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Jonah Goldberg

Jonah Goldberg Books

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“Hence the great irony: Hayek, one of the greatest champions of individual liberty and economic freedom the world has ever known, believed that knowledge was communal. Dewey, the champion of socialism and collectivism, believed that knowledge was individual. Hayek's is a philosophy that treats individuals as the best judges of their own self-interests, which in turn yield staggering communal cooperation. Dewey's was the philosophy of a giant, Monty Pythonesque crowd shouting on cue: "We're All Individuals!”

PhilosophyPoliticsKnowledgeSocialismFree Markets
Book:The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas
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“It is a little-known but significant fact that no president has appeared more times in Superman comic books than JFK. He was even entrusted with Superman's secret identity and once pretended to be Clark Kent so as to prevent it from being exposed. When Supergirl debuted as a character, she was formally presented to the Kennedys. (Not surprisingly, the president took an immediate liking to her.) In a special issue dedicated to getting American youth to become physically fit — just like the astronaut 'Colonel Glenn' — Kennedy enlists Superman on a mission to close 'the muscle gap'.”

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Book:Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning
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“…The story of the Pledge of Allegiance and its National Socialist roots is a fascinating one. Dr. Rex Curry, a passionate libertarian, has made the issue his white whale.”

SocialismCommunismPatriotismNationalismLibertarianismNazismPledge Of AllegianceRex Curry
Book:Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning
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“If you’re too stupid to understand that a philosophy that favors a federally structured republic, with numerous restraints on the scope and power of government to interfere with individual rights or the free market, is a lot different from an ethnic-nationalist, atheistic, and socialist program of genocide and international aggression, you should use this rule of thumb: If someone isn’t advocating the murder of millions of people in gas chambers and a global Reich for the White Man you shouldn’t assume he’s a Nazi and you should know it’s pretty damn evil to call him one.”

PeopleIfsKnowsMenShouldDifferentPhilosophyUseGovernmentEvilIndividualWhiteMillionsRightsStupidProgramMurderAssumingInternationalFavorsDamnGasRepublicGenocideAggressionSocialistInterfereNaziRestraintWhite ManFree MarketScopeChamberThumbsAtheisticAdvocatingIndividual RightsGas Chambers
Author:Jonah Goldberg
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“In many respects fascism not only is here but has been here for nearly a century. For what we call liberalism--the refurbished edifice of American Progressivism--is in fact a descendant and manifestation of fascism.”

Has BeensFactsCenturyManifestationLiberalismFascismDescendantsEdificeProgressivism
Book:Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning
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“The Founders understood that democracy was important, but if you didn't filter it through a republican system you'd be just as likely to end up with a tyranny of the majority as you would with a healthy society. Don't worry, I won't quote the Federalist Papers, but trust me, it's in there.”

IfsImportantEndsWorryDemocracyHealthyRepublicanPaperUnderstoodMajorityTyrannyFoundersPapersTrust MeFiltersFederalistFederalist PapersTyranny Of The MajorityHealthy Society
Author:Jonah Goldberg
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“By this point, it was clear she wasn't interested in continuing the relationship. What publication on earth would continue a relationship with a writer who would refuse to discuss her work with her editors? What publication would continue to publish a writer who attacked it on TV? What publication would continue to publish a writer who lied about it - on TV and to a Washington Post reporter? ... It's true: Ann is fearless, in person and in her writing. But fearlessness isn't an excuse for crappy writing or crappier behavior.”

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Author:Jonah Goldberg
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“(T)he most important reason American leftists love France is that French elites say bad things about America. French intellectuals call us racist, stupid, imperialistic, simplistic, etc. ' and that alone is proof of their intellectualism. So long as you call America “racist,” you could add that an enema is as good as a toothbrush and some professor of “communications theory” would applaud.”

LongImportantReasonAmericaStupidTheoryCommunicationAddProofFranceEtcRacistBad ThingsProfessorsElitesIntellectualismLeftistsToothbrushes
Author:Jonah Goldberg
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“I have a simple answer to any American patriot who claims that there is no conflict between his love of country and his desire to hitch our fate to the United Nations: “You're mistaken.” And, therefore, I'm thinking of adding this corollary to my General Rule of patriotism: The more intellectually consistent and pro-U.N. you are, the less patriotic you are likely to be. I haven't thought that all the way through, but it seems right to me.”

ThinkingWayCountrySeemsDesireNationsSimpleAnswersUnitedFateHavensConflictClaimsConsistentPatrioticPatriotMistakenUnited NationsHis LoveAmerican Patriot
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“(I)f France's righteous bloviating against war makes them your Dashboard Saint of International Integrity, it's either because you are sand-poundingly ignorant of how the world works or it's because you think France's self-interest is more important than America's. If the former applies to you, read a book. If it's the latter, maybe you should move there along with Alec Baldwin, Robert Altman, and the rest of the crowd who promised to leave a long time ago. But whatever you do, don't call France's position principled, because that just insults us both.”

IfsThinkingWorldShouldLongImportantBookWarSelfAmericaMovingInterestPositionIntegrityLong TimeInternationalSaintCrowdsIgnorantFormerFranceInsultSandLatterRighteousLong Time AgoSelf InterestPrincipledAgainst WarDashboards
Author:Jonah Goldberg
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“(J)ust to clarify: If you go into every situation saying there's absolutely nothing worth fighting over, you will inevitably end up on a cot sleeping next to a guy named Tiny, bringing him breakfast in his cell every morning, and spending your afternoons ironing his boxers. Or, in the case of the French, you might spend your afternoon rounding up Jews to send to Germany, but you get the point.”

IfsEndsMightGuyFightingNextSleepSituationMorningCasesJewSpendingTinyCellsGermanyOver YouBreakfastAfternoonEvery MorningAbsolutely NothingBoxersUst
Author:Jonah Goldberg
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“In the weeks prior to the war to liberate Afghanistan, a good friend of mine would ask me almost every day, “Why aren't we killing people yet?” And I never had a good answer for him. Because one of the most important and vital things the United States could do after 9/11 was to kill people. Call it a “forceful response,” “decisive action” ' whatever. Those are all nice euphemisms for killing people. And the world is a better place because America saw the necessity of putting steel beneath the velvet of those euphemisms.”

PeopleWorldImportantWarStatesActionAmericaAsksAnswersUnitedUnited StatesSawsNiceWeekMinesResponseKillingAsk MeAfghanistanGood FriendSteelBetter PlaceVelvetEuphemismDecisive Action
Author:Jonah Goldberg
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“(I)t is simply wrong to confuse cowardice with appeasement. Cowardice is a failing of character. Appeasement is a failure of policy. Stalin appeased Hitler when he signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Stalin was an evil character, to be sure. But cowardice really isn't the first word that comes to mind when thinking of Stalin ' that word is “sexy.” I'm kidding, I'm kidding.”

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“Hypocrisy is bad, but it's not the worst vice in the world. If I declared “murder is wrong” and then killed somebody, I would hope that the top count against me would be homicide, not hypocrisy. Liberal elites ' particularly in Hollywood ' believe that hypocrisy is the gravest sin in the world, which is why they advocate their own lifestyles for the entire world: Sleep with whomever you want, listen to your own instincts, be true to yourself, blah, blah, blah. Our fear of hypocrisy is forcing us to live in a world where gluttons are fine, so long as they champion gluttony.”

IfsWorldWantBelieveLongWould BeSleepSinWorstFineHollywoodMurderInstinctVicesLifestyleBeing TrueChampionHypocrisyElitesBe True To YourselfTrue To YourselfGluttonyHomicideBlahSin In The World
Author:Jonah Goldberg
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