The right wing authoritarian Republican Nominee for US Senate in Delaware shown above.

Over the past 40-50 years we have seen American right wing extremism and authoritarianism grow from a tiny, idolated, and reviled but committed faction to a now robust and burgeoning proto-fascist movement.  There is tremendous ironyreagrding this problem in that the traditional powers in the Republican Party are now being threatened and displaced by the very crazy extremism they spawned.  I will cry no tears for the tradtional Republicans when they are snuffed out, but I am highly concerned that the right wing authoritarianism they nurtured is now metastasizing at an alarming rate.  For while the traditional Republicans gave birth to this virulent political tumor neither did the Democrats do anything in order to combat them nor to prepare for the time we will have to go up against them at the ballot box.  Now there's a serious chance that crackpots the like of Rand Paul, Sharon Angle and other genuine loons like Christine O'Donnell are going to become US Senators.  If the right wing authoritarians are to be stopped then they will have to be stopped by the Democrats.  If Democrats have any hope of beating back the authoritarian horde it is necessary to understand right wing authoritarianism. 

Many a pundut has scratched their head wondering aloud how on earth these crackpots could be taken seriously and/or howcould anyone vote these kind of people into office?  They wonder because they are assuming the candidates and the teabaggers in general are normal people.  They are not.  They fit a specific profile that has been extensively and scientifically researched.  Yet few people have had any exposure to this important body of work.  We can no longer afford not to be very well informed about the right wing authoritarian mind and personality. 

If you haven't read John Dean's book "Conservatives Without Conscience" you really should.  In it, Dean describes the evolution of conservatism in America in the modern era.  I will not recap the book in full, but essentially Dean describes how, in the name of conservatism, authoritarian personalities have come to dominate, if not destroy, both the Republican Party in the US and our system of constitutional government right before our very eyes.  I highly recommend the book.  It is not a long book and Dean, as you probably know, is a brilliant observer and superb writer.  Much of the information about authoritarianism in Dean's book is based upon research done by a Professor at the University of Manitoba named Bob Altemeyer. 

Prof. Altemeyer has spent most of his career studying authoritarianism and has conducted extensive, scientific psychological research on the subject that sheds a bright light on who the authoritarians are, what makes them tick, how they think and why they think as they do.  He may well be the foremost expert on authoritarianism in the world. 

Prof. Altemeyer thinks that American democracy is in danger.  I agree. 

It may seem obvious to some that the authoritarian threat has been on the rise for decades, but it clearly is not obvious to many citizens nor is it obvious to many key people in our society such as opinion leaders nationally, those employed by the corporate media, many, if not most, of our political leaders and decision makers and others and that is distressing to say the least.  It isn't because people don't recognize the extremism and radical views espoused by the authoritarian Republicans because they do.  But most people a) do not understand what drives either the leaders or the followers and b) they continue to make the mistake of assuming that underneath it all these people are rational and well meaning but they are not.  One simply cannot reason or work with someone whose psychology is fundamentally and unalterably unreasonable and totally inflexible.

Even though there is plenty of information available about the authoritarian enemies of democracy, few have read much about it, fewer still know anything about it whether they are citizens in the hinterland, the nonauthoritarian elites of Washington DC or the perorters and editors of the media.  This is especially clear regarding the elites when one takes into account some of the amazingly naïve, almost surreal talk emanating from Washington by well meaning Democrats about "bipartisanship" and how important it is to work with the Republicans.  This has been an ongoing lament on the part of Democrats throughout the entire era since the authoritarians first emerged and as they have become the dominant force in the Republican Party.  The Democrats' continued misunderstanding and more importantly mishandling of the authoritarians they are dealing with is central to what leads to the frustration of policymakers who continue to get hoodwinked, outmaneuvered and just plain snookered by the bad faith and underhandedness of the Republicans.  It also leads to the massive frustration on the part of citizens and activists who cannot believe that Democrats are unable to make any real progress on their agenda despite overwhelming Democratic majorities.  Without properly understanding and coming to grips with the authoritarian personalities they face, how such people think and operate, it will be impossible for Democrats to effectively counter their amoral, demagogic, and extremist methods.  What is clear is that it is high time to abandon the naïve and potentially dangerous notion that the authoritarian Republicans are either reasonable or honorable because they are neither of those things.  They are fundamentally unethical and amoral beings.  In other words, the problem is much deeper than a mere ideological problem.

So, what is to be done? 

The first step to understanding the rise of the authoritarian political phenomenon is to understand the authoritarian personalities involved.  So definitely get a hold of Dean's book but also take a look at what Prof. Altemeyer has written.  How can one do that you ask?  Well, there is a very easy and accessible way available to all that doesn't cost a thing.  Prof. Altemeyer, apparently at the request of John Dean, wrote a book for nonscientists explaining in straightforward language the findings of his research and in which he shares his insights and observations of over 40 years.  The book titled "The Authoritarians" is freely available on the web and is easy to download.  I urge you to click on the link below and start reading Altemeyer's important work which, while written several years ago now, remains just as important and timely as it was then.

Following is a brief excerpt from Altemeyer's introduction to the book that will give you an idea about the work and, I hope, convince you to learn as much as you can about the authoritarian personalities we are threatened by so we can effectively counter and neutralize them.

But why should you even bother reading this book? I would offer three reasons. First, if you are concerned about what has happened in America since a radical right-wing segment of the population began taking control of the government about a dozen years ago, I think you'll find a lot in this book that says your fears are well founded. As many have pointed out, the Republic is once again passing through perilous times. The concept of a constitutional democracy has been under attack--and by the American government no less! The mid-term elections of 2006 give hope that the best values and traditions of the country will ultimately prevail. But it could prove a huge mistake to think that the enemies of freedom and equality have lost the war just because they were recently rebuffed at the polls. I'll be very much surprised if their leaders don't frame the setback as a test of the followers' faith, causing them to redouble their efforts. They came so close to getting what they want, they're not likely to pack up and go away without an all-out drive. But even if their leaders cannot find an acceptable presidential candidate for 2008, even if authoritarians play a much diminished role in the next election, even if they temporarily fade from view, they will still be there, aching for a dictatorship that will force their views on everyone. And they will surely be energized again, as they were in 1994, if a new administration infuriates them while carrying out its mandate. The country is not out of danger yet.

The second reason I can offer for reading what follows is that it is not chock full of opinions, but experimental evidence. Liberals have stereotypes about conservatives, and conservatives have stereotypes about liberals.  Moderates have stereotypes about both.  Anyone who has watched, or been a liberal arguing with a conservative (or vice versa) knows that personal opinion and rhetoric can be had a penny a pound.  But all that arguing never seems to get anywhere. Whereas if you set up a fair and square experiment in which people can act nobly, fairly, and with integrity, and you find that most of one group does, and most of another group does not, that's a fact, not an opinion. And if you keep finding the same thing experiment after experiment, and other people do too, then that's a body of facts that demands attention.  Some people, we have seen to our dismay, don't give a hoot what scientific investigation reveals.  But most people do. If the data were fairly gathered and we let them do the talking, we should be on a higher plane than the current, "Sez you!"

The last reason why you might be interested in the hereafter is that you might want more than just facts about authoritarians, but understanding and insight into why they act the way they do.  Which is often mind-boggling. How can they revere those who gave their lives defending freedom and then support moves to take that freedom away? How can they go on believing things that have been disconfirmed over and over again, and disbelieve things that are well established? How can they think they are the best people in the world, when so much of what they do ought to show them they are not? Why do their leaders so often turn out to be crooks and hypocrites? Why do the followers accept the flimsy excuses and even obvious lies that their leaders proclaim, and cling to them so dogmatically? Why are both the followers and the leaders so aggressive that hostility is practically their trademark? Why are both so unaffected by the evil they do?  By the time you have finished this book, I think you will understand the reasons.  All of this, and much more, fit into place once you see what research has uncovered going on in authoritarian minds.

Ready to go exploring?

Here is the link to Prof. Altemeyer's book, "The Authoritarians": http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/