country, the Klan continually looks ridiculous. No 
one has to say anything. All you have to do is take 
these cameras into a Klan office or take the 
cameras into a skinhead or neo-fascist 
organization, have them talk, and when the camera 
is up in their face, there is nothing charismatic 
about these people. They look as if they are very 
confused, desperate, and people without any deep 
politics. But the power of symbol, the power of 
language from a great distance, can be very 
dangerous. We’ve seen it again and again in the 
rise of fascist dictators in this century.

Sometimes you hear the charge that McLuhan was