Earlier I said that Jonah is just another kind of Holocaust denier, the way he distorts the true history and politics of fascism, but the big question is what he tries to achieve with this distortion. You can do worse than to read John Emerson’s explanation, who argues it’s done partially to slime the left, partially to inoculate the Republicans against the charge of fascism and partially, perhaps unconsciously as a dominance game within the media: “no matter how stupid we make our arguments, you will take them seriously”. All fine points, but there’s still something missing. There’s more going on and it’s best expressed through that stupid backcover quote:
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.
What Goldberg is saying with that, and with so many other examples, is that all traditional, stereotypical liberal dogoodery is fascist. That it doesn’t matter whether state power is used benignly or malignantly, the fact that it’s state power is enough to make it fascist. A public school system, a national health service, all fascist. Ridiculous of course, but it is an extreme version of what a lot of rightwingers half believe already. Which makes Jonah’s book so dangerous, as it strengthens the paranoid beliefs of an already radicial and powerful group. Worse, because it’s so extreme it helps legitamise less extreme versions of this idea. The American media is already saturated with reports and stories that push the idea all state interference is bad, all social programmes are evil and pushing the idea that it’s not just wrong but fascist to have welfare can only help in further eroding public support.
What’s to be done? Debating Jonah on the merits of his book is pointless, as that only strengthens the perception of legitamicy, though just straightforward education in what fascism is should be done. Making fun of him and his book is better, but in itself is not enough. What we want is to make sure the sheer stupidity of these beliefs is exposed, which I think is best done by dragging these half hidden ideas I outlined above into the spotlights and then ridiculing them. Fortunately, most people are still not stupid enough to think a female school teacher is really the modern equivalent of a concentration camp guard.