"WEAR IT LIKE A BADGE":

[W]hat became clear during the hearing and in recent American politics is not only that Donald Trump incited a riot and was involved in a criminal conspiracy to overthrow a democratically elected government, but that the MAGA Republicans in the House and the Senate and a Republican majority on the United States Supreme Court are not "conservatives" in a meaningful sense of the word. They are illiberal rightwing reactionaries who are willing to circumvent democracy to maintain power. Many are political extremists, religious zealots, intolerant bigots, and racists who appeal to the basest instincts of their followers. Their ideas and actions come very close to those of the Fascist movements that swept through Italy and Germany between World War I and World War II and have come to power in Hungary, Turkey and Russia today.

Whatever you call Trump's followers, don't call them "conservatives" or "traditionalists." There is nothing conservative or traditional about them. Those labels just provide a veneer of legitimacy to people who deserve no intellectual or political legitimacy at all.

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