Something coalesced for me when I read this comment in a recent diary:
I have always disagreed with conservatism but earlier proponents of it did try to use facts and did believe that if you did things like trickle down it would work. They were sort of think tanks trying out IDEAS.
It is when you TRY these things and they obviously don't work and then try to pretend someone just didn't do them right and codify and deify the bad ideas that it becomes absurd. It becomes a cult that is completely disconnected to any evidence whatsoever.
It does seem like a cult, and I went and looked up certain "tells" that are warning signs.
It was quite an eye opener!
I explain on the flip:
I found a basic outline: Warning signs of a destructive cult
1. A destructive cult tends to be totalitarian in its control of its members' behavior.
How many times have we seen Republicans demand complete agreement and obedience? If anyone deviates from the rules they have set down, they are "traitors" and threatened with being cast out.
There isn't any flexibility or moderation allowed to their principles. Those of us who visit the message boards of modern conservatism know they simply delete any comments which offer questions or rebuttals.
2. A destructive cult tends to have an ethical double standard.
Well, dang. From Larry Craig's wide stance, to Newt Gingrich carrying on an affair while prosecuting then-President Clinton, to Rush Limbaugh's three marriages, drug addiction, and trips to the Dominican Republic with someone else's Viagra, this party preaches "Do as I say, not as I do."
And that's not even touching a party who supposedly touts Christian principles while looting, torturing and murdering.
3. A destructive cult has only two basic purposes: recruiting new members and fund-raising.
Hmmm, this could be any political party!
But in all seriousness, we elected President Obama because he was innovative and sincere about improving the business of governing, which benefits us all. The Republicans seem only interested in getting elected; and then, only because it gives them access to rich lodes of money.
4. A destructive cult appears to be innovative and exclusive.
Conservatism claims to be the intelligent, sensible, responsible party. For years they went against the grain, not only of history, but the actual preference of the voters, disguising their true intent with the offer of prosperity for all.
While now they are claiming populism, the neo-conservatives follow the teachings of Leo Strauss, who believed that a "philosopher elite" should rule; and that, covertly.
While that is not their public face, that is their private conviction.
5. A destructive cult is authoritarian in its power structure.
We've seen how the whole party is "top down." We incessantly were told that Bush was "the leader" and should be followed blindly.
It's hard to improve on Robert Altemeyer's explanation of this phenomenon. If you have not read his free ebook, The Authoritarians, I urge you to do so now.
6. A destructive cult's leader is a self-appointed messianic person claiming to have a special mission in life.
Can you say ex-President Bush? I knew you could!
Bush constantly told us he had been "chosen by God" and that was his authority to remake the Middle East, and our own lives.
7. A destructive cult's leader centers the veneration of members upon himself or herself.
This is pretty much in ashes now, but our departed "Decider" loved being the center of attention.
And if he does it, it's not illegal!
8. A destructive cult's leader tends to be determined, domineering, and charismatic. Such a leader effectively persuades followers to abandon or alter their families, friends, and careers to follow the cult. The leader then takes control over followers' possessions, money, time, and lives.
I used the expanded explanation here, because we might not see the spoiled brat, Bush, as either domineering or charismatic. But the conservative movement not only has a paucity of leaders, the ones they do have demand total obedience.
Unfortunately, we have all sacrificed our possessions, money, time, and lives to their obsessive goals.
So what we have here is even worse than the typical cult.
We have an organization that not only ruins the lives of those drawn into it, but the lives of everyone in the country who does not enjoy the the high salaries and freedom from prosecution that this cult gives their leaders.
We have a cult that is not dependent on one person, but various figureheads who can be replaced.
I think: we have a cult.