Fascinoma

I absolutely hate it when otherwise-sensible people say blatantly, stupidly false things out of an excess of forebearance or civility. Even Molly Ivins used to say "Bush isn't stupid," which is only true if you really redefine stupid, translating it into legalese or epistemology. In common language parlance though, the man is stupid. Incredibly stupid perhaps.

More recently we have people bending over backwards not to see Jonah Goldberg's really stupid thesis, Liberal Fascism, as an extended instance of hyper-defensive projection -- the I'm-Rubber-You're-Glue Defense. (The things the conscience will spawn when a dutiful Jewish momma's-boy joins up with the jackboots....) Even Ezra Klein now wants to concede to Jonah that "The contemporary right is not fascist." More sensible folks can only gape, and mutter "What the fuck...?"

As I have said many times, and in many ways before, the contemporary right is almost nothing but a fascist movement, the Cult of Mars and Macho, oh and a kleptocracy in the bargain. We haven't started gassing people at home yet, but we're racking up a pretty impressive body count across the various ponds. The main difference, this time (outrageously and depressingly enough) is how many Jews are determined to be on the right side of the wire. At least they have an excuse.

I'm well aware that you can't say these things in polite society. You also can't say "Bush lies," or "Blackwater steals" or "Iraq is a boondoggle and an atrocity" without being considered unchic these days, a vulagrian. You will sooner hear Barack say motherfucker on the stump than hear any blunt truths fall from him lips. What does it bode for a people when the truth is made obscene?