[Cross-posted at The Left Coaster.]
As Digby says so correctly, our little media village darlings are getting nervous about the upcoming Democratic fusillade of victory to batter their cloistered DC shores, and are already trying to meld the 2009 political agenda from anything at all that would be so horribly...liberal.
Meacham of Newsweek is one the first to attempt such folly, rightly saying so that an attempt would make him look stupid, which he then promptly does anyway, this guy is stupid, all right. Since Republican conservatism is in such reeking tatters, Meacham attempts a resurrection:
Contrary to caricature, to be conservative is not necessarily to be racist, or retrograde, or close-minded. It is, rather, to be driven by a fundamental human impulse to preserve what one has and loves.
To be a conservative is to be an authoritarian, always has been and always will be. It may mean many other things in many contexts and histories, but conservatives have always sought to rule, to invade, to brutally force upon others what they see as right and correct.
"Preserving the past" elements of conservatism usually mean enforcement of sexist hierarchies and racist social mores along with all the old quaint goodness. I’m hardly an authority on authoritarianism, but this melding of authoritarianism and conservatism is a well-established political fact, and Meacham does himself, his country and profession no good with this obtuse rationalization. Typical Newsweek stuff.
Readers interested in studying authoritarianism and its effects on our politics are highly encouraged to bookmark the legendary David Neiwert of Orcinus, one of the country’s best writers on the subject.