{"id":82817,"date":"2023-06-13T04:00:19","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T08:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=82817"},"modified":"2023-06-12T16:46:47","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T20:46:47","slug":"the-surprisingly-authoritarian-reflexes-of-the-true-anti-authoritarian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2023\/06\/13\/the-surprisingly-authoritarian-reflexes-of-the-true-anti-authoritarian\/","title":{"rendered":"The surprisingly authoritarian reflexes of the “true” anti-authoritarian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Bray<\/a> surveys the “anti-authoritarian” stances and actions of Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a dedicated opponent of all things Trump:<\/p>\n

I’ve called the NYU professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an “expert” on authoritarianism, an inversion blender<\/a>, a narrative-producing machine with an astonishing gift for turning meaning upside-down. Your decision to drive north is ironclad proof that you intend to travel to the south! You’re spraying water on that fire to make it bigger! You gave me a sandwich because you want me to starve to death!<\/p>\n

Currently, Ben-Ghiat’s frantic production of anti-authoritarian messaging on Twitter, the preferred platform of true intellectuals, is tightly focused on the dangerous authoritarianism of the megafascist Donald Trump, who is doing what all true authoritarians do: questioning and criticizing the government<\/em>. Go stroll through Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s Twitter posts<\/a>. It’s like having lunch with Felix Dzerzhinsky. Only the guilty and the fascist elements resist the cleansing power of the state and its gloriously pure-hearted investigative apparatus!<\/p>\n

A suggestion up front from the ma\u00eetre d’hotel<\/em>: What you’re about to consume is the filet mignon of dimwitted propaganda. Chew it slowly. Savor<\/em>. Let’s start with a light appetizer, a mere retweet<\/a>, to tease the ironic gustation: <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Archie Bunker and Meathead have become one, united by the power of the Trump. If a prosecutor charges you, the case is airtight, full stop. Government never charges innocent people with crimes. To criticize a prosecutor is to oppose the rule of law<\/em>, which can only be defended by the immediate presumption of guilt. Here, let’s try it out:<\/p>\n

Prosecutors wouldn’t be charging Rick Perry with crimes if they didn’t believe they had an airtight case.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors wouldn’t be charging Kyle Rittenhouse with crimes if they didn’t believe they had an airtight case.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors wouldn’t be charging Tom Robinson with crimes if they didn’t believe they had an airtight case. Atticus Finch is an authoritarian!<\/p>\n

This is why criminal defense lawyers are all so infamously right-wing, by the way. Especially public defenders. <\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Nothing says progressive anti-authoritarian<\/em> like the sacralization of national security as a preeminent value. If government says that something has been done in the name of national security, you must accept it and support it without question. Or else you’re an authoritarian<\/em>, doubting the state security apparatus. Fascists always do that.<\/p>\n

There is, of course, a long and deeply established tradition on the American political left of criticism directed at the FBI and DOJ \u2014 and at federal law enforcement<\/a> in general, and at law enforcement in general, and the “carceral state<\/a>” \u2014 as hegemonic instruments<\/a>. Historians and activists on the left have long viewed the FBI with political suspicion, and with reason<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Until pretty much right this instant, because Trump. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Bray surveys the “anti-authoritarian” stances and actions of Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a dedicated opponent of all things Trump: I’ve called the NYU professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an “expert” on authoritarianism, an inversion blender, a narrative-producing machine with an astonishing gift for turning meaning upside-down. Your decision to drive north is ironclad proof that you intend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,28,53,13],"tags":[1037,457,1020,139,593],"class_list":["post-82817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government","category-media","category-politics","category-usa","tag-donaldtrump","tag-fascism","tag-progressives","tag-psychology","tag-socialmedia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/favicon.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2hpV6-lxL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82819,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82817\/revisions\/82819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}