Comments on: New Report: Conservative Republicans Are Delusional Paranoids

By: juandonjuan

juandonjuan — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:38:13 +0000

probably nothing new here, but the W administration’s drumbeat of “be afraid, be Very Afraid” has certainly fed this mindset. The need to blame some’other’ for the evident/perceived decline in status is not new. In time, what will the new American brownshirts look and sound like?

By: marcos

marcos — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:19:05 +0000

Socialism and fascism are equally statist.

This is really not true. Socialism is collaborative. Fascism is hierarchal.

There have been heirarchical and bureaucratic instances of socialism. There have not been collaborative instances of socialism.

The level of flat or thickness is orthogonal to the reliance on state power to coerce desired outcomes.

The two political philosophies in that sense are equally statist.

By: quidditas

quidditas — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:43:22 +0000

“They are Burke conservatives in their soul.”

I think that might have made them Burkean conservatives around about 1992. Unfortunately, the *radical* Rubin Administration ripped up that social contract under Billy-Jeff Clinton (social welfare out, bailouts in, increased militarism), and today especially in 2009 and post-Bush, maintaining the status quo more or less makes Rahm and Obama thorough going fascists.

And, if any of us see fit to exercise our brains long enough to criticize the fascists, we’ll be portrayed delusional paranoids (one of the nicer terms doing the rounds).

Plus, every time I see Hofstadter, I figure I’m sniffing a rat’s butt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hofstadter

Depite his cachet in a certain self-defined “intellectual” set, I’m not insecure enough to be threatened by their name calling because I don’t toe the party line. In my estimation, Hofstadter eventually worked his way around to one hell of a pernicious set of ideas.

Not buying today.

By: aview999

aview999 — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:02:53 +0000

Great thread! Should be req reading everywhere.

By: TalkingStick

TalkingStick — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:03:18 +0000

Socialism and fascism are equally statist.

This is really not true. Socialism is collaborative. Fascism is hierarchal.

By: marcos

marcos — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:57:13 +0000

Populism is important to the US right now because it is a way that we can keep our political inclinations, but find some common ground where left and right can work together in defense of democracy, hopefully working together might act as a check on the dehumanizing tendencies of bitter partisanship.

By: SomeGuy

SomeGuy — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:54:51 +0000

re ratfood @85

That’s funny. I bet Mary thought she was the Jane Goodall, not James.

By: marcos

marcos — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:50:41 +0000

Socialism and fascism are equally statist.

By: DWBartoo

DWBartoo — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:44:17 +0000

I know you were not defending him, ratfood.

Perhaps unfairly, I used your comment to let loose a wee rant that I’d been “building” up, in me mind, about how doubt is not “bad”, in and of itself, but, rather, a necessary aspect of honest perspective,

When Obama does something truly praiseworthy, I am certain that you and I will be among the forefront of those who acknowledge that truth.

By: GDC707

GDC707 — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:28:27 +0000

“The other 20 young women actively, reflexively, hate Obama and anything that they think remotely smacks of liberalism. Most of them are unmarried white 20-somethings with one or more children, very few have healthcare. All but 2 of us have financial aid and grants. Most rely on foodstamps and welfare to get by. Everyone except me belongs to some Baptist church or conservative denomination. They all quote Rush and Beck as if they were the gospel.”

You could not have designed a cadre of perfectly programmed pawns any better than this. What worries me, especially as it relates to some of the other interesting posts on this thread, is how close these impressionable young people may be, given current economic conditions, to torchlight parades and outstretched arms.