The "F" Word- Republicans Are No Longer Trying To Hide It
Viktor Orbán- "The globalists can all go to Hell. I have come to Texas."
What if I were to tell you that the Hungarian fascist dictator Viktor Orbán came to Dallas, Texas, to speak to the Conservative Political Action Conference…and got a standing ovation? Several, if you want to be accurate. If the idea of a fascist dictator speaking to a gathering of American Conservatives causes you concern, congratulations. Your patriotism is intact- which is more than can be said for the denizens of CPAC.
There’s something fundamentally wrong with Americans of ANY stripe embracoing a proud, unapologetic fascist who comes to America openly promoting the tenets of Nazism. It would be easier to say he rejects anyone who’s not White, Conservative, Christian, and heterosexual, but let’s call Viktor Orbán what he is.
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because it should. We’ve seen this movie before, and our grandparents’ generation shed blood defeating people like Orbán. Say hello to 1933 (who says history isn’t circular?)
He has extolled the value of racial purity, is vehemently anti-immigration, has cultivated close ties with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and was a speaker at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC, in Dallas.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, 59, is widely criticized around the world for systematically dismantling his country’s nascent democracy during his 12 years in power — but that hasn’t stopped him from emerging as a darling of many on the right in America.
Orbán told a cheering crowd of conference delegates that he and other conservatives were in a battle to protect Western civilization against the forces of liberalism and mass migration.
If you close your eyes as you listen to him, you could be forgiven for thinking it’s 1933. How long before we hear cries of “JUDEN RAUS!!” and see angry crowds smashing the windows of Jewish/Black/Asian/LGBTQ-owned businesses?
If you think I’m being alarmist, listen to Orbán in his own words. He claims to have eliminated racism and antisemitism in Hungary and that those who believe otherwise are “idiots.” For someone who’s carved out a state for White Conservative Christian heterosexuals, he has an odd way of defining “racism” and “antisemitism.” As for “idiots,” he’s definitely been studying his Goebbels.
Viktor Orbán, the charismatic populist, is no idiot. He’s a ruthless, intolerant, bigot, who knows how to fan the flames of hatred. He knows how to “otherize” minority groups who lack the political clout to speak for themselves. More than anything, he knows how to unite Hungarians behind him in fear and hatred of The Other.
What is most frightening, though, is not what Viktor Orbán says or even that he said it in Texas. It’s that he received a hero’s welcome at CPAC from Conservatives who no longer even bother to hide their love of fascism. Donald Trump’s brand of autocracy has so thoroughly infected and corrupted the GOP that the party has become an unrecognizable shell of its former self. Republicans can no longer be bothered to camouflage their affection for those who would destroy American democracy, because what they want is a permanent Republican majority by any means necessary. To mangle a phrase from the late Soviet dictator Nikita Krushchev, the GOP’s not shy about breaking eggs if that’s what it will take to make their omelet.
Orbán’s Hungary is a creation intended primarily for what he sees as the pinnacle of human evolution: White Conservative Christian heterosexuals. In Orbán’s Hungary, there is no place for non-Whites and those of different political viewpoints or religions. There’s certainly no place for those who are LGBTQ; the sooner they’re liquidated or forced out of Hungary, the better. There’s also no space for a free press, and the light of free expression has been extinguished. Instead, the state controls the media and the dissemination of information.
Viktor Orbán considers Progressives and Liberals the enemy of the people, slandering those patriots who love their country. In his view, Progressives and Liberals are working to destroy Hungary’s proud Christian values from within- an atheistic, libertine, anti-Magyar Fifth Column. He’s proud of how Hungarians have rejected Progressive claims that humanitarianism requires that migrants must be allowed in and cared for. Orbán proudly claims that Hungary has “built that wall” to protect “Hungary’s Christian culture."
As if extending the hand of kindness and compassion would somehow pollute the Aryan purity of his homeland.
Viktor Orbán will get on a plane and fly back to Budapest, where hopefully, someday Hungarians will rebel against his rule. He’ll dangle from a lamp post or, if he’s lucky, be deposed and exiled to Vladimir Putin’s warm embrace. Can a fascist dictatorship survive in the Internet Age? Especially when that dictatorship is also a member of NATO?
Stay tuned.
The bigger concern is the enthusiastic reception Orbán has received at CPAC from Americans who claim to love their country and democracy. It appears they love the idea of a permanent Republican majority in which they no longer have to worry about Liberals, Democrats, or accountability. They want to be able to turn America into something closely resembling Margaret Atwood’s Gilead.
They want to create an America that looks a lot like Hungary- and they’re much closer to being able to do that than anyone on the Left realizes. To say that it could happen in our lifetime is no exaggeration.
Viktor Orbán has given American Conservatives a glimpse of that future, and they LOVE what they see. To them, Hungary is the promised land, where everything they wish to see in a government is in place. It’s a place where White Conservative Christian heterosexuals sit atop the political/social/economic food chain, and they get the first and the best of everything. How could that NOT seem like Utopia?
They fail to understand that America is not the property and playground of any one group- certainly not White Conservative Christian heterosexuals. If they intend to seize power, void the Constitution, install “Biblical” rule, and remake the world to their liking, they’ll need to be very careful. Millions of Americans don’t fit into their box (me, f’rinstance) and aren’t about to take being marginalized without a fight.
Non serviam.
The moment one group attempts to seize power, another will push back. Those singing Viktor Orbán’s praises at CPAC would do well to keep that in mind.
Of course, there’s a straightforward way to keep this nightmare scenario from ever coming to fruition:
First, pay attention to what’s happening before November.
Second, vote for Democrats in November. You may not like Democrats, but- trust me on this- they’re a damned sight better than the alternative.
Third, pay attention to what happens AFTER November. Those aligned with Donald Trump WILL try to steal elections. That’s going to be difficult to do if we’re paying attention- cockroaches scatter in the light, remember?
There’s a part of me that would like to see those applauding Viktor Orbán at CPAC locked up for treason. That said, I know their right to do so is guaranteed by the 1st Amendment. That’s more than they would grant us if they come to power, but we can’t sink to their level. So let them wallow in their own bile and self-superiority. Let them goosestep around Dallas and fellate Viktor Orbán all they want. It’s still a free country; if they want to make jackasses of themselves, then let them have at it. That says far more about them than anything else.
Come November, though, it’s time for the adults to make it clear that we have no use for their quasi-Nazi autocratic crap. Let them find a country of their own to take over if they want to play Nazi games.
I hear Mozambique’s beautiful this time of year.
