Okay, wait, I think we’ve moved past the point: the allegation that fasces were a symbol of, uh, fascism before their adoption by Mussolini in Italy in 1921 and the related allegation that I guess they have no other contextual meaning?
…
In very short, that is. That was pretty simpled down, but, hey, it’s enough.

Agreed & seconded.

The fasces has, historically, been a symbol of republicanism – you can find it in revolutionary and postrevolutionary France, in South America after the wars of independence, and in the US. Why, you ask? Because it was one of the prominent symbols of the Roman Republic. And man oh man, those founders loved nothing if they didn’t love classical allusion. So why Mussolini? Rolling out with SPQR everywhere wasn’t nearly as much fun – or as effective in a country where nobody could read – as holding up fasces as a symbol of Roman power, with Mussolini here to reclaim it for the good of all the Italians. In short: it went on the dime because it was a symbol of Roman republicanism, and it went to Mussolini’s Italy because it was a symbol of the Romans.

In very short, that is. That was pretty simpled down, but, hey, it’s enough.

It’s not that he’s out of power. It’s that you haven’t been paying attention apparently.

Wait I’ve forgotten what conservative ideals were tried the last 8 years. You should reread Derb’s point.

The conservative, Republican plan and ideals have failed. You lost. Time to review your mistakes and learn from them, if you can.

The biggest problem? Really?

He did say sometimes. Which doesn’t exclude that he thinks there are bigger problems other times. You should read the transcript. It yields such gems as:
“Finally, the immigration debacle. This is — this is the one that most hacks me off the most.”
There’s something beyond communication.

So the whole torture thing, the Katrina thing, the Iraq thing, the thousands of dead soldiers, hundreds of thousands of dead civilians, the Enron thing, the energy policy thing, the Habeas Corpus thing, the domestic spying thing, the yellowcake thing, the WMD thing, the financial thing, etc., etc., that all stems out of the fact he couldn’t communicate?

And then you follow with a list of “problems” though a lot seem to be based on misunderstandings or just ideology. Conservatives do have a different list of faults for W. Here’s a transcript of John Derbyshire’s list from his radio program (packaged as a joke about Obama):
Obama is determined not to repeat the mistakes of the George W. Bush administration, at any rate. Quote: “What I won’t do is return to the failed theories of the last eight years that got us into this fix in the first place, because those theories have been tested and they have failed.” End quote. Well, that’s good news. No more Bush-type policies, eh? So there’ll be no more reckless spending? No more bloating of the deficit? No more failure to veto obnoxious legislation — what was Bush’s final score? Twelve vetoes in eight years, was it? No more vast new entitlement programs? No more allowing uneducated foreigners to flood into the country in millions to displace American workers and burden our health and welfare systems and schools? No more stationing of American troops by the tens of thousands in places like Germany and Korea, which ought to be able to defend themselves? No more urging banks to relax lending standards to increase minority home-ownership? No more ten-year wars in no-account dustbowl countries with goat’n'donkey economies? No more loading our children and grandchildren up with debt obligations to China and Japan, to maintain an illusion of prosperity? This is really great news! I’m starting to like this Obama fellow! If that’s the way he’s going, we may have a conservative president again, after twenty years!

The biggest problem? Really? So the whole torture thing, the Katrina thing, the Iraq thing, the thousands of dead soldiers, hundreds of thousands of dead civilians, the Enron thing, the energy policy thing, the Habeas Corpus thing, the domestic spying thing, the yellowcake thing, the WMD thing, the financial thing, etc., etc., that all stems out of the fact he couldn’t communicate?

Well, I am glad you cleared that up for me, Challenger Grim, because here I thought he was just an untalented, incapable ex-drunk with delusions of grandeur and the power of the Republican Party behind him.

But you might as well believe what you want, because you will anyway, regardless of what the facts say. Oh, and one more thing:”In fact, his “We surround them” episode was a few weeks ago in the middle of March. Remember all those horrible acts of violence that broke out around the US… oh wait.”

Yeah, right. Give him a little time to crank up the rhetoric and we will see. I don’t trust him, and he have given me little reason to trust you.

Republicans! Bah!

Which is impressive considering that Liberal Fascism is one of the downright stupidest books written in the last ten years, serving mainly to redefine “fascism” as “things Jonah Goldberg does not like” and to make dozens of flatly untrue arguments, such as the idea that conservatism had no populist existence prior to Benito Mussolini.

Didn’t argue for or against the book, just said that’s where it’s coming from.

Prior to late 2008, Glenn Beck was firmly in Bush’s corner. It was only with nigh-total economic collapse and Bush’s willingness to bail out financial institutions that Beck fell off the love train for W, coincidentally just as Bush’s ability to effect political change of any kind disappeared. Saying “he criticizes Republicans just as much as Democrats” is historically not true; he’s been a right-wing cheerleader for practically his entire career, and much like others of his ilk (Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, et al) claims to “hold everybody to account equally” to make it seem otherwise.

But it’s just not the case.

Need to check again. It was more like 2006:
From: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0605/11/gb.01.html
“But tonight, we bring you a story of abandonment, a story of two men whose lives have been turned upside down by the very people who put them into power. Chris Daughtry, America failed you. But President Bush? You did this to yourself.

Look, here`s the deal. I am a conservative, but I am not a zombie. When I look at an issue, I don`t see a donkey or an elephant. The parties, you`re dead to me. Politics really is all about common sense. And most of us, at least those of us who are going to be honest with ourselves, are able to embrace good ideas, no matter what party came up with them.
…
And that`s why I found my safe taking a hard look at George W. Bush lately. I`m actually starting to feel a little like John Kerry, flip- flopping on my opinion of him every day, you know. Sometimes I think that the biggest problem with G.W. is that he just might be the worst communicating president since Buchanan. And that`s only because Buchanan used the Pony Express.”

But then that was a common feature of a lot of conservatives. They were willing to give Bush a pass on some things because of 9/11 but W quickly used up most of that goodwill.

And with the Label came the imagery people wanted for the idea. In this example, it’s the Axe-and-Sticks from Roman times, I think used as a symbol of “Order” or some such.

So, how can the symbol be used as a sign that the USA was heading towards Fascism before the symbol was even adopted as a sign of Fascism? Time-Travelling Dictators, as MGK said.

Are you… agreeing with me? Because that was kind of my point, that the symbol on the dime seemed to be misused. But the clip did seem heavily edited so I wondered if there were larger contexts missing.

Oh yeah, technological innovations never build on previous concepts. Someone just thinks ‘em up! And then he sits down and, for the first time ever, solders together a microchip out of baling wire and chewing gum.

Ideologies, on the other hand, require a lot of investment in materials.

Overall? Of course tech is built over knowledge, previous advances, etc. But compared to ideologies…

BUT it’s also not entirely like tech were someone can say “oh in 1925 the president got on television” which can be concuslively proven wrong as we have a clear invention date for the technology.

And damn, to pull fucking Jonah Goldberg to justify someone’s insane stupidity is… well…

So… context is irrelevant? That’d be a little like complaining about a muslim or Islam without ever mentioning or acknowledging the Quaran.

Dude, Beck made a show about wether Bush was Batman in The Dark Knight.

First, that was a conservative meme circulating before Beck got ahold of it. In fact, he states as much that he had heard it before seeing the movie here:
http://www.truveo.com/Glenn-Beck-George-Bush-Batman-in-The-Movie-Dark/id/1059882994
“I wouldn’t concentrate on-that Batman is George Bush… I think this is just more of a movie – and it’s shocking to me – of conservative values on the War on Terror.”

And a whole show? Which one? I can only find this clip at the moment.

“We Surround Them” and somehow we’re supposed to believe that this isn’t a call to violence.

Ummm… yeah. No more than any other rallying cry of a group of people. Unless the right of the people to peacefully assemble has been revoked. In fact, his “We surround them” episode was a few weeks ago in the middle of March. Remember all those horrible acts of violence that broke out around the US… oh wait.

The rest of your post is so full of logic fail I don’t see any reason to bother…

Yeah, and William Pierce said the Turner Diaries was only a work of fiction not to be taken literally. No one believed that pig shit either. Meanwhile, in reality, Glenn Beck goes on the air and tells his supporters that “We Surround Them” and somehow we’re supposed to believe that this isn’t a call to violence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKKUfmFL3Cs

Let’s take a look at the 9 Values of Turnip-head’s 9-12 project, shall we?

1. America Is Good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

Right off the bat we have stupidity, bigotry and dishonesty.

“Good” and “evil” are not objective values. Labeling any entity, organization or individual as an objective good is dishonest (Value 3). Only actions can be qualified as beneficial or abusive towards others.

Value #2 implies, once again, that America is a Christian Nation which is, by itself, not honest (Value 3). Also it requires that anyone that wants to be a part of the “good” nation of America to be Christian. Anyone who thinks this has their head up their ass and doesn’t know a thing about the spiritual beliefs of America’s forefathers.

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

First of all, values 4 and 5 inherently contradict each other. One can not claim oneself as the ultimate authority and then suggest that they are not above the authority of those that uphold the law.

Secondly, the family is not sacred. Its emotional and psychological bonds are only as strong as those who participate in the family unit make them, and even then, there is nothing to suggest that those bonds are at all beneficial to those within it. I’m just waiting for Turnip-head to start up a campaign to stamp out child molesters and wife beaters by telling them to “Just Say No.”

I could also say that divorce and child custody are still legal, but that’s not what this value is really all about. Its about preventing gays from being married.

Also, in conjunction with value #1, value #5 is irrelevant. If America is objectively good then there is no reason to submit to authority and Justice at all.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

Translation: No one should expect the same amount of life, liberty or happiness as anyone else gets. Four legs good. Two legs better. Next pig-shit value.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

Basic libertarian anti-tax bullshit. Simply put, if you want to live in a society that protects its people from all enemies, foreign and domestic, both in the short term and the long term, then you’re going to pay taxes that will go to socially beneficial programs that seek to eliminate the economic and social desperation that establishes the domestic enemy known as crime.

Also, you don’t have the right to do business in this country. You have to obtain a license to do business, which means doing business, like driving a car, is a privilege and not a right. Get the fuck over it.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

While this is absolutely correct, it inherently contradicts values 1 and 2. If America is objectively good, then the American government, being part of America, is also good. If the American government is good then it does become bad, and thus un-American, to voice an opinion stating that any part of America is bad, especially an American authority.

Also believing in the Christian God goes directly against questioning authority.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Not entirely incorrect, but its literal wording also contradicts value #5′s statement that no one is above “Justice”. People answer to the legal system. The legal system is part of the government. And the government, in part, does answer to the people.

Turnip-head is basically trying to create his own version of the Ten Commandments in his own warped, red, white and blue vision. Now whether he’s doing this for attention because Rush Limpdick was just getting so much more press than he has lately or if he has truly lost his marbles on this one is ultimately irrelevant. What is relevant is that he committing such an unethical and irresponsible act by promoting this half-assed nonsense.

While its personally hard for me to believe that anyone could actually concoct this list of half-assed values without any amount of forethought, but Challenger Grim’s statement that Beck is already pleading for people not to take his words as a road to violence tells me that this is exactly what the turnip-head did.

And such a deep, dark, soul-leaching, mind-numbing, ignorant, sucking vortex of stank it is!

Of course! Just like O’Reilly is an independent! A libertarian! (and even called himself once an “anarchist”, like I do sometimes when I call myself an “anarcho-capitalist” in my boring desperate urge to feel like some renegade radical — see folks thinking the big gummint are after folks like them, Beck and Ron Paul talking about militias etc)

And catering to libertarians is on the rise now that they’re testing the waters to see where the party goes — Palin’s direction or Ron Paul sort of folks? Hmmm… I’ll have to pretend I’m all for small gov and anti-nafta-highway, so I’ll do some stories about legalizing pot to fish some insanely gullible libertarians — spoiled pot-smoking republicans with chemical imbalances, in other words — even if I used to pee on their heads two weeks ago with the average republican talking point on the matter (I’ll still get to bash immigrants and propose fascism against them, and bash all sorts of programs to help poor people, specially if it includes black folks and anything else that doesn’t appeal to the most selfish spoiled vein of libertarians). But let’s entertain all that shit to hook Alex Jones/ Ron Paul folks in their fight against the commie-nazi NWO (I’ll even mention FEMA camps!). Damn but it won’t allow me to perpetually call for a nanny state, that I constantly say I hate, to police morality… Hmm. Well they’ll vote for Bush all over again if there are tax cuts, so let’s hit it.

And damn, to pull fucking Jonah Goldberg to justify someone’s insane stupidity is… well… (“listen, when he was saying ‘octupus sucking on Santa’s cock is the source of energy of the UN Black Helicopters that marxistly rape sharks’ it was mostly drawn from Harry Knowles’s book, ’2+2=9′, so get your facts straight before mouthing off…”)

Dude, Beck made a show about wether Bush was Batman in The Dark Knight. It’s quite easy to make a u-turn when everybody hates him and when he’s ineffectual and pretty much gone (and even if there’s some degree of cynicism in Beck’s moves, he also shows clears signs of mental imbalance). It’s quite strange the weird ways that Bush-Palin constituency, average republicans, stormfront folks, Alex Jones and Ron Paul folks and Patriots-militia folk converge.