By:
Nicole Belle on Thursday, September 20th, 2007 at 9:29 AM - PDT
Stephen sits down with Naomi Wolf, who has published articles we’ve linked to previously tracking America’s slide into fascism and has recently come out with the book, The End of America: A Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot.
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Wolf’s work is based on the famous 14 Common Aspects of Fascist Governments by Lawrence Britt. Look familiar?
6 Trackbacks To “The Colbert Report: Naomi Wolf on Fascism in America“
112 Responses for “The Colbert Report: Naomi Wolf on Fascism in America”
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firstage
I come from a family of people who were refugees three times over, fleeing various totalitarian governments. There are two real linchpin characteristics of fascists:
detention of people without trial
torture
We passed both lines years ago. At some point, we won’t even be able to backtrack.
Are we there yet? Click the link for a full post on this…
www.leftopia.blogspot.com
Check out the last reviewer who slams the book….’how come these books never come out during Democrats Administrations ?’
Did anyone notice the words/phrases written on her hand in pen?? I really liked her points and her message, but seeing it crib’d on her hand made me cringe a bit……
http://www.legitgov.org/minot_.....html?links
Six deaths of the personnel involved in the loading or flying of the nukes aboard the plane that took them to Minot AFB in Louisiana.
IN SEVEN DAYS, SIX DEATHS. OF THE SAME GROUP OF PEOPLE NOT INVOLVED IN COMBAT.
No insurance company in the world would cover a policy with such a death toll. The odds against it have to be in the billions.
Anyone who hasn’t seen Aaron Russo’s last documentary “America: Freedom to Fascism” would be well advised to do so.
This quote sums it all up though:
“A great industrial nation is controlled by it’s system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the world - no longer a government of free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men.” - Former President Woodrow Wilson
I. Conoplastic @ 7:
…Now…if this was getting the kind of round-the-clock coverage the OJ is?? I think the first tactic in a national strike should be a mass cancellation of cable-TV accounts…
I. Conoplastic @ 7:
i with ya here, but some of them died in july. still weird eh?
Stupid Git @ 8:
RIP Aaron Russo.
Naomi Wolf brings such a relaxing attitude to such a pressing problem concerning how much time is left before this country is totally toast, she makes all the wingnuts looks as nuts as they are.
Greatest example: The War on Drugs
Turning personal choice, or at worst, a medical condition like substance abuse, into a crime that produces profit for the Prison Industrial Complex is diabolical genius.
The War on Drugs has been the driving force behind our prison society.
Cannabis users have long lamented the fascist state of our government, but for too long we were written off paranoid stoners.
When we end the War on Drugs, we will have ended a major tactic and tool of those with Fascist tendencies.
quixote @ 3:
I’m still hopeful that we haven’t passed the breaking point just yet.
If one agrees with Lawrence Britt’s “14 Common Aspects of Fascist Governments” then it’s pretty clear that the US, once regarded as a beacon of freedom and democracy, is officially a fascist regime.
When Bush was re-elected I recall telling some US friends of mine…”you deserve whatever you get”. Oh how the mighty have fallen…
Colbert is an asshole. Just my opinions. His comedy is ineffective. Unlike Stewart, he isnt disquieting he is oddly comforting. The issues he deals with are far too serious - in my opinion - for a comforting tack. Stewarts approach I find more disquieting in the end - which highlights the serious nature of the issues he deals with.
Colbert in the end advances his career while stewart advances awareness of the issues.
The wolf interview did more for his career that it did to advance wolfs ideas. I really dont care for colbert.
Once again, my opinion.
Ben @ 6:
The limelight alone can lead to brain freeze. Arguing opposite of Colbert can’t make it easier.
I’d say that this shows that she thought ahead.
Remember Congressman Lynn Westmoreland and the Ten Commandments?
Ben @ 6:
1. You could read what was “written” on her hand? Or are you just assuming?
2. Never done much public speaking have you?
It is unfortunate that the reality of our decline towards dictatorship is not trumpeted from all news outlets loud enough that people begin to realize how serious Bush’s actions really are.
As long as the only people making comments are limited to appearances on comedy shows, the impact will be a smile, a chuckle, and a lack of concern by the general population.
I like the Colbert Report a lot. Unfortunately, this is no laughing matter.
anon @ 15:
Colbert’s technique is completely different from Stewart’s. Colbert is playing the part of an arch/ultra-conservative pundit. Part of this is to go completely over the top in cheerleading for the conservative cause. Unfortunately for Colbert (and us), lately it can get hard to sound more crazy than the real thing.
@ anon. Colbert’s character “plays” an asshole whose biting, subversive comedy is like a shiv in the ribs to the body politic, hardly comforting IMO.
Normally I really enjoy the Colbert report, but occasionally I think he tries too hard and just ends up derailing the guests. (Not always a bad thing, but in this case I would have liked to hear more from Naomi Wolf)
Boy was that irritating. She’s that chatterbox office lady who has to chime in on everything. And statements intoned as questions are so obnoxious? Super irritating.
Everybody knows about the authoritarian tendencies of the Bush administration. Surely there is a more forceful counterpunch than this?
Nice typesetting on the book cover, however.
Of course someone will say she hates America and all the rest that follows telling people the facts of life in BigBrotherVille. The question is who will cast the first stone?
vigwig @ 21:
I find those he impersonates disquieting. He I see as a mimic - not the real thing. Hannity is caustic, Colbert is lovable. I dont like lovable combined with the issues he deals with. In a sense, Colbert mocks. Mocking assumes a superior position. We dont have that.
I accept that others have a different take on this. I cant watch the guy - I did watch the video and at the end knew more about Colberts act than Wolfs premise.
Weaseldog @ 16:
I agree. Her looking at her hand didn’t bother me at all. These hosts like Colbert and Tweety (and O’Reilly, boo) butt in so often they would throw off anyone’s line of thought. An excellent post BTW, as opposed to Hillary calling Cheney Darth Vader for instance. Why I read the blogs, and I’m going to get that book.
I’ve got to agree with telecom. Despite some of the real issues of concern, Naomi came off (to me) as an obnoxious wingnut. Invoking the kid who was tasered at a Kerry speech does not really support the fascist gov’t idea. I don’t think it does the issues we’re facing justice to simply package them as a blueprint to fascism and hold them up as a scare tactic. This seems like one of the oversimplifications that so often pop up as scare tactics from the republican talking heads.
anon @ 15:
He is pandering to a right wing image. On the other hand, that is how he was invited to give a speach at the White House. :)
The real Bill O’Reilly would have hit on her.
webegeeks @ 18:
Precisely why reactionaries, authoritarians and fascists have engaged in a decades-long push to take over the media. They have been successful.
Ryan @ 27:
She is more credible than Colbert if not as well known. Given the chance, I suspect you would have heard her say that the nation is probably lost with an explanation.
Colbert went for the laugh. If all he wanted was the laugh, maybe he shouldnt have booked her.
Ben @ 6:
Uh ..Thanks for making me watch that twice, I have a keen eye and thought I was just playing Freecell to intently while watching the interview.
So I rewatched.
No… I noticed no writing on her hand… and that is all I was looking at, perhaps my Hoffman lenses are getting stale…
———-
And yes… We are in a Fascist state masquerading as a republic…
It wont be long now…before the whole plant blooms… MY ONLY concern.. will it be too late?
How many Muslims can we give special treatment to, Before we all realize what we have become?? (with those old Amtrak Stations the government purchased and refitted with 90 million in Ventilation systems)
They don’t need a terrorist attack to declare marshal law… a financial crisis (housing bubble bursting) can be used as well as natural disasters … and what ever else you can think of.
“If you’re laughing I defy you to be afraid.” — Stephen Colbert
And if you’re not afraid, you stand up and resist. Works for me.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/.....57,00.html
I think we start our fight with the American news media. I’m thinking of cancelling my cable all together. Cut these f’ers off at the knees. I know Oberman, Dobbs, Cafferty, Steward and Colbert do some good things but it’s not enough. Then there was that woman who sat there and said that lead on our toys and poison in our food is good b/c it means low prices at Wal-Mart. The cable news networks should have their funds cut off now.
naschkatze @ 26:
Now that I think about it… Colbert has teased guests about bringing a note with talking points, and some of the guests have snatched Colbert’s list and read it aloud.
I’m sure we’ll see more of this in the future.
“RIP Aaron Russo”
Oh no! I didn’t know he died this past August. :-(
I remember he was the promoter of Bette Midler. He was also her lover during a very dramatic period of both of their lives.
I love how he said he wanted “freedom fighter” on his death stone.
equilibrio @ 12:
Amen…
Of course a sizable population of those who smoke can see…
Why else would such a beneficial plant be outlawed and hundreds of billions spent on hunting it down?????
Colbert was not funny.
Familiarize yourselves with Wolfy’s somewhat sordid history.
Might be wise to look twice.
She is not necessarily one to be trusted to carry a torch towards freedom.
Probably though, you’ll just be seduced…(raped?)
She’s quite the goon when it comes to engineering comeuppance for her own issues.
Nah.
Wrong direction.
Kind of a pig really.
No compassion or patience at all for the accused.
That = pig to me.
fanny babs @ 39:
Is there a fact in there that I missed?
Nope. Just an observation.
Beauty is, after all, a myth.
Am I out of line by noting that Naomi Wolf is teh hot? ;-)
yep.
You are like way, way out of line.
Chris from Ohio @ 34:
Indeed Chris…
Join me… I have been Cable TV free for years now… And I do not miss it at all.
Anything I would actually want to see.. is on the internet, with no stupid commercials.
While sure my internet fees pay those dirty sob’s… but it is the lack of my getting advertised to is what kills them…
They want me to have TV so bad … they call me up every couple of months and try to give it to me for free… 3 months free.. the next time it was 6