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- Jun 18, 2018
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"What Carlson, Trump, and others praising, defending, or equivocating about Putin’s unprovoked attack are is nothing less than an unpatriotic, un-American fifth column. Their support for a fascist regime’s mission to conquer a fledgling democracy and snuff out its hard-won freedom goes far beyond party politics and shows hatred for the fundamental values of our own country, as well as contempt for the many innocent Ukrainians who will likely die or be displaced at the hands of Russian invaders.
It’s not inconceivable that if Trump were still in office, or if he or someone likes him won the presidency in 2024, the US would be on the opposite side of the conflict and supporting an autocracy’s war of aggression against a democracy. That’s because the American conservative movement today bears less resemblance to its counterparts in most other Western countries than to parties like Putin’s own United Russia or Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz, especially in its increasingly open displays of authoritarianism and contempt for immigrants and minorities. You couldn’t find a more apt metaphor for American conservatism’s metamorphosis into full-blown fascism than Carlson’s trip to Budapest last summer to fawn over Orbán’s authoritarian government.
Other hints of why the American right prefers a foreign dictatorship over American values abound. Just this week, we’ve seen Texas Gov. Greg Abbott direct authorities to investigate gender-affirming health care for transgender children as child abuse. In Oklahoma, state Attorney General John O’Connor is reviewing 51 books – including those covering LGBT and social issues along with “Lord of the Flies” and “Of Mice and Men” – to determine if they violate state obscenity laws, while conservatives nationwide have sought to ban books and the teaching of subjects they don’t like. That’s on top of concerted efforts to limit access to voting, the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, and now an American version of the Canadian anti-vax truck convoy designed to shut down the Beltway that people in the Washington area rely on to get to work.
These are the actions of a political movement that is about as committed to freedom and democracy as, well, Russian fascist dictator Vladimir Putin. In that context, it should hardly surprise you than they would take his side.
Link
Not to mention their attacks on our democratic institutions: McConnell's ploy to stack the Supreme Court, Trump's insurrection attempt and the Republican Party's voter suppression laws.
It’s not inconceivable that if Trump were still in office, or if he or someone likes him won the presidency in 2024, the US would be on the opposite side of the conflict and supporting an autocracy’s war of aggression against a democracy. That’s because the American conservative movement today bears less resemblance to its counterparts in most other Western countries than to parties like Putin’s own United Russia or Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz, especially in its increasingly open displays of authoritarianism and contempt for immigrants and minorities. You couldn’t find a more apt metaphor for American conservatism’s metamorphosis into full-blown fascism than Carlson’s trip to Budapest last summer to fawn over Orbán’s authoritarian government.
Other hints of why the American right prefers a foreign dictatorship over American values abound. Just this week, we’ve seen Texas Gov. Greg Abbott direct authorities to investigate gender-affirming health care for transgender children as child abuse. In Oklahoma, state Attorney General John O’Connor is reviewing 51 books – including those covering LGBT and social issues along with “Lord of the Flies” and “Of Mice and Men” – to determine if they violate state obscenity laws, while conservatives nationwide have sought to ban books and the teaching of subjects they don’t like. That’s on top of concerted efforts to limit access to voting, the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, and now an American version of the Canadian anti-vax truck convoy designed to shut down the Beltway that people in the Washington area rely on to get to work.
These are the actions of a political movement that is about as committed to freedom and democracy as, well, Russian fascist dictator Vladimir Putin. In that context, it should hardly surprise you than they would take his side.
Link
Not to mention their attacks on our democratic institutions: McConnell's ploy to stack the Supreme Court, Trump's insurrection attempt and the Republican Party's voter suppression laws.
