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[–]ShmuelHydesteinProfessor of Based Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Indeed, "American rightist" is a bit oxymoronic. Being to the right of the average person in a state founded by the revolutionary Left still makes a person Left, unless they're Right-wing enough to be counter-revolutionary (opposed to the revolution's values). Even the paleocons still accept the revolutionary ideal, so the development of a true Right-wing - one freed from globalism, the free market, propositional identity, etc. - in America has always seemed an impossibility. The furthest Rightward groups still accept the revolution's basic assumptions. The GOP has certainly never questioned any of these assumptions, and has done a great deal to export the revolutionary ideal (let's liberate "oppressed" women in Afghanistan and Iraq from evil far-Right Islamists!)

This is why the "Trump + GOP = far-Right" narrative is a farce. Being Rightward of the Far-Left doesn't make anyone Far-Right except in the eyes of those who are... yep, Far-Left. Shifting power from Left-liberalism to Right-liberalism and back again is just business as usual. Trump's ascension did not represent the growth of a counter-revolutionary movement aiming to overthrow America outside of Leftist fantasies. Unfortunately, extreme Leftists sperging out about how some candidate they don't like is "actually Far-Right" is an exceedingly common occurrence.

Unfortunately, while some strands of liberalism (particularly the radical Marxist derivative) have thankfully died off, Americanism is still shamefully clinging on to dear life. I am hoping that the Afghanistan "graveyard of empires" thing is a sign of things to come. After all, two years after the USSR left Afghanistan they were dead and buried. America, please follow suit, thanks!