CPAC’s Authoritarian Hero

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CPAC, the prominent conservative political conference, was held this week in Hungary. Setting aside the irony of the “America First” crowd taking their money and convention jobs to another country, what’s most disturbing is the way they’ve cozied up to the authoritarian leader of Hungary, Viktor Orbán.

Orbán provides a template for authoritarian rule, being called a modern dictator in Europe. Several groups have looked at the ways he’s gerrymandered voting districts and limited voting rights for those who oppose him. This is on top of his control of the media, cracking down on free press, limiting religious freedom of non-Christians, removing rights for LGBTQ people, and demonizing immigrants.

Oh yeah, and he’s very cozy with Putin.

The quotes you see in the cartoon are all real from the sources noted. The alarm bells have been ringing for years about Orbán. He’s made Hungary into a country that some NGOs now dub, “partly free.” The Economist (hardly an alarmist, leftist magazine) has said Orbán has hollowed out Hungary’s democracy.

And this is the hero the conservative action committee holds up as an example.

Don’t be surprised when the conservatives and GOP try to bring these tactics to the US, undermining freedoms for anyone “different” than them and eroding democracy. They’re telling us what they value. We know what they want to do.