Quit Whining 4

Perhaps – as some critics of this series have argued – I am too complacent in the face of an unprecedented attack on American liberties. To quote one passionate writer, who has sold many more books than I ever have or likely ever will: Our experiment in democracy could be closed down by a process of erosion. It is a mistake to think that early in a fascist shift you see the profile of barbed wire against the sky.

Perhaps – as some critics of this series have argued – I am too complacent in the face of an unprecedented attack on American liberties. To quote one passionate writer, and who has sold many more books than I ever have or likely ever will:

Of course, the United States is not vulnerable to the violent, total closing-down of the system that followed Mussolini's march on Rome or Hitler's roundup of political prisoners. Our democratic habits are too resilient, and our military and judiciary too independent, for any kind of scenario like that. Rather, as other critics are noting, our experiment in democracy could be closed down by a process of erosion. It is a mistake to think that early in a fascist shift you see the profile of barbed wire against the sky. In the early days, things look normal on the surface; peasants were celebrating harvest festivals in Calabria in 1922; people were shopping and going to the movies in Berlin in 1931. Early on, as W.H. Auden put it, the horror is always elsewhere - while someone is being tortured, children are skating, ships are sailing: "dogs go on with their doggy life ... How everything turns away/ Quite leisurely from the disaster." As Americans turn away quite leisurely, keeping tuned to internet shopping and American Idol, the foundations of democracy are being fatally corroded.

Those are the words of Naomi Wolf, published in 2007, explaining how George W. Bush was leading the United States to fascism in the name of fighting terror. Very lightly edited, they could be heard on many talk radio stations today. Back in 2007, most conservatives regarded such talk as hysterical and absurd – and rightly so. Here’s Rush Limbaugh’s response to a similar statement by Wolf in 2008:

This is Naomi Wolf literally rendered insane and ready for the man in the little white coat to come drag her away in the little yellow bus to the Menninger Clinic.

Now some conservatives seem to have decided: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Look: I worry too about Obama’s spending, debt, and regulation. The risk is real that this administration will halt and even reverse the three decade trend to a more open, dynamic, and free economy. Conservatives will need all their courage, faith, and perseverance to resist and prevail against this aggressive administration. It might be argued that anger and fear are just what is needed to rev up the troops. Yet doesn’t the record show that conservatives have done better for themselves and the country when they offered optimism and confidence? Despair is a poor motivator; invective a sad substitute for inspiration. Not so long ago, it was liberals who fretted that the sinister authoritarian personality of their fellow Americans would crush constitutional freedoms. It was conservatives who expressed a generous trust in the goodness of the American nation. As Ronald Reagan asked in his first inaugural address: "How can we love our country and not love our countrymen?" You will know that the conservative comeback has begun when conservatives talk like that again. This is part four in a series/a>.  Read the other articles in the series here<.