Jack Booted Pacifists
by digby
Alex Koppleman interviewed Jonah Goldberg about his Book “Liberal Fascism” and I was struck by this assertion:
What appealed to the Progressives about militarism was what William James calls this moral equivalent of war. It was that war brought out the best in society, as James put it, that it was the best tool then known for mobilization … That is what is fascistic about militarism, its utility as a mechanism for galvanizing society to join together, to drop their partisan differences, to move beyond ideology and get with the program. And liberalism today is, strictly speaking, pretty pacifistic. They’re not the ones who want to go to war all that much. But they’re still deeply enamored with this concept of the moral equivalent of war, that we should unite around common purposes. Listen to the rhetoric of Barack Obama, it’s all about unity, unity, unity, that we have to move beyond our particular differences and unite around common things, all of that kind of stuff. That remains at the heart of American liberalism, and that’s what I’m getting at.
See, liberals are goose-stepping militaristic conformists because we want the country to unite. I couldn’t help but be reminded of this, from a little while back:
Nearly 17 months after he first issued his call for a ”fresh start after a season of cynicism,” Gov. George W. Bush ended his quest for the presidency today on a nearly identical note, pledging to purge Washington of what he characterized as a crippling discord.
[…]
Mr. Bush’s words made … clear that he saw himself as the country’s best hope for bridging ideological divides, healing partisan wounds and making sure Americans could gaze upon the White House with unfettered respect.
”It’s time for new leadership in Washington, D.C,” Mr. Bush told the crowd here late tonight in Bentonville, a Republican stronghold with its own significance. It lies in the district where a young Bill Clinton once ran a failed campaign for Congress, and it is now represented by Asa Hutchinson, one of the House Republicans who presided over Mr. Clinton’s impeachment.
[…]
Just before Mr. Bush began and just after he ended his remarks on a stage inside a local airport hangar, his campaign played a new tape of music. It featured snippets of the Fleetwood Mac song ”Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow),” which Mr. Clinton used as the theme for his 1992 campaign, followed by The Who song ”Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
Almost 12 hours earlier, in Chattanooga, Tenn., Mr. Bush told supporters there was ”a better day ahead” if the country chose to elect someone who would ”elevate the people’s business above everyday politics.” Supporters’ chants evoked the nearness of the moment of decision.
”One more day!” they roared.
What the nation needed, Mr. Bush told them, was ”a president who can unite this nation, a president who puts aside the endless partisan bickering that seems to gridlock our nation’s capital, a president who puts the people first, a president who lifts this nation’s spirits.”
”I’ll be that president,” he added, a sentence that was equal parts promise and prediction. It underscored the optimism that Mr. Bush had, from the very beginning, sought to project to voters.
His schedule for a 16-hour day was also an expression of that. Between stops in Tennessee and Arkansas, his plane touched down in Wisconsin and Iowa, and while any one of those four states could provide the key to a Bush victory, none has as many electoral votes as battlegrounds like Michigan and Pennsylvania.
But the states are genuine tossups that were initially expected to be much more hospitable to Mr. Gore. By visiting them today, Mr. Bush emphasized the breadth of his appeal and the sometimes surprising vulnerability of the vice president.
He did not let his assertion of strength and confidence distract him from the business of beseeching supporters to grant him victory. With 24 hours before Election Day, Mr. Bush stripped campaigning to its essence: coaxing and cajoling, pleading and persuading.
”I want you to understand that I can’t win without you,” Mr. Bush told a crowd of about 1,000 in Green Bay, Wis. ”I hope you redouble your efforts to make sure people get out to the polls.” Minutes later, he added: ”When you go out there and tell the folks where we stand on the issues and where we stand when it comes to bringing people together to get things done, and you tell them that the core of this campaign is the inherent trust in the American people, I believe it doesn’t matter what political party they’re in. They’re going to come our way.”
He was very convincing to a lot of people, especially in the beltway. In fact, the gasbags all said Bush should be handed the presidency when the results were disputed in Florida because he was the only one who could bring the country together after all the ugliness. (The ugliness being perpetrated by his campaign, but whatever.)
I don’t remember Goldberg or any of the other wingnuts protesting that Bush was being a fascist at the time he was criss-crossing the country assuring everyone that he was going to “change the tone.” In fact, they were saying that he was a great leader who would lead the whole country in a big round of kumbaaya and tax cuts.
Within minutes of his leaving office, I am fully assured that Bush will be put in the pantheon of liberals, however. (You know what they say…)
Proof? Here’s Jonah:
I would argue that Nixon was not a particularly conservative guy. Measured by today’s standards and today’s issues, Nixon would be in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
.