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Jewish World Review
Jan. 23, 2013 / 13 Shevat, 5773
Look who's mocking fascist fear-mongering now
By
A. Barton Hinkle
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
One of the arguments we're hearing in the current debate about
gun control is what might be called the anti-anti-tyranny argument.
Coming from liberals, it's a little rich.
Some gun-rights supporters say the Second Amendment's purpose is
not merely to protect the right to hunt or defend yourself, but to
guard against oppression. "The purpose of having citizens armed
with paramilitary weapons," writes Kevin Williamson in National
Review, "is to allow them to engage in paramilitary actions."
Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano likewise argues that the Second
Amendment protects "your right to shoot tyrants if they take over
the government."
The history of the founding and the language of the rest of the
Bill of Rights suggests they have a point. (Though not the whole
point. One reason the founders wanted people to be armed is so they
could put down insurrections, not just start them.)
But many progressives say this is just plain nuts. To Charles
Blow of The New York Times, the rise of "so-called patriot
groups" who think such things is evidence of "paranoia by people
who have lost their grip on the reins of power, and reality." To
Josh Horwitz of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, it's part of a
dangerously radical "insurrectionist" movement. To Eric Boehlert of
Media Matters, the idea that Americans might need weapons to fight
a "war with the government" is one of conservatives' "paranoid
fantasies."
Paul Waldman of the American Prospect agrees. In a piece for CNN
on how "The NRA's Paranoid Fantasy Flouts Democracy," he says the
conservative media encourage listeners to view the Obama
administration as "the very definition of dictatorship. ... [M]any
would say that their 'right' to own any and every kind of firearm
they please is the only thing that guarantees that tyranny won't
come to the United States. Well, guess what: They're wrong."
No doubt the gun-rights group has a fringe element, exemplified
by those who think the Sandy Hook massacre was orchestrated as part
of a plot to disarm America. But it's worth pausing to ask: Is it
really so outrageous to believe the government of the United States
is capable of tyranny?
Not to Naomi Wolf, it isn't. Back in 2007, the author and
political activist wrote an essay on "Fascist America, in 10 Easy
Steps." She noted that the leaders of a recent military coup in
Thailand had followed certain clear procedures-and she insisted the
Bush administration was following those very same procedures.
"Beneath our very noses, George Bush and his administration are
using time-tested tactics to close down an open society," Wolf
warned. "It is time for us to be willing to think the
unthinkable."
The essay was widely circulated, and its popularity led Wolf to
expand it into a book, titled The End of America: Letter of
Warning to a Young Patriot. (That young patriot presumably is
the good kind of patriot-not the kind who joins "so-called patriot
groups.")
Wolf had lots of company. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann dedicated a
"special comment" to calling Bush a fascist: "You're a fascist!" he
bellowed in his usual understated style. "Get them to print you a
T-shirt with 'fascist' on it!"
Not everyone was so emphatic. Robert Paxton, a history professor
at Columbia and the author of The Anatomy of Fascism,
conceded during Bush's first term that "Obviously, the ...
administration is not a fully fascist regime with a single party,
an end to elections and the setting aside of rule of law." But, he
continued, "you can make up a list of similarities and
differences." How very nuanced.
This sort of talk continued even after Bush left office. In a
2009 piece for the Los Angeles Times, columnist Tim Rutten
called for a citizen commission to investigate the administration.
"Just how close to the brink of executive tyranny did the United
States come in the panic that swept George W. Bush's administration
after 9/11?" he asked. "The answer, it now seems clear, is that we
came far closer than even staunch critics of the White House
believed."
These are not basement conspiracy theorists scribbling in the
dark corners of the Internet. They are famous and highly regarded
thinkers speaking from respected institutional platforms. And their
views were echoed by countless thousands of lesser-known liberals
sporting "Bushitler" protest signs and bumper stickers.
All of which permits only two possible conclusions. The first is
that progressives knew even then, deep down, they were peddling
wildly implausible paranoid fantasies-just as they accuse
right-wing "insurrectionists" of doing now. If so, then they should
admit as much.
The second possibility? Many progressives genuinely believed,
only a few years ago, that the United States really did stand in
the dusky shadow of a totalitarian nightmare. Yet now they insist
that Americans who want to arm against that eventuality are
paranoid nut jobs. That might be politically convenient-but it
doesn't make much sense.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
A. Barton Hinkle is Deputy Editor of the Editorial Pages at Richmond Times-Dispatch
Comment by clicking here.
Previously:
• 01/16/13: Only in Washington could you get away with referring to spending and tax increases as spending 'cuts'
• 01/09/13: Obama begins his second term, Bush's fourth
• 01/07/13: Who's Attacking the Constitution Now?
• 01/03/13: Why, historically, January is the perfect time to debate the filibuster
• 12/26/12: When libs devalue diversity
• 12/20/12: Mark Your Calendars
• 12/13/12: Gun control, ad infinitum
• 12/11/12: Fracking can help fix the CO2 problem
• 12/06/12: Let's open the door to lots more immigration
• 12/04/12: Who's watching the kids? Just about everyone
• 11/29/12: The Real Middle-Class Champion was Mocked and Opposed
• 11/26/12: It's time to cut a deal on the budget
• 11/20/12: The case for a carbon tax
• 11/15/12: Cue the hysterics. Reports of Democracy's Death Greatly Exaggerated
• 11/07/12: The $4,000 Trash Can: We need regulation, but not this much
• 10/23/12: The Ballad of Islamist Rage Boy
• 10/17/12: Undermining the values that enable people in poverty to escape it? Sadly, yes
• 10/11/12: How Much Is This Tax Cut Gonna Cost Me, Doc?
• 10/04/12: Warrantless spying skyrockets under Obama
• 08/20/12: The wrong side absolutely must not win
• 08/14/12: America was not built on dirt alone
• 08/02/12: Libs Discover Their Inner Cheney
• 07/30/12: Feds want to help you --- whether you want help or not
• 07/23/12: Barack Obama, Storyteller-in-Chief
• 07/23/12: Nation's worst outsourcer? You
• 07/19/12: Listen up, America: You need to knuckle under
• 07/12/12: Obama, Romney: As Different as Two Peas in a Pod
• 07/05/12: Are teenagers big children --- or little adults?
• 06/25/12: Minorities treated as mere numbers
• 06/21/12: Memo to the the Little Guy: Seemingly innocuous activity could bring the federal hammer down out of a clear blue sky
• 06/19/12: We mustn't let America be buffaloed
• 05/31/12: Drop and Give Uncle Sam 20
• 05/15/12: The feds would like to know if you enjoyed that video
• 05/03/12: Obama inspires: 'America --- Still Not as Bad Off as Venezuela!'
• 04/26/12: It's everyone's favorite time of year again
• 03/29/12: GOP disillusionment is a good thing
• 03/27/12: Just what America needs: more red tape
• 03/20/12: Nation wondering: what happening to language?
• 02/21/12: Culture warriors resort to propaganda
• 02/15/12: Step away from that cookie and grab some air
• 02/08/12: Lessons in heresy
• 02/01/12: Do We Really Need Pickle-Flavored Potato Chips?
• 01/11/12: Shut up, they explained
• 12/30/11: A Modest Proposal: Let's Ban All Sports!
• 12/26/11: A Christmas letter from the Obamas
• 02/24/11: Will the next Watson need us?
• 12/24/10: Here Are Some Good Gifts for People You Hate
• 06/15/10: The Presinator
• 05/26/10: More than equal
• 04/08/10: Angry Right Takes a Page From Angry Left but guess who is ugly?
• 02/16/10: Either Obama owes George W. Bush an apology, or he owes the rest of us a very good explanation for his about-face on wiretapping
• 02/03/10: Talkin' to us 'tards
• 01/27/10: I never thought I'd see the day when progressives would howl in ragebecause the Supreme Court said government should not ban books
• 01/07/10: Gun-Control Advocates Play Fast and Loose
• 12/31/09: Nearly everything progressives say about neoconservative interventionism abroad applies to their own preferred policies at home
© 2011, A. Barton Hinkle
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