January 10, 2008 | By Nathaniel Ward

Jonah Goldberg on ‘liberal fascism’

Author Jonah Goldberg speaks at Heritage Wednesday about the common intellectual heritage of modern liberalism and fascism.

Liberals are often quick to label as “fascist” those conservatives they dislike.

But applying that term to conservatives makes little sense historically, author Jonah Goldberg said Wednesday at The Heritage Foundation.

In fact, he explained, fascism and modern liberalism share a common intellectual heritage, since both derive from 19th-century socialism. In addition, many on the American Left, including members of Woodrow Wilson’s and Franklin Roosevelt’s administrations, looked for inspiration to European socialist movements, including Italian fascism and later German national socialism.

“If one scintilla of the charges against George Bush that he’s a fascist are true, then Woodrow Wilson was absolutely a fascist dictator,” said Goldberg, author of the new book Liberal Fascism.

» Read more about this event in The Examiner.

Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.