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starroute

(12,977 posts)
8. They made a concerted effort to cover their tracks after World War II
Sat Jan 14, 2012, 06:14 PM
Jan 2012

Back in the late 40s and 50s, there were plenty of people on the right who had a history of having been fascist sympathizers or enablers before the war -- but the right was very successful in making it impossible to talk about any of that.

I suspect this was one of the real objectives of McCarthyism. It made even indirect connections to communism by anyone on the left so toxic that it both dulled the impact of the old fascist ties on the right and made the left scared to bring them up for fear of McCarthyite retaliation.

If you look at magazines and political cartoons of the period, for example, you find that certain sorts of things were being discussed quite frankly during the Truman years, but just sort of disappeared from the discourse around the time of the 1952 election.

Even when the John Birch Society sprang up at the end of the 50s, it managed to launder the fascist origins of its pet conspiracy theories (like by going through and substituting the word "bankers" for "Jews&quot and pass as home-grown right-wing nutjobs instead of outright fascists.

Libertarianism has also been a useful "beard" for the right, in that it's pro-capitalism but also undeniably anti-totalitarianism. They're just careful not to let any actual libertarians get their hands on real power.

Given 60 years of obfuscation, it would be almost impossible at this point to go back and make a case for the fascist roots of present-day conservatism. They're there, but they're as well-buried as Jimmy Hoffa.

When our own party has been shifting to conservatism since the 90's DJ13 Jan 2012 #1
Agree. nm rhett o rick Jan 2012 #4
When they remember most great Dems ,were historians. orpupilofnature57 Jan 2012 #2
When they decide they don't want to win any more elections. N.T. Donald Ian Rankin Jan 2012 #3
I don't have faith that Dems can make a "concerted effort" period. We're all over the place. nt gateley Jan 2012 #5
No Republican will admit to being a fascist (although many are) banned from Kos Jan 2012 #6
Single payer is *not* socialized health care starroute Jan 2012 #9
I can't give ANY examples of elected Dems who are socialists - just the many here. banned from Kos Jan 2012 #12
I would guess the socialists here don't identify as Democrats starroute Jan 2012 #17
Probably about the same time Satan wins the Winter Olympics gold medal for Ice Dancing zbdent Jan 2012 #7
They made a concerted effort to cover their tracks after World War II starroute Jan 2012 #8
That equation will occur to them only after they begin to follow the liberals into detention camps. kenny blankenship Jan 2012 #10
There Is No Real need To Make Such An Effort BeaufortPenguin Jan 2012 #11
Not any time soon. Quantess Jan 2012 #13
It wouldn't work Yo_Mama Jan 2012 #14
To do so would be a huge mistake... brooklynite Jan 2012 #15
About the same time you get a clue... ie never whistler162 Jan 2012 #16
Good question for our leadership. K&R (nt) T S Justly Jan 2012 #18
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