Another day, another Jonathan Chait column about how conservatives are not-so-secret fascists:
"Semi-fascism" can be thought of as the vast space between Reagan and Mussolini. This is where the Republican party is headed. I saw it up close. https://t.co/BfZvx5Gh3S
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) October 12, 2022
The evidence I compile in this piece can’t be summarized adequately in a tweet thread, let alone a single tweet, so please read the entire thing. However, I want to summarize a few of the key points: https://t.co/BfZvx5o7PK
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) October 12, 2022
1. The right's illiberal turn is not merely or even primarily a Trumpian personal idiosyncrasy, but a broader belief system that has attracted support from powerful conservatives: pic.twitter.com/MYXB4xRZsO
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) October 12, 2022
2. Its adherents share an overarching theory that serves as justification for their illiberal behavior pic.twitter.com/dfH0iXiZ0t
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) October 12, 2022
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3. They also have a plan of action with several practical components: pic.twitter.com/LY68UJp4Li
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) October 12, 2022
4. Most important is what they *didn’t* express: namely, any belief that their political opponents have rights that must be respected, or any fear of going too far toward right-wing authoritarianism: pic.twitter.com/B2VEHGXyPV
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) October 12, 2022
My goal reporting this was to understand what semi-fascism is, what attracts people to it, what the world looks like from their perspective, and how they plan to act on their beliefs: https://t.co/BfZvx5o7PK
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) October 12, 2022
I’m not sure Jonathan Chait is really the guy to explain what the world looks like from Republicans’ or conservatives’ or National Conservatives’ perspective, seeing as he tends to project his and liberalism’s own inadequacies and flaws onto the Right. But whatever. That’s not what I’m here to talk about right now.
No, I’m here to talk about the part of Chait’s piece in which he recounts an encounter with Claremont Institute Fellow David Reaboi. According to Chait, he, himself, is a victim of the Right’s semi-fascism, because Reaboi referred to him as “goblinesque”:
Haha. Here’s Chait on the “goblin” episode. pic.twitter.com/uhq1UQNjlS
— David Reaboi, Late Republic Nonsense (@davereaboi) October 12, 2022
Although Chait doesn’t explicitly say it, I feel like he’s suggesting that comparing him to a goblin is antisemitic. Now, I’m something of a Jew, myself, and I’ve gotta tell you I’m just not seeing it. And not just because Reaboi is Jewish.
Love him trying to play the Anti-Semitic card
w/ Soros & Emmanuel GoldsteinIs Chait ignoring that Dave is a card-carrying member of The Tribe
We all mocked him because he is a shameful hack
His goblinesque appearance was just a bonushttps://t.co/oZQghLqtSJ— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) October 12, 2022
Let me just say this: I personally am not a huge fan of going after people’s looks. I prefer to impugn someone’s character by focusing on, well, their character. That said, though, the fact that Chait devoted multiple sentences, let alone paragraphs, to use Reaboi and Hanson’s mockery as evidence of “semi-fascism” is just really sad.
Is this because @davereaboi called him a mean name seems like an overreaction pic.twitter.com/Z3mguTF15g
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) October 12, 2022
What Seth said.
I know reading is a challenge for Mandel, but I would strongly urge his audience to read the article, the argument of which has nothing to do with the impression he has pieced together from screenshots on twitter. https://t.co/bGQHp3VkWb
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) October 12, 2022
OK, well, I know for a fact that Seth Mandel reads. I also read. A lot of people read. And everyone who reads Chait’s piece should come to the same conclusion as Mandel: Chait is definitely overreacting. And deflecting. And projecting. All of those things.
It’s AMAZING that the guy who’s been calling us all fascists and Nazis for years (if not decades) expects to be warmly and courteously greeted when people see him in person.
— David Reaboi, Late Republic Nonsense (@davereaboi) October 12, 2022
Like, come on, Jonathan. Have you ever met you?
“Avid weightlifter” tossed in to almost allow the reader to decide if that activity makes on “bad”.
— Fred Bear Bulldog™️ (@BulldogTCOB) October 12, 2022
Next, he's going to write a long memoir about getting stuffed in the trash in high school. The conclusion: America has been fascist all along.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 12, 2022
We’ll keep an eye out for it.
Meanwhile:
This is genuinely insane and I hope Chait stops broadcasting whatever episode he's dealing with until it resolves. A "Republicans are Hitler because someone made fun of my posture" article in a mainstream magazine is a deeply unhealthy way to process what we all face on twitter. https://t.co/lfeW8RkCTz
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) October 12, 2022
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