Irony dead?

"General Franco is an authentic national hero... [with the] talents, the perseverance, and the sense of the righteousness of his cause, that were required to wrest Spain from the hands of the visionaries, ideologues, Marxists, and nihilists that were imposing... a regime so grotesque as to do violence to the Spanish soul, to deny, even, Spain's historical destiny. He saved the day.... The need was imperative... for a national policy [to]... make this concession to Churchill this morning, that one to Hitler this afternoon.... Franco reigns... supreme. He is not an oppressive dictator.... only as oppressive as is necessary to maintain total power... " - National Review Oct. 26, 1957

General Franco was a quasi-fascist dictator. ("... only as oppressive as is necessary to maintain total power"? Nobody read that in the editors office and thought, "gee, that's kinda contradictory"?)

National Review is currently edited by Jonah Goldberg. Goldberg has just released a book titled Liberal Fascism.