(Or was I wrong to call Sam Wilkinson’s suggestion about, in short, owning bigotry “ludicrous”? Have we reached and passed the point (again?) on bigotry where a critical mass of people now view the charge as a “badge of honor”? “By God – we say ‘by God’! – get used to it!” I suppose the answer will have to be that for some, yes – they passed that point during the cultural regency of Andrew Dice Clay, never to cross back. Others have crossed back and forth repeatedly over the intervening years, and many more likely have passed over again recently. I note that certain self-consciously “incorrect” rightwing intellectuals now refer without apparent hesitation to a “Gay Fascism Movement,” with some license from presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz, who is himself clearly drawing on earlier work by Jonah Goldberg re “liberal fascism.” Further confusion may set in when, in addition to proudly proclaiming their bigotry, they embrace or proclaim their fascism or “fascism,” too, while allies near and far continue to use the terms pejoratively… very hard to keep up…)
Let by Gods be by Gods
