Yesterday I tried in my very best loopy-liberal reasonable voice to explain what liberals are, their inherent characteristics and flaws, and the reasons we should not simply shoot them on sight. So today I will try to make the case for what I believe conservatives are really all about and why we should not automatically shoot them either (or shoot them with automatic weapons so that Ted Cruz can cook more machine-gun bacon.)
Remember, I explained liberals and liberal philosophy as being an instrument of change. And I identify myself as a liberal in these times of the Trumpster, Chaos Clown of Making America Sweat Again. I think change is needed. I had hoped for that with Obama, but the conservatives were victorious in their primary function of preserving the status quo. Now, I do think there are times in history when conservatives were absolutely essential to our government. The 1950’s is a good example of that under the Eisenhower Administration. (But not for social reasons like the struggle for equal rights, rather the economic situation of growth and innovation and positive spirit… along with the invention of Rock and Roll.)
Conservatives are meant to preserve what is workable and good, beneficial to all. Unfortunately, some conservatives fall into the trap of wanting to preserve their own power. That leads down dark paths to Fascism. In my cartoon of conservatives immediately above, I should point out that I have included only the cartoon characters that have fallen at least partially into the Fascist tiger trap.
George Herbert Walker Bush is the son of Prescott Bush, a politician and banker whose New York UBC bank (he was president of the bank at the time) in 1942 had funds confiscated from it on the grounds that it was Nazi money funding the Nazi party in Germany and allowing the funny-looking failed painter from Austria with the toothbrush mustache to become the ultimate Fascist leader.
George W. Bush, his son, also known as Lonesome George the Rodeo Clown (mainly by me), continued the Nazi tradition by introducing the Patriot Act, reducing American civil liberties and establishing the surveillance state that we now enjoy.
Definition of Fascism from Webster’s;
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often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
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a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control <early instances of army fascism and brutality — J. W. Aldridge>
Richard Nixon had a direct link to the good conservativism of President Eisenhower, having been Ike’s Vice President and even being related by marriage as Nixon’s daughter married David Eisenhower. But he also had a streak of paranoia and panic that caused the entire Watergate kerfluffle and his eventual flight from power into ignominy.
Donald J. Trump is, to be fair, still pretty much an unknown quantity. But everything he has demonstrated in his business history and presidential campaign suggests he will be an even stronger Fascist than anyone I have named so far. He puts on a show like P.T. Barnum, and horrifies and fascinates his audience. But we never made the mistake of electing a liar and a con man like P.T. Barnum to the highest office in the land before. And the paranoia and excuse-making through denial of reality we have seen so far in the Russian hacking scandal, makes me fear the worst. Trump is more paranoid than Nixon. He will probably do much worse things than Nixon did as a result.
The KKK has a place in my cartoon because their history is one of trying to preserve the status quo through violent repression and terror campaigns. Their suppression tactics are the same as the Nazi brown-shirts on Krystallnacht and the Gestapo throughout WWII. And through the Steve Bannon connection, the KKK has a firm grip on the underlying philosophies of the Trump Administration.
So the possible end point of the conservative push toward Fascism is the same sort of chaos you get on the far left end. The leftist idea of constant revolution ends in violence or Fascist dictatorship. Fascist dictatorship squeezes everything it tries to control so hard that it breaks, and Fascists try to control everything.
So, I fear both ends of the political spectrum.
Though I apologize to Bernie. I would’ve voted for Bernie. He was just the farthest left Joker meme I had to choose from for this metaphor.
As you have probably guessed by now, I intend to write one more post about this whole mess of political nonsense. I have talked so far about the doom on both ends of the horseshoe, and so far ignored the middle, the part that holds the good fortune. So, being well over 500 words once again, I will leave you until my next horrible political post about the world just prior to the Apocalypse.
Catch a Falling Star 