“The Arsonists - How Extremists Took Over the Republican Party”

[This article posted on 8/22/2024 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://www.marx21.de/usa-trump-republikaner-buchrezension-die-brandstifter-wie-extremisten-die-republikanische-partei-uebernahmen/.]

The threat of a second term for Donald Trump looms. In her new book “The Arsonists - How Extremists Took Over the Republican Party”, Annika Brockschmidt sheds light on what this means and how it got this far. George Rainov read it for us

Interest in political developments in the USA is immense and Brockschmidt's book has also made it onto the Spiegel bestseller list. Having already made a name for herself with her analyses of the religious right in the USA, Brockschmidt's new book “Die Brandstifter der Republikanischen Partei. She examines the radicalization of the Republican Party since the second half of the 20th century, particularly from the perspective of the role played by radical, right-wing ideologues within the party. According to Brockschmidt, they acted as a driving force and radicalized not only their own party apparatus over time, but also the voter base. The opportunists in the party, who wanted to take advantage of the arsonists' ability to mobilize, played a no less important role. However, they gradually lost control of events.

Brockschmidt presents a lively, informative and readable history of the Republicans' right-wing development. But from a Marxist perspective, she fails in her attempt to explain the complex history of the party and, building on this, the radicalization of the American electorate. She primarily depicts the actions of individuals in the Grand Old Party (GOP). Not only does Brockschmidt largely lack an eye for the fundamental significance of political factors, such as the effects of capitalist crises or polarization through the media landscape - she also spares criticism of the Democratic Party, which is clearly partly to blame for the current situation.

Arsonists: Paving the way for fascism

Brockschmidt leaves no doubt as to what the GOP in its current form represents in her eyes: It is an anti-democratic, far-right, even fascist party in parts. Particularly in the successful final chapters of her book, she provides us with a deep insight into the engine room of the extreme right in the USA.

The fact that the Republicans have anti-democratic aims is nothing new in itself. Brockschmidt paints a picture of a party that has long since lost interest in developing political compromises capable of winning a majority. The party has long since created the instruments to no longer be dependent on this. For example, voting rights for Latinos and blacks have been restricted. Constituencies have been tailored in such a way that they are no longer winnable for the competition. Democratic control mechanisms in the political system have been deliberately undermined, such as the electoral college, the Senate and the Supreme Court.

The consequences of this can be seen in the latest ruling by the Supreme Court, the majority of whose judges appointed by Trump are conservative. The court has granted Trump legal immunity for all “official acts”. This makes him practically legally untouchable should he be re-elected. In this way, the GOP has put itself in a position where it does not have to rely on broad support. It could rule through because it has seized virtually all the important levers of political power for itself and curtailed the possibilities of taking them away again by democratic means.

Break with democracy

According to Brockschmidt, a new quality has been achieved under Trump, namely the willingness to openly admit a break with democracy. Whereas in the past it was common for American politicians to proudly refer to the tradition of American democracy, Trump and his followers openly display their contempt for the system. The majority of the Republican apparatus has publicly acknowledged their fantasies of a violent uprising.

On January 6, 2021, the storming of the Capitol was the first attempt to put these fantasies into practice. The Republicans are increasingly resorting to rhetorical dehumanization and calls for violence against their political opponents - even within their own party. The leadership of the GOP is also referring more and more openly to right-wing extremist symbols and professing conspiracy theories such as QAnon or the Deep State.

Brockschmidt's conclusion is that the danger posed by a second Trump term in office can hardly be overestimated. The leadership of the Republican Party is united behind Trump, the radical elements in the party set the tone and there is hardly any room for more moderate currents. In addition, this time the dismantling of the separation of powers is being worked on much more systematically and well in advance.

Project 2025: a guide to authoritarianism

Brockschmidt particularly warns against the so-called Project 2025, drawn up by the influential Heritage Foundation think tank. Project 2025 comprises almost a thousand pages and provides detailed instructions for the next Republican president, possibly Donald Trump. Among other things, the plan envisages making the Unitary Executive Theory a reality and thus granting the president unrestricted power over the executive branch. It also includes an enormous database of loyal conservatives to replace more than 50,000 federal civil servants. That would bring the state apparatus completely under GOP control. All of this suggests that a second Trump term will be far more planned, efficient and consequential than the first.

Brockschmidt sees the GOP in general, but Project 2025 in particular, as a “fascistoid” - i.e. at least in some tendencies fascist - project. She sees the following criteria - which she considers decisive - as being fulfilled. Relevant parts of the party apparatus work with revolutionary and violent ideas of upheaval and strive for an authoritarian, Christian-white, i.e. ethnically homogeneous society.

However, Brockschmidt hesitates to define the GOP as a whole or Trump's faction as fascist - and rightly so. Because even if fascist elements can gather around Trump's platform and exert considerable influence, no revolutionary-fascist core can be identified around Trump. As Brockschmidt himself says in interviews, the development of the party nevertheless gives one little reason to hope for improvement. At best, today's GOP, which contributes to the normalization of fascist ideologies, is the precursor for a yet-to-emerge “apple-pie fascism” - i.e. a special, American form of fascism that appears in a Christian guise.

The irony of history

In the majority of her book, Brockschmidt works her way through this fascist threat with journalistic and narrative skill. It is worth briefly retelling this story as Brockschmidt tells it. The starting point is the black civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, which led to a fundamental shift in the American party landscape. The Democrats, who had opposed the interests of blacks in the southern states, made a U-turn on this issue, driven by the liberal sections of the party from the north and coastal areas. They aligned themselves with the demands of the civil rights movement.

This strategy paid off in electoral victory, but subsequently a gap emerged in the representation of white Southerners, who continued to oppose equality for former slaves and their descendants out of racist motives. Here, the original arsonists in the Republican Party saw an opportunity to reorient the party and win the loyalty of disappointed Southern voters. The conservative project has always been based on a racist and exclusive mindset, but it was only with the realignment of the two major parties that the creeping radicalization of the GOP began. Brockschmidt describes this as an irony of history, as the Republicans were once the party of slave emancipation under Lincoln.

Serving resentment

The so-called “Southern Strategy”, which essentially consists of playing on voters' racist resentments and converting them into votes, was further developed in the following decades. The openly far-right presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, who incited hatred against black people, was punished by the US electorate as recently as 1964. However, Nixon achieved a breakthrough in the same decade.

He also made pacts with racism, but unlike Goldwater, he waged a more subtle culture war and addressed racist voter groups in a subliminal way with a so-called “dog whistle” policy. Everyone knows what is meant, even if it is not said openly. Thus, “law and order” and “states' rights” became ciphers of an anti-civil rights policy that implicitly linked black people and crime, thus triggering diffuse fears in the middle of society. With the presidential election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, the Southern Strategy proved to be a recipe for success that could be applied to the entire country, with Reagan favoring the racist and sexist stereotype of the welfare recipient: the child-rich black “welfare queen”.

Politics as a combat sport

Since the 1990s, the radical elements in the GOP have dared to appear more openly. They succeeded in leaving a lasting mark on the Republican party's program and party culture. Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan openly displayed his racism, railed against illegal migration, inflamed white Americans' fears of a future in which they would be the ethnic minority and called for the construction of a border fence with Mexico.

Newt Gingrich also established a different political style within the party, which poisoned the political landscape in the long term. For a long time, the Republicans had relied on an image of respectability and reasonably polite dealings with one another, despite all the brutalization of their content. Gingrich put an end to this. He used brutal scorched earth tactics against his opponents - both inside and outside the party - and turned politics into a bloody combat sport in which there can be no compromise with the other side and in which the opponent becomes a mortal enemy. This has permanently brutalized the political climate.

Mitt Romney, who ran against Barack Obama in 2012, stood for a last attempt to preserve the old, respectable appearance of the GOP. But he also sensed which way the wind was blowing and nominated the ultra-radical Christian fundamentalist Sarah Palin as his deputy. For in the 2010s, the Tea Party movement was on the rise in the GOP, which, with the means established by Gingrich - “lies, slander and harassment” - as well as active support from right-wing mass media such as Fox News, is paving the way to becoming a decisive power bloc in the party. And so the stage is set for Donald Trump's performance.

Arsonists and opportunists

This story shows how the interplay of arsonists and opportunists turned the GOP into a party whose existence turns every election into a choice of destiny in which, according to Brockschmidt, “nothing less than American democracy is at stake”. She breaks down the basic mechanism like this. Arsonists drive the party to the right, opportunists try to control the fire and use it to their own advantage and get burned in the process. Brockschmidt writes that this has not only led to the party apparatus becoming radicalized, but also the entire voter base with it.

In essence, Brockschmidt sees individuals and their ideas as the central aspects of history. However, such an idealistic perspective neglects the decisive factors that influence the development of the complex political system over time. For example, the cyclical economic crises in the capitalist system, the growing impoverishment of the American population, the dual capture of the American parties by capital interests, the economic interdependencies of the old and new media, and so on. All of this is barely included in her analysis.

In some places, Brockschmidt does take such factors into account, such as the widespread insecurity and anger that spread as a result of the banking crisis of 2008/09, but above all in reaction to its handling by a cartel of political elites across all party lines. However, she ascribes little potential to these events and their dynamics. The stars of the book are clearly the arsonists. Brockschmidt's intention is also to intervene in German politics. Precisely because she sees individuals in parties as having such a central function, her book ends with an appeal not to get involved in the dangerous game with the radicals: “The current state of the Republican Party must serve as a cautionary example for European conservatives of what happens when you get involved with extremists.”

“The arsonists”: light and shade

Even if her book “The Arsonists” can be captivating as a personal drama, as a reader you would still like to see a systematic summary of the various factors that contributed to the rise of the right-wing party in the GOP. A clearer structure would also have been possible, which would have benefited the book. For over long stretches, it often reads like a rather loose string of episodes in the drama surrounding the GOP.

An important omission in Brockschmidt's examination of the political situation in the USA must be pointed out. Of course it is true that the Republicans want to hijack the institutions of American democracy. But it is also true that these institutions have been hollowed out and that the Democrats have played their part in this. The entire US political system needs reform. It is the result of a bipartisan dictatorship in which Democrats and Republicans have agreed on key policy points for some time.

Both favor a militaristic and interventionist foreign policy, both have subordinated themselves to the neoliberal consensus, thereby fueling social inequality, weakening unions, and increasing corporate power. Until there is a clear alternative to choose from, the American left is in a terrible dilemma. Having to bail out the Democrats again and again robs the US left of credibility and undermines the building of its own sustainable political infrastructure beyond the Democratic Party. This simple, but devastating logic, is the US left's biggest obstacle.

The book:
Annika Brockschmidt
The Arsonists - How Extremists Took Over the Republican Party
Rowohlt
365 pages
24,00 Euro