another snip>

The final straw, however, was the decision to oppose every single thing the president tried to do. They turned him into a monster when he was never a monster. He became the Kenyan socialist usurper. That was a decision that Mitch McConnell made before the president was even sworn into office. And the result was that the Republican Party started rejecting their own ideas and labeling them communist plots to destroy the country. At that point, with all the bad habits already ingrained, the party just lost control of its base.

snip>

All I kept thinking while reading the article was "Run, run, run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Stinky Cheese Man."

Thought everyone would want him and what he stood for. Yet in the end, he was totally rejected by all.

Narrator: Once upon a time there was a little old woman and a little old man who lived together in a little old house. They were lonely. So the little old lady decided to make a man out of stinky cheese. She gave him a piece of bacon for a mouth and two olives for eyes and put him in the oven to cook. When she opened the oven to see if he was done, the smell knocked her back.

Old Lady Phew! What is that terrible smell?

Narrator: The Stinky Cheese Man hopped out of the oven and ran out the door.

Stinky Cheese Man: Run run run as fast as you can. You can't catch me. I'm the Stinky Cheese Man!

Narrator: The little old lady and the little old man sniffed the air.

Old Man: I;m not really very hungry.

Old Lady: I'm not really all that lonely.

Narrator: So they didn't chase the Stinky Cheese Man. The Stinky Cheese Man ran and ran until he met a cow eating grass in the field.

Cow: Wow! What ís that awful smell?

Stinky Cheese Man: I've run away from a little old lady and a little old man and I can run away from you, too, I can.
Run run run as fast as you can. You can't catch me. I'm the Stinky Cheese Man.

Cow: I'll bet you could give someone two or three stomachaches. I think I'll just eat weeds.

Narrator: So the cow didn't chase the Stinky Cheese Man either. The Stinky Cheese Man ran and ran until he met some kids playing outside school.

Girl: Gross! What ís that nasty smell?

Stinky Cheese Man: I've run away from a little old lady, and a little old man, and a cow, and I can run away from you, too, I can. Run run run as fast as you can. You can't catch me. I'm the Stinky Cheese Man!

Narrator: The little boy looked up and sniffed the air.

Boy: If we catch him, our teacher will probably make use eat him. Let's get out of here!

Narrator: So the kids didn't chase the Stinky Cheese Man either. By and by the Stinky Cheese Man came to a river with no bridge.

Stinky Cheese Man: How will I ever cross this river? It's too big to jump, and if I try to swim across Iíll probably fall apart.

Narrator: Just then the sly fox (who shows up in a lot of stories like these) poked his head out of the bushes.

Fox: Why, just hop on my back and I'll carry you across, Stinky Cheese Man.

Stinky Cheese Man: How do I know you won't eat me?

Fox: Trust me!

Narrator: So the Stinky Cheese Man hopped on the fox's back. The fox swam to the middle of the river.

Fox: Oh man! What ís that funky smell?

Narrator: The fox coughed, gagged, and sneezed, and the Stinky Cheese Man flew off his back and into the river where he fell apart.

like he ever had their full support. In the long run we are all better off now seeing the cards on the table, the veil of decency has been lifted. Thank you Mr. Cruz, carry on.

Particularly in the case of the Resident, er, President.

The John Birch Society was awfully marginal on the right even in its heyday in the early 1960s. The Birchers were kicked out of Young Americans for Freedom, and by the 70s they seemed to have vanished.

But Bircher conspiracy theories and policy proposals wormed their way into movement conservatism by way of figures like Tim LaHaye and Larry McDonald and the Council for National Policy. I think it's a class warfare thing -- the JBS was originally founded by business executives, and its warped ideas have hung on because they appeal to the wealthy and powerful.

So I don't see it as a case of "the Republican elite caught a ride on the tiger." No -- the Republican elite *are* the tiger. They just weren't willing to say so in public for a long time.

The Koch brothers' father was a Bircher. Joseph Coors who founded the start-up of the Heritage Foundation was a Bircher. Groups like Heritage had to hide their Bircher roots until recently if they wanted to seem serious and respectable. But in some sense they were always a beard for more radical ideas than they were willing to admit -- and now they've come out.

The only real question I see is whether that change is a matter of self-assurance -- that they know the establishment of American fascism is nearly a done deal -- or a sign of desperation.