It Can Happen Here (Redux)

We’ve all heard about surging bumpkin Mike Huckabee’s new ad, the one with the rosy, down-home “why can’t we all just set aside our differences for one week and worship Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior together?” message.

The ad was predictable and tiresome in its efforts to love Jesus harder than everyone else, and all it proved, as far as I’m concerned, is that Jesus is going to be limping for months after this primary season. However, the ad did prompt Ron Paul to invoke Sinclair Lewis’s great and important line about uniquely American fascism.

To wit:

“When fascism comes to this country, it’ll be wrapped in the flag, carrying the cross.”

Not to toot my own horn here, but a few years ago I wrote a piece for the Globe‘s Ideas section on Lewis’s 1935 cautionary novel about fascism in America, “It Can’t Happen Here,” which offers many highly disturbing parallels to our present political situation.

The book is required reading, but if you’re lazy, check out the piece. It’s about time Lewis started getting some props for calling this one.