"When fascism comes to America . . .

... it will look like fascism." Cornell law Prof. William A. Jacobson rebuts and rephrases Sinclair Lewis' line,that "when fascism comes to America, it will be draped in the flag and carrying a cross."

Lewis was wrong. We have had the flag and Christianity for over 200 years, but we have not had fascism.

To the contrary, when fascism comes to America, it will look something like the reaction to the Tea Parties. I do not mean the lunatic rants of the netroots. That's fine. Mockery, hyperbole, and distortion are not the exclusive province of any one political party or ideology. I also do not mean counter-protests. That is fine too.

Fascism is not the exercise of free speech, even offensive free speech. Rather, it is the attempt to silence others through subversion and physical disruption. Think brown shirts in pre-war Germany, and anarchists at almost any world economic meeting. And that is what the Tea Party Crasher phenomenon is all about.

Funny Prof. Jacobsen should make this post the same day news reports hit of fascist students (for that is what they are) at the University of North Carolina successfully shutting down a presentation by former US Congressman Tom Tancredo, invited to speak by a recognized student organization.

Hundreds of protesters converged on Bingham Hall, shouting profanities and accusations of racism while Tancredo and the student who introduced him tried to speak. Minutes into the speech, a protester pounded a window of the classroom until the glass shattered, prompting Tancredo to flee and campus police to shut down the event.

Here's the kicker:

UNC graduate student Tyler Oakley, who had organized the protest, said he regretted the broken window but not silencing Tancredo. "He was not able to practice his hate speech," said Oakley. "You have to respect the right of people to assemble and collectively speak."

Just consider brass of Oakley saying that fascists enjoy the right to assemble and speak while violently crushing the peaceful assembly of those who were trying to do exactly that. Oh, wait - it was hate speech Oakley was shutting down. Well, okay then. "Hate speech," of course, means to the Left, "speech I don't agree with."

But here's the kicker. A group of student describing itself as children of immigrants wanted Tancredo to speak. Junior "Lizette Lopez, 22, vice president of the Carolina Hispanic Association," urged the fascists to let Tancredo talk. "So we would at least like to hear what he has to say if you want to hear what we have to say," Lopez said. The fascists relented only momentarily.

Afterward, Lopez said,

"We were more interested in an intellectual conversation instead of a shouting match," she said. "Ironically, the people that are trying to get our voices heard silenced us."

My dear Ms. Lopez, you are only a junior in college and understandably haven't yet learned the truth of fascism. They in fact are not the slightest bit interested in trying to get your voices heard, immigrant or not. You may think they are your allies, but you are merely their tools. They have no one's interests at heart but their own. Don't believe me? Easy: let the Carolina Hispanic Association itself invite Tancredo to speak on the campus and see whether the same thing happens.