How far right has the right drifted, when even Colbert's conservative caricature is more liberal than the actual conservatives?
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Pretty far, but I’d say “right” misses the point now. They have no conscience, no empathy, and no limits. Real conservatives have limits – sometimes they have strange or arbitrary or misguided limits, but at least they have them. They bend the rules in their own favor, but at least they believe in following the rules they make. They distrust state and police power, and see it as a necessary evil or last resort. They might believe in capitalism, but they also want tradition and community and the church and the state to all be counterweights to capitalism.
American self-acclaimed conservatives don’t believe in rules, at least not for themselves. They’re authoritarian, socially retrograde neoliberals at best, and fascists at worst. The only conservatives in America are in the Democratic Party, clinging to the remnants of an already watered down 80-year-old framework for a social safety net.
“I am more conservative than the others” has become a rally cry to appeal to the far edge of Republicans, along with citing the name of Ronald Reagan.
Mitt Romney said while courting votes that he was “running as an hard right conservative”, which was essential to get the Republican nomination, while equally disastrous to the general election, where his moderate credentials would have paid off handsomely. It amused me that he didn’t even deny his moderate views. Rather, he just said he was “running” as a conservative.
Put it this way: if JFK, who was considered a moderate Democrat during his time, were active in politics today, he would be pilloried as a Commie throwback. And Jesus, another moderate compared to his radical cousin the Baptist, would be crucified—especially after the Sermon on the Mount.
Nobody on the far right wants to be considered to the left of anyone on anything. It isn’t a drift to the right it is a stampede.
Colbert is as you pointed out a caricature and will drift as far right or left as need be to keep the laugh track relevant.
The term ‘conservative’ simply means politics that support the original status quo. Most of today’s self-appointed conservatives do not do this, though they do cherry pick from the status quo. The term ‘conservatism’ today in America is nothing more then a pseudonym for fascism.
Are you really basing the political scale on a Comedy Central show?
Actually, Kennedy riled the religious nutters too with his Catholicism.
@Paradox25: the modern GOP is probably a synthesis of neoliberalism, severe-authoritarianism-to-fascism, and religious fundamentalism. Pretty much the corpus of the party has at least one, and many members have all three, of those traits. The ironically named “neo-conservatism” is basically the first two married to a stupidly belligerent foreign policy doctrine.
@bolwerk Neo-conservatism started out with the anti-communist left (it wasn’t called neo-conservatism at the time), then became intertwined with modern day conservatism. Neo-conservatives suffer from the hero complex, with a need to save the world with their version of ‘democracy’. The ideologues behind neo-conservatism typically will not be the ones who get their hands dirty during the enforcement phase of their schemes though.
@Paradox25: neo-conservatism broke away from Trotskyism. But, yes, the heroic struggle narrative is a timeless fascist trait.
The right has gone so right that it is ridiculous. It is primarily because of religion. The republicans who don’t like to mix religion and politics have had a tough time the last 15 years. Both the politicians and the regular guy. They have left the party or spoken out against the policies they don’t agree with, but it takes a lot to disagree with these far right wing people, especially if you live in the bible belt. I think the media makes it worse by calling the right wing the base of the party.
There is a peer pressure to conform and they do. People in the right wing generally do not want to discuss topics, they want people to agree with them. The left wing can be the same regarding this, but I think there are fewer democrats who are extremly, blindly left, than republicans who are extremely right.
If your church and church friends are telling you what God wants you to do politically then it is difficult to go against that if you believe in God.
@Espiritus_Corvus “Put it this way: if JFK, who was considered a moderate Democrat during his time, were active in politics today, he would be pilloried as a Commie throwback.”
If Bush-41, were active in politics today, he would be pilloried as a Commie throwback. Yes, we’ve gone that far, and yet we show no sign of stopping the rightward drift.
@cheebdragon why not base it on that. It is actually more relevant and more informative than most serious network shows.
The far right wing of the Republican party are not really conservative at all. they are fascist bible thumping shills who serve the interests of corporate America.
We can’t do much until a few more of their generation die off, sad to say.
@Blackberry I used to say I was waiting for them to die off and then I moved to the south. I know in my generation (40’s) they are still alive, it isn’t like they are all in their 60+ right now. I don’t know if the below 40 group is different or not. You lived in MS for a while, do you have an impression about whether the people your age are more moderate? The military tends to be republican also. They think mney to support the military comes from republicans.
@JLeslie In some cases you’re right. In Biloxi at a bar, a man in his early forties said he could understand why that guy killed the abortion doctor…..wtf.
Drifted implies just floating along. I think that the right has stampeded in that direction.
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