On The Brink

[kevin_standlee]

jaylake and solarbird are among the people commenting (here and here) on the "conservative think-tank" that published (but is now scrambling to erase) a paper suggesting that the current occupant of the White House should become "President-for-life Bush."

As I said elsewhere when smarier tagged this story, I think this is a case of people at any point in the ideological spectrum being susceptible to Authoritarianism, as long as it's their guy in charge, becuase they assume they personally wouldn't feel any effects and that Other People would Get What's Coming To Them.

The sad and scary thing is that I expect these people honestly don't believe that such authority could ever be turned against them, because they are Good People, and only Bad People will be punished. And I'm not just talking about conservatives here -- there are liberal folks out there who could be just as likely to to lapse into authoritarian mode "for the best of reasons."

Yes, I tend to lean libertarian personally, despite despairing over the antics of the most looney ones, especially the ones I've encountered in fandom.

Comments

[querldox.livejournal.com]

What I found most amusing was this bit in the author's bio;

He is a philosopher specializing in issues concerning the preservation of Western civilization.

Odd, I always thought that genocide and dictator-for-life were against the current tenets of Western Civilization. I wonder just how this idiot defines Western Civ?

[redneckotaku.livejournal.com]

I am a registered Republican and I want Bush gone after this term. He has done some good and some bad in this country. It would be better for the Republicans to try to distance themselves from him in 2008. I don't want a dictatorship from either side. The 12 plus year presidency of FDR lead to the term limits for the Presidency.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Yes, and I expect the Republicans later regretted the over-reaction to FDR's presidency.