Putin, Trump, and the New Cold War Between Liberalism and White Supremacy

[blue-wave]

<snip>The simplest explanation is also perhaps the most terrifying: U.S. conservatives align ideologically much more closely to Putin than to their domestic opponents, and aren’t bothered by an open alliance with him.<snip>

<snip>Consider this: in just four years, Gallup shows Republican approval of Russia and Putin has increased from 18% to a whopping 40%. CBS polling shows a 27-point swing toward a majority seeing Russia as an ally in just three short years. To be sure, voters overall are still quite skeptical of Putin’s regime, but that is fast changing among Republicans.

But this more recent movement by average Republican voters belies a far-right movement that has long had an ongoing love affair with the Russian kleptocratic state. Putin’s domestic policies are virulently theocratic, plutocratic, homophobic and misogynistic, allying with rural conservatives and the Russian Orthodox Church in defiance of both Islam and alleged western liberal decadence. Racists and neo-confederates have been swooning over Putin for years as the last great defender of the white race, nor is it any accident that contacts between Russia and various strident xenophobes like Donald Trump as well as openly prejudiced organizations like the National Rifle Association have been increasing for some time. Tucker Carlson on Fox News and Republican Senator Rand Paul have both been calling for a “rethinking” of America’s alliances.<snip>


Full Article: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2018/07/21/the-putin-trump-alliance-is-part-of-a-new-cold-war-between-liberalism-and-white-supremacy/



Spread the word far and wide my friends. Recognizing the root cause of the evil is the first step to defeating the evil.

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Whatever they call themselves now, today's "conservative" is not your grandfather's "conservatism"

It's always been a diseased philosophy, but it was, at least, rooted in "country first". Today, "country" is way down their list.

[ck4829]

3. I think there's a fundamental disagreement between what everyone else thinks 'country' means

And what they think 'country' means.

I think to everyone else, a 'country' isn't just a mass of land, but is something that unites different people under a shared banner... it doesn't matter what your race is, it doesn't matter what your religion is, it doesn't matter what your income is; there is something that means you are/should be equal to everyone else in that country and it comes with rights, privileges, and responsibilities of being in that country.

To today's "conservative", a 'country' is a border, a dividing line between them and everyone else... the 'other' that is coming to take their stuff, the not-real Americans but they are the real Americans, and a hatred for the present (Their country was good in the past, but not good today).

[Voltaire2]

4. Many on the right openly supported

fascism in the 30s. What has changed here is Russia, not our right wing authoritarians.

[watoos]

2. Interesting comment on the OP title.

Did you know that most of the world defines liberalism the way we in the US define libertarianism?

[Girard442]

5. I hadn't heard before of the major polling swings in attitudes toward Russia.

Mueller's investigation won't change any minds among those people. Even if they found out Putin had hit teams in place ready to assassinate Hillary Clinton, they'd just stand up and cheer.

[Achilleaze]

6. Putin has digital teams in place ready to back up republican lies & propaganda

I'd bet a tin of rancid russian-republican caviar on it.