My Guilty Pleasure: Jonah Goldberg

Jonah Goldberg is a columnist for National Review Online, and considers himself a conservative. He's written at least 2 great books, the best of which is called "Liberal Fascism" -- which, before you judge it by its title, you really need to know why it's called that (trust me, it's hysterical).

The man himself has had some mean and uninformed things to say about Libertarians in the past, as has Ayn Rand, by the way. However he's got a clear mastery of US history and his work on Fascism and the early left in the US is excellent.

"Liberal Fascism" is a must-read for any libertarian interested in US history of the early 1900's. The title itself has an interesting story behind it: HG Wells was an enormously influential author who was a regular figure in the FDR white house. He was also a leftist and a rampant eugenicist. In a talk he gave to an Oxford class in 1932, he said he'd been searching all his life for the best descriptor of his ideology, and he'd found it in the term "Liberal Fascism." He also described it as "Enlightened Naziism" (apparently not a bad word yet). The examination of Woodrow Wilson and the late 1800's, early 1900's left wing will blow you away--and it's all true. Here is a panel of experts discussing the book, which is also fascinating.

The less professional book of Jonah's which I also like is called "Tyranny Of Clichés." It's basically about both how the left values cliches over thought because they do not realize they have an ideology. They are also ill-equipped to examine their own ideas as they are so certain they are right and have a monopoly on truth and evidence. Here is him hawking his book to a skeptical Nick Gillespie.

Jonah also has some interesting thoughts on how the Democratic party takes advantage of a parentless society by having messages like "the life of Julia" which basically has Barack Obama replacing community and, you know, mommy and daddy. I find this hugely compelling, and definitely worth examination.

In general, it seems Jonah's style to be a troll against liberals. However, he does it so damn well it's actually a little sad (putting in all this effort to an audience who will dismiss him before he opens his mouth). He also gives Republicans and Conservatives a free pass (I'm positive this is a calculated move), but I'll accept it and as long as you keep that in mind in reading his stuff, it doesn't seem to negatively affect it. This is not something to recommend to a liberal friend as they are too sensitive about their beliefs and the snark will hurt their feels. Anyway, checkout the above links and try to dive in to Liberal Fascism you won't regret it.