The conservative love of despotism

The conservative love of despotism
February 12, 2011 by Jeffrey Tucker

There were a few conservatives in 1989 and 1990 who quietly regretted the anti-socialist revolutions in Eastern Europe and Russia. I was shocked but learned something. Now we can learn something today by those who are not-so-quietly expressing a preference for Mubarak over the rights and liberties of the Egyptian people.

There is much more to say about this impulse, but it seems pretty clear to me that this stems from rank religious bigotry, carefully cultivated within the American right wing over the last ten years. ( Thanks Pro Libertate.) This is from the Glenn Beck, the man who praised Hayek and made The Road to Serfdom a bestseller. Now it is unclear whether he ever read it. Meanwhile, the little would-be Mubaraks at C-PAC pretended not to notice Egypt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rFKCMGvwxE&feature=player_embedded

Note on comments: I'm very interested in similar examples of such thinking, but not at all interested in hearing from people who agree with Beck.

http://blog.mises.org/15660/the-conservative-love-of-despotism/