In August 2009, I [Sara Robinson] wrote a piece titled Fascist America: Are We There Ye
t? that sparked much discussion on both the
left and right ends of
the blogosphere.
In it, I argued that — according to the best scholarship on how fascist regimes emerge — America was on a path that was running much too close to the fail-safe point beyond which no previous democracy has ever been able to turn back from a full-on fascist state. I also noted that the then-emerging Tea Party had a lot of proto-fascist hallmarks, and that it had the potential to become a clear and present danger to the future of our democracy if it ever got enough traction to start winning elections in a big way.
On the first anniversary of that article, Jonah Goldberg — the right’s revisionist-in-chief on the subject of fascism — actually used an entire National Review column to taunt me about what he characterized as a failure of prediction.
Where’s that fascist state you promised
? He hooted.
It’ s funny he
should ask.
Because this coming election may, in fact, be a critical turning point on that road.