Shakespeare: Fascist! Virgil: Fascist! Ovid: Un-Roman! Marlowe: Government Goon!

I suppose one should probably read Jonah Goldberg’s book Liberal Fascism before criticising it. On the other hand, why do the dreary work when Spencer Ackerman’s prepared to highlight the juicy bits for one? For instance, Spencer draws my attention to this:

Indeed, it is my argument that during World War I, America became a fascist country, albeit temporarily. The first appearance of modern totalitarianism in the Western world wasn’t in Italy or Germany but in the United States of America. How else would you describe a country where the world’s first modern propaganda ministry was established; political prisoners by the thousands were harassed, beaten, spied upon, and thrown in jail simply for expressing private opinions; the national leader accused foreigners and immigrants of injecting treasonous “poison” into the American bloodstream; newspapers and magazines were shut down for criticizing the government; nearly a hundred thousand government propaganda agents were sent out among the people to whip up support for the regime and its war; college professors imposed loyalty oaths on their colleagues; nearly a quarter-million goons were given legal authority to intimidate and beat “slackers” and dissenters; and leading artists and writers dedicated their crafts to proselytizing for the government?