 at 3:12
To this day I still have trouble reconciling Lileks King of Snark with Lileks Whiny Ass Bush Supporter. It’s like he has MPD or something.
He’s basically one of a depressingly large number of people who had something snap in their brain on September 11, 2001 (see also: Dennis Miller).
tigrismus said,
January 9, 2008 at 4:41
My Dad, who died two years ago, never finished his PhD but he had a Master’s in philosophy, he was working on his PhD in East European history and he was a serious Jewish intellectual autodidact.
An autodidact with a Master’s and work toward a PhD? Was he fully accredited?
Doctorb Science said,
January 9, 2008 at 4:56
Maybe he just had a crappy advisor.
mikey smells like shit said,
January 9, 2008 at 5:06
“snap in their brain on 9/11″?
Yeah motherfucker, how about our Nation being attacked and 3000 innocent men, women and children being murdered for no reason!
So fuck you, you anti-American piece of garbage! Its people like you who make me wonder if this Nation will even survive this century!
mikey smells like shit
Hemlock for Gadflies said,
January 9, 2008 at 6:08
OMG — Square Jerk. Square Jerk. Must repeat until every living human being uses this phrase to describe the RNC-to-Human Events-to-Limbaugh-to-Fox-to-NRO-to-Dobson chain….
Hemlock for Gadflies said,
January 9, 2008 at 6:21
Dr. Hemlock is posting a request for someone to step up and write — only in magazine format — “Conservative Fascism,” or to ask Dr. Hemlock to write it with his pen-name (b/c if he used his real name he would be fired by his conservative fascist boss).
It shouldn’t be hard — just do it like Doughy Pantload — find some fascist saying something that sounds like conservatives, put them together, and voila.
Here’s something to get you going: From the New York Times, Nov 2, 1922. “Mussolini Starts Drastic Reforms; Deep Economies, Check on Bureaucratcy and Sale or Lease of Monopolies Ordered.” Premier Mussolini is not letting any grass grow under his feet. Only two days after he officially assumed power the main lines of his policy have been decided upon and approved unanimously by his Cabinet…The discussion of internal policy chiefly centered on measures to be adopted for balancing the State budget. The discussion started on the basis that it is impossible to increase taxation, because taxes are already so high that if they were increased a falling-off in revenue would result, owing to the withering of industry and enterprise, which cannot bear an increased burden.
“The only possibility, therefore, is to cut down expenses and provide for more efficient collection of taxes…
“A saving will be effected by the introduction of five main reforms…the State will sell or lease to private enterprises all the State monopolies…the State will abolish all Government offices in provincial towns whose continuance is not essential…it will refuse all grants of Government money for public works save in exceptional cases where half the expense is to borne locally. In any case it will oblige the unemployed to go to the places where they can be usefully employed…it will make the salaries of employees in the public services sector dependent on whether they are employed in flourishing concerns or not.
“Minor reforms will include the abolition of free and semi-free railroad passes, the abolition of State subsidies to rail lines…and the simplification of the system of taxation…
“Mussolini intends to ask Parliament for…full powers in order to push the reform of the bureaucratic machinery…the immediate result of these reforms will be an increase of unemployment because they will throw out of work many clearks and other Government employees.”
Now tell me that’s not a CATO institute wet dream…
El Cid said,
January 9, 2008 at 6:48
Konservative Kommunism! From Freikorps To Fair Tax!
kiki said,
January 9, 2008 at 12:42
smellslikeshit, I’d like to congratulate you - your candid admission that you lost your mind on 9/11 demonstrates remarkable self-awareness for a modern American “conservative”.
However, might I suggest that remaining calm, rational and clear-headed are a better response to a crisis situation than going bugfuck insane - and being proud of it?