Herblock March 29, 1950 cartoon that originally defined McCarthyism.
McCarthyism hadn’t been long over when I was born, and the effects of the hunt for communists and other undesirables had far reaching ripples. The John Birch Society was still going strong, and Russia was most definitely perceived as The Enemy. This sentiment echoed right on down the 1960s, and I remember being called a commie hippie more than once. Anything conservatives didn’t like was labeled “commie” – engaged in activism for peace? Commie. Against the Vietnam war? Commie. And fluoride in the drinking water was a commie plot, too. You couldn’t get away from the intense anti-Russia sentiment, it was everywhere, and there was a great and abiding fear of Russia, too. The Cold War was everywhere, and Nikita Khrushchev was in the news every 5 minutes for years.
If there was one thing you could count on from conservatives, it was their united hatred and fear of Russia. Although this quieted down in subsequent decades, it never really went away, in spite of Gorbachev and Glasnost. There were always cons somewhere, pointing a trembling finger at Russia. Given all that, it’s remarkable just how much things have changed, in a very short time.
A new YouGov/Economist poll found that among registered Republicans and Trump voters, more than a third now hold a “favorable” view of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Though a majority still view Putin negatively, right-wing media — which spent years holding Putin up as a “better leader” than President Barack Obama — set the stage for Republican opinions to shift in the autocrat’s favor, leading to a nearly 50-point swing in support from conservatives in just over two years. And after the United States intelligence community publicly disclosed that its members believe Russia interfered in the 2016 election, many right-wing media figures doubled down on their support for Putin and are downplaying Russia’s involvement in the election.
Putin is an authoritarian “strongman” who has cracked down in Russia on freedom of speech and freedom of the press, signed into law draconian anti-gay legislation, and invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine. Nevertheless, for years, right-wing media have praised Vladimir Putin as a great leader, comparing him favorably against Obama. Fox figures have consistently lauded the Russian autocrat as “a real he-man” and have claimed that Putin has “come to the diplomatic rescue” of President Obama. One Fox host even went so far as to proclaim that she would like Putin to be president of the United States “for 48 hours,” so he could fight ISIS. In 2014, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan suggested that Putin is “one of us” and applauded him for “planting Russia’s flag firmly on the side of traditional Christianity” with his policies against reproductive rights and LGBTQ rights — evidence, Buchanan suggested, that God is on Putin’s side in his clash with the West. Even conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh once admitted that Putin was “saying things I agree with” when the Russian president announced that he “opposed the adoption of Russian orphans by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender foreign couples.”
Primed by right-wing media, Trump voters now hold a more positive view of Putin and Russia. Since July 2014, Republican voters’ opinions overall of Putin have improved by 56 points, and in 2016 they voted for a candidate in Trump who is openly sympathetic to the autocrat and even invited his government to hack personal emails from Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. According to the poll, 35 percent of Trump voters and 37 percent of registered Republicans now hold a “favorable” view of Putin.
Now, even though the U.S. intelligence community has stated that its members are “confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations,” some right-wing media are siding with Putin and downplaying the severity of the hacks.
My, my. A complete shift from Enemy to Saviour. Via Media Matters.
Anything conservatives didn’t like was labeled “commie”
It’s a proud badge of ignorance. “Why understand what you believe? I’m just going to label and demonize you.”
I’m also willing to downplay the severity of the attacks. They had much much much less effect on the election than the vast sums of money that were spent, the electoral college, gerrymandered districting, and the other myriad ways the US manipulates its “democracy.” Pointing at Russia for manipulating the election is like the fugilin black pot made out of carbon nanotubes calling the kettle “dusky”
Marcus:
I think the use of severity is a red herring, in the classical sense. It was a brilliant, exquisitely timed piece of manipulation, and honestly, I admire the way it was done, it was worthy of Machiavelli. It was an outright manipulation, and it worked.
That said, yes, of course, what conservatives did is no joke, and in a just world, they would be held accountable. I think it’s a mistake to underestimate the fine Russian hand at work, though. A Trump presidency is a positive in Putin’s view; a Clinton presidency was a negative. Manipulating Trump is child’s play to Putin. Trump is an openly corrupt incompetent, whereas Putin is also corrupt, but competent.
I saw an article on this elsewhere where, in the comments, the Republicans were claiming false equivalency. “Yeah, Putin’s favorability may have gone up with Republicans because Trump, but it went down with Democrats, so they’re just blindly following their leaders too.”
Nope, doesn’t work. Putin’s favorability went down among Democrats because he did something bad — hacked our election. It makes sense to like someone less when they do something bad. So the question to ask Republicans is, what has he done that’s good recently that has made them like him more?
The answer is pretty clear, isn’t it? It’s not as if they’d approve of him more because they think he did not, hack the election. So they don’t believe him, or Trump, when they both say he had no involvement. They think he did hack the election, and they approve. That big jump in the poll can only represent one thing: people who approve of Russia getting involved in an election, as long as it’s on their side.
I’m actually kind of looking forward to making a sign at my next rally that says “Commie Republicans go back to Russia!”
Marcus,
Also, I think it’s important to not get overly distracted by the manipulation, and focus more on the con shift to Russia love, or at least, Putin love. They are all over how wonderful he is, because he’s a successful tyrant, who has happily quashed everything cons would love to quash in this country.
This little love affair is far from over, and there’s the 500 billion deal on the table between Exxon and Rosnet, and so much more. Interesting times.
Authoritarians love authoritarians!
Return of the Holy Alliance originally started by the religion-crazed Czar Alexander I of Russia.
I’m terrified of any Democrats who had a favourable opinion about Putin before this.
If Putin is a role model, y’all are in very bad straits. He may not be a dictionary commie, but he’s certainly one of those who were actual commies back in the day when the enemy was labelled “commie”.
Not like that’s new news.