A. Barton Hinkle of the Richmond Times-Dispatch has no problem noting how extremists will do anything to pardon extremism – even becoming like their own hated enemies:
But the real metamorphosis has occurred on the right.
It is no new insight to note the extent to which Republicans, who once were horrified by Bill Clinton’s sexual improprieties, now dismiss or even defend Donald Trump’s. A few days ago, after news of Trump’s dalliance with a porn star broke, the Rev. Franklin Graham argued that while Trump is not “President Perfect,” he “does have concern for Christian values.” High praise indeed.
Many conservatives also have decided that defending Donald Trump is more important than defending the FBI against his attacks. In certain right-wing media, the Deep State controls the levers of power in D.C., and the FBI is now little more than a conspiracy of leftists dedicated to electing Hillary Clinton and bringing down Donald Trump. The evidence for this theory is laughably thin — a couple of text messages, former FBI director Jim Comey’s recommendation against charging Clinton with a crime, and … um … hang on a sec while they find their notes. Gotta be around here somewhere.
After more fun …
All of this might be funny if not for the menace at the edges. Although mainstream conservatives abjure and even revile them, the elements of the alt-right have gained a dismaying foothold in contemporary politics (see: Breitbart and Steve Bannon). And as the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville this past August shows, the alt-right is willing to resort to violence — for which it will be partly excused by the president.
Indifference to sexual libertinism. Pro-Moscow sympathies. Paranoid conspiracy theories. A violent, radical fringe. Hatred of the G-men at the FBI, along with the rest of The Corrupt Establishment. Four decades ago such markers defined the radical left — and everything about liberalism that conservatives loathed. Now, they increasingly define the American right — all thanks to Donald Trump.
Parallels I completely missed – although perhaps I’m a bit young to see them. I liked the column, and I suspect there are more useful insights to plumb.
