"The Reality of Red State Fascism" (2004)

[SlavicOrthodoxWolf]

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2004/12/lew-rockwell/the-reality-of-red-state-fascism/

This 2004 article, by right-libertarian Lew Rockwell, is very insightful about the nature of the Bush regime and its rabid supporters at the time. Regardless of what one thinks of the source, as a proponent on anti-war and anti-neocon views within the Right he was acutely familiar with what these people are really like, much like a Never Trumper would be in today's GOP.

Now, based on his descriptions, do the rabid Bush fans of 2004 really sound so much "better" than the stereotypical MAGA supporter today? Does the "old" GOP, supposedly a "lesser evil" because it (SUPPOSEDLY) "wasn't a threat to democracy", really sound "not so bad"? Will people keep retconning history to deny how awful the Bush Administration really was?

[nicholas.slaydon]

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2004/12/lew-rockwell/the-reality-of-red-state-fascism/

This 2004 article, by right-libertarian Lew Rockwell, is very insightful about the nature of the Bush regime and its rabid supporters at the time. Regardless of what one thinks of the source, as a proponent on anti-war and anti-neocon views within the Right he was acutely familiar with what these people are really like, much like a Never Trumper would be in today's GOP.

Now, based on his descriptions, do the rabid Bush fans of 2004 really sound so much "better" than the stereotypical MAGA supporter today? Does the "old" GOP, supposedly a "lesser evil" because it (SUPPOSEDLY) "wasn't a threat to democracy", really sound "not so bad"? Will people keep retconning history to deny how awful the Bush Administration really was?

Wow, for the first time I think I actually agree with SlavicOrthodoxWolf. The MAGA Trump lovers didn't just spring up out of nowhere in 2015; they have been the base of the Republican Party now for decades. The only difference today is that the Republican politicians are willing and eager to openly agree, and repeat the crazed talking points of the fanatic base, when previously they were quite keen to ignore the fanatics, and only engage with them through dog whistles rather than outright parroting the fanatics' talking points.

[SlavicOrthodoxWolf]

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2004/12/lew-rockwell/the-reality-of-red-state-fascism/

This 2004 article, by right-libertarian Lew Rockwell, is very insightful about the nature of the Bush regime and its rabid supporters at the time. Regardless of what one thinks of the source, as a proponent on anti-war and anti-neocon views within the Right he was acutely familiar with what these people are really like, much like a Never Trumper would be in today's GOP.

Now, based on his descriptions, do the rabid Bush fans of 2004 really sound so much "better" than the stereotypical MAGA supporter today? Does the "old" GOP, supposedly a "lesser evil" because it (SUPPOSEDLY) "wasn't a threat to democracy", really sound "not so bad"? Will people keep retconning history to deny how awful the Bush Administration really was?

Wow, for the first time I think I actually agree with SlavicOrthodoxWolf. The MAGA Trump lovers didn't just spring up out of nowhere in 2015; they have been the base of the Republican Party now for decades. The only difference today is that the Republican politicians are willing and eager to openly agree, and repeat the crazed talking points of the fanatic base, when previously they were quite keen to ignore the fanatics, and only engage with them through dog whistles rather than outright parroting the fanatics' talking points.

I had personal experience of this as a kid, circa 2011-2013, reading comment sections on news articles especially from the Yahoo news website, although there were other sites like Fox where it tended to be even worse. But I got a sense of what the GOP boomer base was really like. One thing I especially recall was the morbid fascination with the death penalty, with one commenter I remember listing a wide range of "crimes", ranging from gay marriage to Holocaust denial, that should be punished by death. A ferocious hatred of the poor was also a comment feature, as were calls for a genocide of the entire world Muslim population. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the people saying these things would of course have considered themselves devout Christians, and tended to be outspoken about that. I can also feel confident very many had college degrees, and lived in McMansions in the suburbs. It wasn't trailer trash hicks from Appalachia saying these things.

I think what "feels different" to many of the elites today is that this "fascist" tendency, which existed for years, has been turned against sectors of the ruling class to a degree that makes them more uncomfortable. As Rockwell described in the 2004 article, the rabid hate in the GOP base back in 2004 was completely pro-establishment in nature with hate focused on the downtrodden, the dissident and the foreign "enemy". It's a bit different in the age of QAnon, as ordinary Republicans express hatred toward the establishment and the elites, although Trump is himself a member of the ruling class and the January 6th riot was essentially rooted in a factional struggle within the elites. But there is a sense that these people are now threatening elite politicians, and that's a lot more serious than when they're just threatening some Arab, and that's why we hear that the MAGA crowd is some kind of unique evil.