I was watching conservative Tea Party folks parading around D.C. recently and as usual they were throwing out epithets such as “fascist” and “the New Hitler” to describe President Obama. They are following the lead of far-right pundits such as Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh in this regard. I think it’s high time to point out the absurdity of their terminology, especially since the right wing of the Republican Party is actually much closer to fascism than any Democratic or liberal politician that I can think of. For that reason, I think a little history lesson is instructive.
Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Tojo, and other fascist leaders of the 20th century were definitely not liberals or left wing (Marxist) socialists. In fact, the opposite was true. Hitler, for instance, claimed to be a “national socialist” – a misnamed ideology that was actually positioned on the far-right wing, according to most political scientists. Hitler and the Nazis hated Marxists and communists as much as they despised the Jews. The last thing Hitler would have associated himself with was genuine (left-wing) socialism. Hitler also hated liberalism in all its forms.
True (left-wing) socialists are internationalists - not nationalists, in theory and typically in practice. In contrast, Hitler and his "national socialists" were highly chauvinistic, ethnocentric, and ultra-patriotic about the German nation. The main idea behind Hitler's Nazism was to mobilize German workers to promote an exclusionary, ultra-nationalist, racist agenda - not to support the working class in general or to make society more egalitarian. Nazis and other fascists also tended to glorify the military and various militia groups as emblematic of their ostensibly "superior" nation. Among other things, that's what differentiates socialists and liberals of the left wing from Hitler's Nazism of the far right.
Tellingly, American conservatives have been opposed to virtually every progressive movement in modern American history. They opposed the anti-trust laws of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, preferring instead to support the concentration of corporate power. They opposed women's rights - including the right to vote. They opposed legalizing labor unions - including the right to organize and strike. They opposed minimum wage laws, social security, unemployment insurance, federal depositor’s insurance, and most other New Deal programs in the 1930s; blithely preferring the ravages of the hyper-capitalist status quo.
Conservatives opposed racial integration and civil rights legislation - invoking the banner of "state's rights" in the fifties and sixties. It was not just Southern conservative Democrats who opposed civil rights laws, by the way, but also many leading Northern and Western conservative Republicans such as Senators Barry Goldwater, Edwin Mechem, Milward Simpson, etc.
Conservative Republicans opposed Medicare and Medicaid and labeled those programs as “socialist” in the sixties. They opposed granting women their reproductive freedom (i.e., abortion rights) in the seventies and beyond. They have consistently opposed gay rights - cloaking their heterosexism under the banner of "traditional family values." Most social conservatives opposed immigration reform, often stoking irrational xenophobic fears about granting “amnesty” to “illegal aliens.”
Like American conservatives of the 19th and early to mid 20th centuries, Hitler was a Social Darwinist, who believed in the “survival of the fittest.” Hitler used this “theory” to justify his holocaust against the Jews, gypsies and other so-called “inferior races.” Similar to social conservatives in the U.S., Hitler used inflammatory xenophobic language about “illegal foreigners” and was always looking for scapegoats for the purpose of inciting fear. Hitler conducted a holocaust against gay men too - killing many thousands of them in concentration camps. He also banned abortion (at least for "pure" Germans), thus forcing women to give birth against their will for the good of the “fatherland.”
Hitler banned labor unions (also a favorite target of American conservatives), which he saw as a potential threat to his regime. He instead colluded with corporations (as did Mussolini, who saw fascism as synonymous with corporatism). He even used theocratic Nordic myths to justify his rule - similar to the way in which today's Christian conservatives claim that God is on their side in political matters. Hitler was inspired in his anti-Semitism in part by historic statements of Martin Luther and ultra-conservative Lutherans of his day. He also managed to gain the support of the Vatican, with the Pope endorsing Hitler’s strong anti-communist stands.
Most importantly, Hitler's aggression abroad - attacking states without provocation - is similar to the Bush Administration’s “pre-emptive” invasion of Iraq. Indeed, rabid neo-conservatives who pushed for war with Iraq did so under false pretenses and were buoyed by ultra-nationalist populist sentiments; which were made worse by President Bush’s lies and demagoguery about nonexistent WMDs and imaginary collaborative links between Saddam and Al-Qaida. If any modern President comes closest to be being the "New Hitler," it was George W. Bush. Hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians and over four thousand U.S. soldiers died as a result of Bush's unjust, illegal war.
Just as Hitler used a terrorist attack in an attempt to justify his anti-democratic actions, so too did Bush - even though there was not a shred of evidence linking Saddam to 9-11. Bush and his neo-conservative cronies also engaged in torture and established secret prisons around the world, which was eerily reminiscent of Hitler’s camps (though not nearly as extreme or genocidal). Conservatives, in contrast to liberals, are much more inclined in the modern era to support jingoistic, bellicose military action and the violation of civil liberties for "national security" purposes, which can easily devolve into fascism.
I'm not saying that former President Bush was as bad as Hitler, since that would be overstating and hyperbolizing Bush’s reign. But he certainly came much closer to Hitler's ideology/tactics than does President Obama.
In reality, President Obama is a pragmatic moderate-liberal who seeks to bring people together. He is very diplomatic in his discussions with the opposition party and even conservatives within his own party, seeking consensus rather than polarization. He was opposed to the Iraq War from the very beginning and is now attempting to clean up the mess of the previous Administration – both at home and abroad. Rather than using bellicose language with antagonistic countries such as Iran or North Korea, he has sought dialogue. He is definitely not an extremist on either side of the spectrum; but to call him the “new Hitler” as some conservatives are doing is particularly nonsensical.
In recent months, we have witnessed many conservative Republican politicians and movement activists resort to demagoguery in town hall meetings and elsewhere, stoking irrational fears with lies and distortions of the truth on health care reform and other issues. Shouting down and often drowning out their more liberal opponents, many conservatives have acted like modern-day “brown shirts” at town hall meetings, particularly when they repress the free speech rights of others. Most recently, we witnessed a neo-Confederate race-baiting representative disrupt a joint session of Congress with impunity, seriously violating the rules of decorum. This kind of disingenuous, paranoid, mob mentality is very reminiscent of McCarthyism of the fifties, which also devolved into conservative proto-fascism.
I certainly hope that today’s conservatives move away from their apparent fascist tendencies before it is too late. I realize that this blog is controversial. I’m not saying that all or most conservatives are fascists. But what I am saying is that the “anti-fascist” rhetoric of conservatives directed against President Obama is not only wrongheaded but also particularly ironic, given the existence of fascism on the far-right wing of the political spectrum and the contemporary reemergence of proto-fascist ideas and tactics among a growing number of American conservatives.