Liberal Fascism
The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning
Chapter One
Mussolini:
The Father of Fascism
You're the top!
You're the Great Houdini!
You're the top!
You are Mussolini!
-An early version of the Cole Porter song "You're the Top"
IF YOU WENT solely by what you read in the New York Times or the New York Review
of Books, or what you learned from Hollywood, you could be forgiven for thinking
that Benito Mussolini came to power around the same time as Adolf Hitler-or even
a little bit later-and that Italian Fascism was merely a tardy, watered-down
version of Nazism. Germany passed its hateful race policies-the Nuremberg
Laws-in 1935, and Mussolini's Italy followed suit in 1938. German Jews were
rounded up in 1942, and Jews in Italy were rounded up in 1943. A few writers
will casually mention, in parenthetical asides, that until Italy passed its race
laws there were actually Jews serving in the Italian government and the Fascist
Party. And on occasion you'll notice a nod to historical accuracy indicating
that the Je ... read full excerpt from: Liberal Fascism ebook
