The Left’s Accusation That the Right Is Fascist Is Simply Psychological Projection

. . .Another more mainstream factor is the belief that we really are just a hop, skip, and executive order away from fascism. Declaring that America is on the verge of authoritarianism is normal, even expected, in prestigious publications. It has been conventional since President Trump was elected.

For all his faults, however, Trump has done little to expand or consolidate presidential power. If Trump appears as a plausible strongman, then the government in general and the presidency in particular have too much power. Much of the progressive anxiety about authoritarianism results from projecting their own philosophy of government onto their political opponents. What they would do to others, they assume others would do to them.

Consider the left’s increasingly hostile treatment of religious liberty. They have passed laws that attempt to allow them to imprison Christians and other dissenters who refuse to promote and celebrate same-sex wedding ceremonies. They have litigated for years to force elderly nuns to fund and facilitate the distribution of birth control. The Obama administration even went to the Supreme Court to argue that the federal government can regulate the hiring and firing of religious ministers.

These are not hot-headed tweets or intemperate remarks. These illiberal positions were carefully considered before being included in laws and legal briefs or promoted in the press. This program is the calculated position of the mainstream left, and it has nothing to do with Trump’s excesses (real and imagined).

Why do they care so much about strong-arming a few nonconformist wedding vendors or dissenting nuns? As policy, it is not worth it. Surely there are more effective ways to distribute birth control than endlessly suing the Little Sisters of the Poor. (Read more from “The Left’s Accusation That the Right Is Fascist Is Simply Psychological Projection” HERE)

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