Keeping up with the vacuity of progressive Leftists is nothing if not exhausting, and the terrorist attacks in Paris have left no shortage of bumbling dissembling among the Leftist elite. Yesterday, Democrat Propaganda Minister and MSNBC host Chris Matthews breathlessly declared:

“I don’t think Franklin Roosevelt, as angry as he was at Mussolini, never declared war on the Catholics. Anyway, that would have been a stupid thing to say.”

Mr. Matthews is of course referring to those not adhering to the politically correct mantra of ISIS having nothing to do with Islam.

Well speaking of stupid things to say, let’s dissect this latest gem from Mr. Matthews. Like any good Leftist, he completely omits reference to FDR’s internment of Japanese-Americans for the duration of the Second World War as potential enemies of the state. Such action seems to contradict Matthews’s claim that the progressive icon could separate the wheat from the chaff in matters of national security.

Second, he seems to fundamentally misunderstand FDR’s relationship with Mussolini for the majority of their respective periods of rule. Jonah Goldberg cites extensively FDR’s admiration for Mussolini and his fascisti in his book Liberal Fascism:

“FDR sent his ambassador to Italy with a letter regarding ‘that admirable Italian gentleman’…saying that Mussolini ‘is really interested in what we are doing and I am much interested by what he has accomplished.’”

It was not until Italy inadvisably declared war on the United States in late 1941 that FDR hardened his views on the “admirable gentleman.”

Finally, Matthews’s assertion exhibits incredible ignorance in equating Mussolini as connected in any way with Catholics. Unlike the Islamists of today, who loudly and frequently pronounce their adherence to Islamic doctrine, Mussolini was openly hostile to the Catholic Church. Even a cursory examination of his record reveals a man steeped in anti-clericalism and atheism. He railed against Christianity as a religion of cowardice, and claimed that the papacy was a tumor in Italy that should be rooted out, viewing the Holy See as a rival for power.

Matthews’s clumsy analogy of Mussolini as somehow being connected with Catholicism has no basis in fact, and is yet another attempt by the Left to stifle concerned citizens from speaking out against what they see with their own eyes.

Source: Goldberg, Jonah. 2007. Liberal Fascism. New York: The Crown Publishing Group.