where would jeanne Kirkpatrick rate the usa
the ultimate "conservative" intellectual lambasted carter and impressed reagan with her theory that totalitarian governments, the soviet union for example are evil but merely authoritarian governments (battista, samoza, pinochet etc etc etc) are ok so we can support them.
besides the obvious conservative lack of nuance , i was never able to distinguish much difference between noriega or castro and any of the banana el supremos beloved by republicans.
so where does maga usa fit? what would jimmy carter think of ice raids? would Reagan really imprison american citizens in el salvador? authoritarian? or totalitarian?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkpatrick_Doctrine
Kirkpatrick claimed that states in the Soviet bloc and other communist states were totalitarian regimes, while pro-Western dictatorships were merely "authoritarian" ones. According to Kirkpatrick, totalitarian regimes were more stable and self-perpetuating than authoritarian regimes, and thus had a greater propensity to influence neighboring states.