Giroux on Fascism in the US

From Giroux, "Against the New Authoritarianism" p. 33

"Fascism is not an ideological apparatus frozen in a particular historical period, but a theoretical and political signpost pointing to how democracy can be subverted, if not destroyed.  In the 1980s Bertram Gross wrote a book entitled Friendly Fascism in which he argued that if fascism came to the United States, it would not embody the fascist characteristics associated with its legacies in the past.  There would be no Nuremberg rallies, doctrines of racial superiority, government-sanctioned book burnings, death camps or the abrogation of the constitution.  In short, fascism would not take the form of an ideological grid from the past that is simply downloaded onto another country under different historical conditions.  On the contrary, he believed that fascism is an eternal danger and can become relevant under new conditions, taking on familiar forms of thought that resonate with nativist traditions, experiences and political relations."