Oxymorons

Jon Chait is a Liberal.  As such, he gets slagged a lot by the online Left, and some of it is deserved, because Chait likes to troll them every once in a while.

But there are few better critics of "mainstream conservatives" than Chait.  His takedown of how Conservative Ethics is an Oxymoron is excellent.  But this is not something that is new or unique to Trumpistan.  There has always been an authoritarian streak in conservatism.  Even so-called Burkean conservatism has a reflexive respect for established norms, rules and traditions.  From there, it's a short walk to "follow the leader." 

And "follow the leader" is pretty much the modern GOP in a nutshell. The fact that their current leader is an immoral criminal with the intellect of an angry badger isn't an accident.  Trump represents the average Republican voter, rage-drunk on the mendacity of Fox News.  So there is a natural confluence between the leader and the lead in conservatism.  Stepping outside that stream is dangerous to your political health.  Just ask the retiring cowards, Jeff Flake and Bob Corker. The GOP has become a fear fueled id, and Trump is the personification of it.  Your nice aunt who thought Dubya was a really nice man and tried his best...she may tut tut at Trump's name, but in the end, she will fall in line behind the leader.

This soft authoritarianism is deeply rooted in one political party.  Don't believe me?  Watch the coming cannibalism of the Democratic primary. Visit Twitter for the incessant warring between the Bernie Bros and the Clintonistas.  The left of center party has ALWAYS been fractious and ungovernable.  When the Republican was roughly left of center during the Gilded Age (at least in comparison to Democrats), they were constantly riven by factions.  Dissension and factionalism are hallmarks of liberal politics.  Toeing the line and following the leader are the hallmarks of conservative politics. 

We have created an conservative ecosystem, however, that is so divorced from reality, that you have the authors Chait describes above who can't acknowledge the extraordinary moral failings of Donald Trump.  How can you be an ethicist and look at Trump - his criminality, his lying, his selfishness, his racism, his sexism - and not see a human sewer?

Because you're a conservative.  And he's your leader.

These people should not be anywhere the levers of power.