The Colbert Report: Naomi Wolf on Fascism in America
By Nicole Belle Wednesday Sep 19, 2007 11:29am
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?
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Guess who's first?
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_afb_nukes_oddities.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/story/0,,2064157,00.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 months free.. and this last time..12 months free..
They would have to GIVE it to me for free for life... and I would only want a couple of cable channels like HBO, Showcase, and a couple of others..
I cannot even watch TLC or Discovery .. or the Hitler Channel anymore.. as they have fallen further then the others as they started out so high...
KILL YOUR TELEVISION!!!
And don't be afraid of those elite scum.. there are only a minor handful of them in the world...
BTW, here is Naomi Wolf's article from The Guardian Fascist America, in 10 easy steps
naschkatze @ 26:
I would just like to remind people, I wasn't disputing any of her points, just that I expect people who write books, speak on these issues, claim this knowledge to not take a blue pen to their left hand. Now I am not watching this show like a hawk, its just people like myself with those nice large HDTVs see more detail than others.
BTW If any other Right Wing pundit was on a show with crib notes written on her hand, we'd be less inclined to give her a pass for "being on live TV". Its sad, but yes, you need to know what you say when you go on TV. If Ann Coulter can go on TV without notes, than so should Naomi...
Note to Colbert and Daily:
It's not funny anymore.
Colbert is the best. Those of you who do not appreciate his genius need to get a clue. He's doing a great job. In some ways I think he is better than Jon at promoting a progressive agenda. If you think Stephen Colbert is an asshole then you just don't get it.
I love when Stephen calls his fans "It getters". Get it?
The 2001 red flag: When George Bush brought back all the same criminals and elite fascists from previous Republican Administrations to RUN our government AGAIN. And then throw in some undercover dual citizenship fascists to head think tanks, Homeland Security, the US media and whitewash commissions.
Veterans, Soldiers and the American People now know WHO the real enemies are
and the greatest threat to U.S. National Security:
#1 George W. Bush ( daddy's little rogue CIA war criminal with family ties to bin ladin )
#2 Richard D. Cheney ( BAE Systems & Britain's little corrupt asset )
#3 Turncoat Republicans ( global elite and defense industry lobbyists )
#4 Aligned corrupt media pundits.
Traitors and fascists that are destroying our Constitution and rights need to be imprisoned.
They need to be stopped before they destroy our Country.
Treasury and Pensions: Bankrupting under Bush, dangerous deficits,
Value of U.S Dollar and Savings: Bush destroying U.S. dollar, Middle Class and Economy, perpetual debt
Health Care and living Cost: Doubled, hitting dangerous levels
Jobs: Accelerated outsourcing, union busting, Poverty
Oil: Before Bush 32/barrel - Now: 82/barrel, still undisclosed: Cheneys Energy and Enron meetings
Public Airwaves under Bush: Accelerated Propaganda and misinformation
Democrats need to continue hearings immediately and make it known that Impeachment is NOT off the table or they will loose public support and face losses in 2008.
Republicans pushed 'bogus' terror threat to expand FISA, lawmaker says
http://rawstory.com//news/2007/Republicans_pushed_bogus_terror_threat_to...
FACISM = BUSH and CHENEY
1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy = GOP September 11 ( bin ladin and Al-Qaeda
are known CIA, Mossad and MI5 assets )
2. Create a gulag = Bush's prison system is outside the rule of law, no trials
3. Develop a thug caste = Bush's paramilitary groups of scary young men out to terrorize citizens, torture
4. Set up an internal surveillance system = Bush Illegal Spying
5. Harass citizens' groups = Bush's definition of "terrorist" has now expanded to include the opposition
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release = Bush's No Fly List, t-shirts
7. Target key individuals = Bush goes after whistle blowers and CIA agents that expose the truth
8. Control the press = Bush has wrecked our public airwaves, propaganda in high gear
9. Dissent equals treason = Bush has even gone after former military officials turned whistleblowers trying to expose the truth
10. Suspend the rule of law = There is no Justice. Bush has stacked the courts. The Justice departments are filled with personal lawyers and profiteering cronies
That's why it's hard to dance with a fascist.
We've gone from bumping butts, to kicking butts while cutting a rug.
yeh rudke -
I'm always kind of amazed when Randi Rhodes quotes the actual numbers of people watching them compared to the ratings Networks still get.
The way the cable pundits talk it would seem there were no other world than the one they live in other than their own.
But the Animal Channel? Hmmmmm....
I might rate that over Showtime.
I dunno' though. It's kind of subjective at that level.
:)
Ben @ 45:
LOL! Screech Owls can't read or write notes!
vigwig @ 33:
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." Francois Marie Arouet (Voltaire).
Jay @ 47:
Based on the video, write a paragraph based on the video that describes the essence of the points made in wolfs book ...
... I'm betting you cant. Get it?
Naomi rocks. She's one of the best writers we've ever had
they dont call you jr. for nothin'.
jr @ 54:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
rduke @ 44:
Been cable free for twn years and life has been better for it. It's not just the social propaganda that is avoided but all the marketing drivel that saturates every second on the tube. Football games are impossible to watch on TV now, the news is a spectacle and the commercials are mind-numbingly repetetive. If anyone can't live without TV just get a "cable-splitter" to feed your internet signal to your television. That way you get the internet you already pay for and free basic cable as well.
Naomi Wolf is sharp as a tack. Kudos to her.
I read Britt's 14 points about a year ago, and came to the conclusion that we were fast approaching a fascist state with the cheny/bush regime. Nothing has changed my mind; in fact I am even more concerned as I see the events of the past 12 months, which have led to an even greater erosion of our rights and our democracy.
Naomi Wolf's book is a must-read for me, as it will likely update Britt's points with examples tied to the current neofascist administration.
Is it time to impeach the bastards? How long will the vestiges of "rule of law" remain in this country, given the administration's rapid slide toward dictatorship?
We must act now to stop these traitors to our country and The Constitution.
anon @ 40:
rillee.... was there even a coherent thought in that convoluted mess?... besides "pig" that is... "fanny babs"... lol... it's getting easier to spot the right-wingnuts here by their handles... btw fanny, "goons" don't usually express concern for others like she did... and when they do express fear, it sounds more like whining... and if you're not sure how to determine what that sound is, then listen to almost anything holy joe lieberman says...
oh... and "Fair and Balanced" Dave was in no way out of line with his comment to anyone who's not steeped in sexually repressed and self-conscious puritanical victorianism.... Naomi Wolfe IS hot and not (solely) due to her looks, but rather how she thinks... (there's a lot of "physically attractive" women out there... like, "yecch" hilton whom i find totally repugnant on all levels, including sexual, because she's a spoiled, self-indulgent buffoon)... there've been women here whom have offered Keith Olberman their panties (in jest, of course) and I personally found that humorous... there's nothing wrong with being comfortable with sexuality and there are SERIOUS problems in society resulting from the repression of such "normal" expressions of humanity... and so, i do find your offense over dave's comment offensive... ;-)
Maybe I don't feel like writing a whole paragraph. However, I think I can sum up the essence of her book in one sentence. The Bush administration is responsible for our country's slide into fascism and if you read this book it will layout the steps it has taken to do so. :-P
The Colbert report = brilliant parody of the American right wing!
Jay @ 61:
Based on the video - her point was made at the end under pressure - we dont have a year. That was in response to Colbert's comment that if she came back in a year ... personally, I want to know why we dont have a year and what that means. Colbert buried the chance at learning that with his act. (His act is best used with right wing guests - then he is a mirror. This was just self serving and inappropriate. My opinion).
Based on your reply, you missed her point.
America will slide into fascism, there aren't enough people who either care or can tell the difference, and there are enough people who welcome it because they don't know better or are good little nazis.
A likely scenario:
1. This democratic led congress fails to repair the damage done to the Constitution by the Bush regime.
2. Hillary wins, and likely takes advantage of the new executive powers given that branch by King George.
3. The right successfully demonizes her and prepares for 2012, or even gets her impeached for whatever reason they conjure up. Or there's a nice big terrorist attack on her watch.
4. A neo-conservative wins in 2012 and picks up where dubya/hillary left off, finishing the creation of the theocracy/fascist state they dream of.
5. America sucks on their brewskis and watches American Idol, or wonders if Britney will make a comeback, even now. How about them red sox!
6. I move to Chile.
Gee that was fun!
This list of 14 is not New Umberto Eco published something similar back in 1995.
Here
anon @ 65:
no kidding. probably most of America missed the point. see my 66. I learn Spanish now. hasta lumbego.
Stephen Colbert was a bit too much in this one. I would have liked to hear a little more of what she had on her mind, he didn't give her enough opportunity to speak.
This is probably more true than most people realize.
Ryan @ 27:
As seen from outside the tasing of the student seems certainly representative of standard police work in the US. Other examples would be Waco or preventing evacuations of stranded people during Katrina. You get those (not Waco but police beatings or shootings) in other countries from time to time but it just doesn't seem so prevalent.
However, the point about secret prisons and torture seems misplaced and overplayed to me. They are not used on US nationals in any significant way but only on external "threats". That may well change of course.
That woman needs serious medication. Talk about your classic case of paranoid schizophrenia. And she is able to remain composed while interviewed, rare but it has been documented.
Orwell had some interesting things to say about fascism. Sure, a few anecdotes can be nitpicked here and there to make any government (or person for that matter) appear to have fascist tendencies, however the larger signs are just not there in regards to modern-day America, even with Bush at the helm or the very real possibility of having another Clinton in the White House in January 2009. People who think we're living under an authoritarian regime now or seriously headed that way need to talk with someone who lived in Italy under Mussolini or read a history book.
Larry @ 72:
Who is Naomi Wolf ...
Naomi Wolf was born in San Francisco in 1962. She was an undergraduate at Yale University and did her graduate work at New College, Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.
Her essays have appeared in various publications including: The New Republic, Wall Street Journal, Glamour, Ms., Esquire, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. She also speaks widely to groups across the country.
The Beauty Myth, her first book, was an international bestseller. She followed that with Fire With Fire: The New Female Power and How It Will Change The 21st Century, published by Random House in 1993, and Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle for Womanhood, published in 1997. Misconceptions, released in 2001, is a powerful and passionate critique of pregnancy and birth in America. In 2002, Harper Collins published a 10th anniversary commemorative edition of The Beauty Myth.
Ms. Wolf's latest book, released in May of 2005, is The Treehouse: Eccentric Wisdom from my Father on How to Live, Love and See.
Naomi Wolf is co-founder of the Board of The Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, an organization devoted to training young women in ethical leadership for the 21st century. The institute teaches professional development in the arts and media, politics and law, business and entrepreneurship as well as ethical decision making.
She lives with her family in New York City.
Hmmm, Yale, Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. Published author ...
Who were you again?
I firmly believe we are sliding into fascism. The signs are everywhere and parallels to Germany frightening. I read her book and think she's dead on right.
Stitch @73, dont think that always applies in my experience. I generally see the definition from mussolini used by the left - essentially corporatism.
In a healthy democracy the government serves the people with corporations doing business in ways that are either constructive or at least not harmfull to or at odds with the interests of the citizen.
Unlike democracy, in fascism the government serves the corporations and has an expectation that the citizen will serve the government.
One subordinates business the other subordinates citizens.
Fascism isnt required to be totalitarian or authoritarian.
I dont know really what Wolf's position may be as Colbert really didnt get to that. (Not that it means anything, but mine is that we are currently fascist sliding into totalitarianism - we arent totalitarian yet, but the pieces are in place). What I think I heard her trying to do was to establish a connection between certain enabling requirements for fascism and inevitable actions. (She referred to several) I suspect (speculation) that she was about to make a case for imminent actions by this government based on the model she appeared to be developing. (Again my speculation is that the consequences this action might be totalitarianism)
As a note, because this is the least transparent and most secretive government the US has seen (to my knowledge), we really dont know what they have or have not done. We do know that if they did to us (citizens) what we know they have done to non-citizens, they would be defined as totalitarian. They may have, they might not have. I dont know.
Thanks for the Orwell reference.
Regarding whether the US is sliding toward fascism, Louis Proyect (the Unrepentant Marxist) writes:
"...the whole purpose of fascism is to step into the breach when parliamentary democracy is incapable of containing the class struggle, isn’t it? In Germany during the 1920s the Weimar Republic collapsed because political struggle had moved into the streets. Workers militias clashed with Nazi goon squads, while the police lacked sufficient power to contain militant strikes and protests. Dictatorship was necessary in order to forestall proletarian revolution.
Does anybody believe that the USA is anywhere near such a point? The good news is that since it isn’t, we don’t have to worry about being dragged off to concentration camps because we operate blogs like “The Feral Scholar” or “Unrepentant Marxist”. But the bad news is that the class struggle is in such a retarded state that there really is no need for extreme measures. The big bourgeoisie regards the revolutionary left in more or less the same manner that an elephant regards a flea. That, of course, might change some day but there is no need to hide the truth from those who would pay attention to our ideas. We want to be taken seriously and that means avoiding the impression that we are like Chicken Little."
(clip)
Full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2006/10/24/stan-goff-on-fascism/
Did they forget something about taking away our guns?
anon @ 15:
Wow - My thoughts exactly. I second that.
Once again, my opinion.
There is an interesting old educational short on the topic of Despotism.
It's well worth a look: Here
People are assuming that attacks personally against them are a needed criteria for fascism.
Do I really need to explain what is wrong with that?
Dont expect a literal replication of history to occur. Those that are attempting literal comparisons with circumstances from history are doomed to be caught by surprise.