it never ceases to amaze me how capable conservatives are at recognizing how bad conservatism is, as long as you dont tell them its conservatism they are recognizing and criticizing.
once you do, suddenly the brain shuts off and all that bad shit transmogrifies into sunshine and lollypops
"Conservitism" to them is synonymous with capitalism first and foremost. In their dichotomy, everything that isn't that is communism and therefore (since big communist regimes are fascist) fascist.
I think the problem is "normal" right-wing politics and conservatism aren't necessarily the same thing.
The rational definition of conservatism is the maintaining of the status quo. No radical change. Don't rock the boat.
As a political philosophy, it's boring. It's safe. Just keep things the way they are.
Fascism is a radical right ideology, demanding swift authoritarian change. Throw the immigrants in jail. Mass arrests of the opposition. Invade your neighbors.
That's not very "conservative."
My favorite politician was a conservative and he would not be recognized by a modern day Republican. Tom McCall, governor of Oregon from 1967 to 1974.
“I want to make it very clear that there will be no quid pro quo in the form of relaxation of my commitment to put a price on the head of every beer can and pop bottle in the United States."
He was the driving force in cleaning up the Willamette River, one of the major rivers running through the state:
“We want you to visit our State of Excitement often. Come again and again. But for heaven’s sake, don’t move here to live. Or if you do have to move in to live, don’t tell any of your neighbors where you are going.”
All of this in service of preserving... conserving... the things that make our state great.
When I was growing up, the difference between the American left and right was understood like this (at least by me):
Left: We're all in this together, and we should work together to make sure everyone is okay
Right: Rugged individualism and healthy competition
And the push-pull between those two made for a good balance
In my adult life, I am aware that that was never really true. The American Right has always wanted to restrict individual liberties, and implement a caste system, going all the way back to 1776.
Consider their law strategy: instead of targeting bad behavior, they target people they don't like.
He might not be able to understand a word being bad because of the actions ascribed to it. "So if Bernie did those things you'd call him a fascist?" "Uh yes, that's not a gotcha."
He's more likely to think something like "fascism isn't actually a bad word because it just means conservatives and that's my team"