Joe Scarborough prides himself on being an independent thinker. Apparently that extends to not uttering a peep of protest, and indeed tending to concur, when a left-wing guest flatly accuses the Bush administration of using Nazi tactics to suppress democracy.
At about 7:45 A.M. EDT today, Naomi Wolf was a guest on "Morning Joe," there to promote her new book, the pretentiously-entitled The End of America: A Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot. The operating thesis of this alarmist screed is that the Bush administration represents a clear and present danger to democracy.
View video here.
According to Wolf, President Bush's minions are using the very same tactics employed by totalitarian regimes in the past.
NAOMI WOLF: What's happening is that the American people, again across the political spectrum, this is not a partisan issue [rig-h-h-t] really get it [arrggh, there she goes again] that something profound and dangerous is happening . . . what's happening in America is really much more recognizable if you look at other times and places where leaders have closed down open societies. And what I found through my reading, for the research I did for "The End of America," it's really scary but it's important for us to face so that we can, you know, basically save the country in time, what is clear that in every historical situation in which a leader is seeking to close down an open society, to put pressure on a democracy, to weaken it, to shift it toward a more repressive regime, or even to crush a pro-democracy uprising in a society that isn't free, they take the same ten steps, and that these ten steps have been taken systematically by the Bush administration, and we're really so close to a tipping point at which it will be difficult to redeem democracy unless we act now.
A bit later, Wolf made her Nazi analogy explicit.
WOLF: Congressional Democrats are saying to us off the record "we want to stand up for the Constitution but we're scared of being painted as soft on terror." What Americans really have to understand is that every time a leader has sought to close down an open society, they have invoked an external or internal threat, like terrorism, and often that threat can be real. I mean, you saw this happening in Italy in the 20s, in Germany in the 30s, in East Germany in the 50s, in Prague in the 60s, in China in the 80s. Again and again leaders that are trying to push through things that make it hard to recover democratic practice terrify the population and often the threat is real. So I really think it's important for our leaders to get some perspective because right now people are so traumatized by the threat of being cast as soft on terror that they are scared to stand up for the Constitution.
So here was Wolf, comparing George W. Bush to Adolph Hitler, and rather that uttering a word in dissent, Scarborough largely bought into her theory.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Of course they're scared to lose their seats. Because again, there is fear out there that if you do stand up on a lot of these issues it would be seen as not supporting the Constitution but opposing the war on terror.
A bit later . . .
WOLF: We're in a situation now where after the first American citizen that you or I might identify with is called an enemy combatant and held in these kind of conditions, you and I would be having a very different kind of conversation the day after the news of that.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh yeah, And that's the thing that bothers me so much.
Scarborough went on to add a pox-on-both-their-Republican-and-Dem-houses disclaimer. But Joe takes non-partisanship too far in failing to protest allegations by a hyper-partisan member of the paranoid left that the President of the United States is acting like a Nazi.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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Scarborough
August 24, 2007 - 08:55 ET by Sergeant ROCKScarborough is a pansie. Thats why he's on MsDNC.
Kucinich/Paul '09
The real ten steps
August 24, 2007 - 09:25 ET by Mica the MagnificentTen Steps to Close Down an Open Society:
1) Have an agendized press
2) Implement the Fairness Doctrine
3) Buddyup with and praise dictators
4) Keep U.S. dependent on foreign oil. No oil drilling in U.S. owned territory
5) Make a mockery of the current president for the enemy to enjoy
6) Compare Islam with other religions and see no difference
7) Call the war on terror a 'bumper sticker.'
8) Work for and insist on defeat in Iraq to embolden our enemies
9) Have sanctuary cities so the terrorists can walk freely among us
10) Call our enemy survellience system a 'domestic spy program' and keep the public uninformed and misled.
Or to put it another way
August 24, 2007 - 09:40 ET by Prester JohnAct like you know what you are talking about even though you are totally ignorant of the facts.
Mica - That sounds DAMN
August 24, 2007 - 10:20 ET by Six String SpiffMica - That sounds DAMN close to the Communist Manifesto...
Scary aint it?
The American Revolution Continued
If ignorance is bliss, why
August 24, 2007 - 09:32 ET by Free ThinkerIf ignorance is bliss, why are these fringe leftists like Naomi so angry? How does someone with such a weak intelligence even get onto these shows to spew their uninformed hatred? I know it is msnbc, but seriously.
Naomi clearly needs to
August 24, 2007 - 09:44 ET by superconNaomi clearly needs to "take a breath".
I get a kick out ofthe way some people decry how we are losing our "rights" as citizens.Is she talking about JosePadilla?
Bush is setting a dangerous precedent when he wants to lock up a terrorist who want to kill many Americans.
He is "shredding " the Constitution they always say and creating a "climate of fear".
It is so bad now that a major news paper can't even publish classified secrets anymore.It is so bad that senior members of the Senate cannot even call the President "coward" or a "terrorist "on the floor of the Senate.
It is getting so bad that some pinko Hollywood type can't even go to Venezuela and sit in Hugo Chavez's lap and come home a hero to the lefties.
It is so bad that some washed up news anchor can't even try to throw an election by fabricating some documents and reporting a false story anymore. It's so bad now that an overweight cow can't even claim that her own gov't was responsible for 9-11 on national television any more.
I feel like I'm living in a gulag.
I think someone's reading my mail.
Victory in Iraq.
Newt for President.
If Bush were really a nazi,
August 24, 2007 - 10:20 ET by zfIf Bush were really a nazi, most of the MSM would be rotting in a jail cell right now instead of having the 6+ years of freedom to demonize the President mercilessly that they also currently enjoy.
Huh?!?!?!
August 24, 2007 - 10:44 ET by BeanManPardon my foolishness but just who the heck is Naomi Wolf? I mean, other than some fashion lady who insisted that Algore wear flannel shirts and khakis to impress the voters and maybe airbrush in a fake package on a magazine cover!!
She has about as much knowledge of the world in general and GWB in particular as Paris Hilton except Paris Hilton has more sense.
How easy and simple life must be as a liberal. What a cake job Ruth Ginsberg must have. What a snap it must be for Algore to make money off guilty liberals.
I need to get some duct-tape and tape up my head before it explodes...sorry for the rant.
Since government is coercion, politics is largely the exercise of deception regarding the intended use of coercion - George Orwell
Ain't it amazing how
August 24, 2007 - 11:17 ET by MidAmericaAin't it amazing how they say Bush is a complete idiot and then turn around and say he is capable of doing away with the constitution and intimidate anyone who opposes him?
But then, Ms. Wolf is here to sell a book. A book for the foaming-at-the-mouth paranoids who are hiding in their basements fearing the knock on the door from Bush's jack booted thugs.
The Diabolical Idiot
August 24, 2007 - 14:34 ET by GalvanicMidAmerica: "Ain't it amazing how they say Bush is a complete idiot and then turn around and say he is capable of doing away with the constitution and intimidate anyone who opposes him?"
Yep. They routinely contradict themselves without ever seemingly noticing it. It's a fairly consistent trait amongst the Libs.
As for Naomi Wolf, she's a proven liar.
Outstanding
August 24, 2007 - 11:46 ET by Bobby JerseyOutstanding list!! You have said it better than anyone could. In the info that was posted, she failed to mention the things that the Prez is doing to "shut down an open society". It boggles the mind to think there are people out in our country this naive.
Naomi
August 24, 2007 - 11:52 ET by Felicity RandNaomi needs to focus on more important work--like advising Hillary on what color pants suit to wear. Her advise worked so well the last time.
Yeah, we're living in a fascist country. And if--God forbid--a democrat gets sworn in Jan. 09--and nothing has changed--suddenly--poof--no more fascism. Just like the reports re: homelessness. Suddenly a democrat comes into office and the problem strangely no longer exists.
Scarborough has no ability
August 24, 2007 - 13:12 ET by sembyScarborough has no ability to think on his own anymore...whatever his master tells him to think...he does. After all isn't it all about the money Joe!
Naomi needs to read the
August 24, 2007 - 14:45 ET by KhyrisNaomi needs to read the Military Commisions act. U.S. citizens can NOT be treated as lawful enemy combatants, so who's REALLY terrorizing the public here?
U.S. citizens giving comfort to our enemies would be guilty of SEDITION. One of the FEW crimes that is explicitly defined in our founding documents... if she REALLY supported the constitution, she'd know that.
So, if our society is getting so "closed down" what rights can I not enjoy today that I was able to enjoy yesterday hmmm? What? I haven't lost any? How can that be? Bush is out to GET me! He MUST have GOTTEN me already!
.... so who's really terrorizing the public here?
Wolf, Scarborough: Talk
August 24, 2007 - 16:04 ET by Night WatchmanWolf, Scarborough:
Talk like this does nothing but aid the terrorists; you guys should be sent to Gitmo for treason.
Support the President, he knows things he can't tell us.
If Bush was such A Nazi as
August 24, 2007 - 16:20 ET by mlongIf Bush was such A Nazi as Wolf and other Liberals would have been marched off to camps long ago...but they all been free for almost 8 years to do and say what every they want....yea Bush is a real Hitler alright.
You know the funny thing is as much as the Left likes to use the "Nazi" label to hang on Conservatives/Republicans..is today if Nazi Germany rose to power the Left and MSM would oppose any steps by the US against it...and would even whitewash the anti-antisemitism of the Nazi's and other "bad" quality's and try to sell how much better they are than us..of course...the Hollywood left would embrace Hitler..Michael Moore would make a movie showing how much better life is under Nazi's..Chrissy Matthews and KO would do news shows and "Special Comments' attacking any talk of trying to stop the spread of Nazism....pretty much replace the word Terrorist with Nazi and you'll have what the typical Liberal reaction would be.
*********** John Edwards '08 ***********
"More woman than Hillary,more black than Obama!"
I Get It
August 24, 2007 - 20:37 ET by StonefingersIt must be hard to be Naomi....her world is so...scary.
A couple of things
August 25, 2007 - 15:27 ET by fitzfongA couple of things here:
1) Naomi Wolf has a lot of nerve talking about Nazi propaganda as she spins so eagerly for Hillary Clinton.
2) How about the fact that MSDNC posted such a misleadingly flattering picture of her? I've never seen Wolf look like she's even washed her hair. That one has Photoshop written all over it.
3) I think MSDNC uses the dead secretary rap to keep Scarborough on a short leash. Therefore, he'll never put up an effective defense against such a loathesome troll like Naomi Wolf.
4) I notice Wolf trots out the suppression of "open societies" accusation without specifying what that means. And she conveniently ignores tangible examples of such suppression by the likes of Castro and Hugo Chavez.
5) Germany in the '30s? How about the Soviet Union in the '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, and early '90s? I'm sure the dissidents sent to Gorky would have real sympathy for the likes of John Kerry and Cindy Sheehan who've had to deal with (gasp!) criticism.