The white supremacist right is penetrating the mainstream right with increasing ease.
The Conservative Political Action Conference is the premier gathering of right-wing activists and politicians in America every year, and it serves as a bellwether for the direction of the conservative movement. This year Nazis showed up.
According to an NBC News report, “a group of Nazis who openly identified as national socialists mingled with mainstream conservative personalities, including some from Turning Point USA, and discussed ‘race science’ and antisemitic conspiracy theories.” (Hitler’s Nazi Party was officially called the “National Socialist German Workers’ Party.”) The reporter of the article has video of one of them giving a “heil Hitler”-style salute in the lobby of the hotel where the conference took place and of other members of the group reportedly used the N-word.
This is a critical frog-in-boiling-water moment for the right: The mainstream organs of American conservatism are apparently acclimating to Nazis in their pot. That this group was able to mingle with participants at a high-profile conference, wasn’t kicked out of CPAC, and wasn’t appropriately condemned is a sign of how contiguous mainstream conservatism has become with white supremacist politics today.
I wouldn’t say they’re that representative of a lot of everyday conservatives. A lot of them are doing pretty poorly, but they’re ignorant and get pissed off at the idea that anyone else might benefit from a program they personally don’t qualify for or disagree with. My father is absolutely convinced that if the Democrats had the political will and ability to implement a wealth tax, that he would somehow be absolutely murdered by taxes on his $10 or $11 an hour he’s making at a Winn Dixie in Florida. He’s also the sort convinced that welfare queens living it up with brand new cars and designer clothes are not just a real thing, but a common thing that happens that Democrats just don’t want people to know about. He’d probably also chalk up his retirement sucking due to what limited social safety net we have in the US, rather than him draining his retirement accounts while he was unemployed before hitting retirement age so he could play golf and go hang at the bar with his buddies even though he was broke. Medicare is his right, though, he worked for that and earned it, but screw these poors under 65 trying to get healthcare with Medicaid. About the only thing he’s missing for your average, everyday conservative is an unhealthy dose of religion.
So where’s his new phone and fancy car then? If it’s that easy, go out and get your free money, king. Stick it to the Dems or whatever. If Winn-Dixie pays shit then go get on that wonderful welfare. After he buys his new car he should have some money left over to buy some drugs, too, right? That’s how they think this works, correct?
Sorry, I guess YOU in particular aren’t really the person who needs to hear my scathing sarcasm, but I’m getting really really extremely tired of this viewpoint.
Social safety net? Damn commie
Doing a mini-rant myself: heard a few clearly upper-middle class boomers on the train the other day complaining about minimum wage “is supposed to be for kids living with their parents” (even though it actively supports way more adults. Also just removing 1/4 of those workers during the pandemic created a cheap-labor meltdown but we’ll just ignore that i guess), not for “supporting 6 children” (even though it does) or “buying a $500k house” (their example was $25/hour. Exactly how out of touch are they that they think $25/hour can pay for a $500k house)