Posted on 01/13/2008 8:15:00 AM PST by Delacon
Goldberg has marshaled a staggering amount of evidence to conclude, as the first chapter has it, that "everything you know about fascism is wrong." Mussolini was weaned on anarcho-socialism (his father Alessandro was a socialist and anarchist). Mussolini and the Italian Fascist party were, in the early years, not anti-Semitic—in fact, the party included Jews. As a young man, Mussolini had carried in his pocket a medallion of Karl Marx, whose influence—combined with the bizarre syndicalist philosophy of George Sorel and a Nietzschean contempt for Christianity—resulted in Italian fascism, a mix of myth-making, prophecy about the rise of the working class, and a relentless determination to aggrandize more and more power for the state. German fascism was not far different, which is why Hitler himself, as Goldberg puts it, was "a man of the left." In short, the very term "fascism" has been misused for decades now. Although on several occasions Goldberg openly invites criticism, admitting that he is not a professional historian, he has done the work of a historian; besides, he is a much better writer than most historians. And the case he makes is as persuasive as it is provocative. Consider Father Charles Coughlin, the "radio priest" of the 1930s, a touchstone of right-wing evil for liberals. It turns out that Coughlin actually advocated collectivist, anti-capitalist theories that were much closer to the left than to the right. Goldberg quotes leftists—among them the "New Deal Priest" Msgr. John Ryan—praising Coughlin. Coughlin became FDR's bitter foe because FDR's collectivist policies did not go far enough. Fascists have often called for the overturning of religious tradition, to be replaced by the dictatorship of the people; have engaged in a "cult of action" that sought to smash the bourgeoisie; and have relegated certain people...
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
Hitler was an “idealist”. He was also a socialist, a vegetarian, a teatotaller, an antichristian, a non-smoker, childishly sentimental* and a dilettante. If he were alive today and living in Wisconsin, he’d be on the liberals arts faculty of a third rate publicly funded school.
*He luft docs undt shildern.
To those in the Clinton camp who can turn a $1,000 “investment” into $100,000 and a $100,000 investment into $17,000,000 (hello, Terrry McAwful...) there is no real “labor” in “work”.
They don’t work for their money so they see nothing wrong about taking it from the producers to fund the State.
The Communist Party USA opposed the US striking out against Nazi Germany until Hitler betrayed their beloved Stalin.
The Communists were not anti-Fascist.
I never heard about Father Coughlin before so I did a little "googling."
And wow... this guy was a Canadian-born Roman Catholic priest who used the radio to reach a mass audience. FORTY MILLION people tuned to his weekly broadcasts during the 1930s.
And his program praised Hitler and Mussolini and promoted the theories that the "Jews" (sic) were responsible for the Depression, the Russian Revolution and... Kristallnacht!
He actually blamed the Jewish victims in Kristallnacht and said "The Jewish persecution only followed after Christians first were persecuted."
Does this remind anyone of Ward Churchill?
You left out psychopath. I bet he would get a high score on Dr. Hare’s PCL-R checklist for Psychopaths...
Fr. Coughlin was a destructive figure. But as this article points out, it is a leftist trick to pretend that he was a “conservative.”
The reason why the Nazis and the Fascists fought against the Communists in the years leading up to the Second World War is that they were, basically, fighting for the same turf. They were all socialists, fighting for power.
Nothing conservative about any of them. One of the biggest lies of the left is that fascists and Nazis are on the right.
Perhaps most notable among his speeches, regarding socialism, was his address to the Party conclave on 1 May 1927. No surprise about the date, either -- May Day has always been the international Left's favourite holiday.
I think you are correct here. Fr. Coughlin was virulently anti-communist.
Correct me if I'm wrong here but isn't the definition of conservatism -- the desire for less government control?
Nazism was just as bad as Communism. Both attempted to control all aspects of daily living -- schools, jobs and government speak...
Yes, exactly. Nazism and Communism fought over who would control the levers of power over the masses. Hitler and Stalin were mirror images.
This only changed (notionally, at any rate) with the Molotov-vonRibbentrop Non-Aggression Pact. Being good little obedient slaves, at that point the Communists worldwide followed Stalin's dicta to the effect that the Nazis weren't really such bad folks. This lasted, what?, two and a half years or so.
Historical note: the Left-Right dichotomy was in fact popularised by the Communists, as a means of distinguishing themselves from the Nazis, not as a means of distinguishing themselves from the assorted more democratic parties.
Socialism cannot tolerate competition; when there have been more than one socialist faction in a society, they have warred between/among themselves first, before taking on their well-known ''class enemy''. The clearest example of this (and there are hundreds) was Hitler's actions after easing von Papen out of the chancellorship in 1933. Who was Hitler's first target? Not the Jews, not the Social Democrats, not the Slavs (whom he hated at least as much as he hated Jews)...nope, it was the Communists, Reichstag fire and all.
Socialism controlled at a national level.
Make no mistake: we need a real conservative in the WH.
We're conservative because we're liberal.
Drop that line at the next party.
“We’re conservative because we’re liberal.”
Put another way, what conservatives are trying to conserve is classical liberalism. Rights to property, freemarkets, rights of the individual over groupism, and the belief in a transcendant being.
It’s about time this book appeared. For sure the Liberals won’t read it and Conservatives already know it, but it might sell a few copies. Don’t use it in your Poli-Sci class as reference for the term paper unless your college career is going down the tubes anyway.
It hardly matters in a circle. Actually, that designation goes back to the French Revolution, and as far as I can tell, designated one's order in the line to the guillotine. Then again, I'm no historian.
Rights to property, freemarkets, rights of the individual over groupism, and the belief in a transcendent being.
The latter point is the linchpin of the whole thing. Even Adam Smith promoted free enterprise as only the best for mere humans. He never got around to writing an intended treatise on God and morality, as I understand.
This much I know, the old cliches-- left, right, liberal, conservative, progressive, revanchist, Luddite etc. empty.
Besides,like my mechanic once said, "you have to stop in order to go." He said this while handing me a bill for a brake job.
Kinda like our present government
"In spite of his early support for FDR, Coughlin's populist message contained bitter attacks on the Roosevelt administration. They decided that although the First Amendment protected free speech, it did not necessarily apply to broadcasting, because the radio spectrum was a "limited national resource" and regulated as a publicly-owned commons. New regulations and restrictions were created to force Coughlin off the air. For the first time, operating permits were required of those who were regular radio broadcasters. When Coughlin's permit was denied, he was temporarily silenced...
According to Marcus' book, Coughlin's opposition to the repeal of a neutrality-oriented arms-embargo law triggered more successful efforts to force him off the air. In October 1939, one month after the invasion of Poland, the Code Committee of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) adopted new rules which placed "rigid limitations on the sale of radio time to spokesman of controversial public issues." Manuscripts were required to be submitted in advance. Radio stations were threatened with the loss of their licenses if they failed to comply. This ruling was clearly aimed at Coughlin due to his leadership in opposition to prospective American involvement in the Second World War. As a result, the September 23, 1939 issue of Social Justice stated that he had been forced from the air "...by those who control circumstances beyond my reach" (pp 173-177).
Coughlin reasoned that although the government had assumed the right to regulate any on-air broadcasts, the First Amendment still guaranteed and protected freedom of the written press. He could still print his editorials without censorship in his own newspaper, Social Justice. However, FDR's administration stepped in again, this time revoking his mailing privileges and making it impossible for Coughlin to deliver the papers to his readers. He had the right to publish whatever he wanted, but not the right to use the United States Post Office Department to deliver it."
Sounds like a Hillary paradise!
Not yet, when the government starts throwing people in prison for free speech and burning bodies in death camps... it is too late.
bump
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