It is about power, powerlessness and fear. It is not inherently right or left as it is psychological, not ideological. If you have not yet read Dr. Altmeyer's online book, The Authoritarians, you really must.
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/...
It's an enjoyable read, given the subject, and more valuable than ever.
More below the fold.
During the 1980s, I listened as conservatives parsed the differences between authoritarian and totalitarian governments and I began to see, not a straight line with those positions at either end, but those positions back to back as part of a circle. If a totalitarian or authoritarian leader had looked over his shoulder, he would have seen the other (his supposed polar opposite) right behind him. There have been authoritarians on the political left in this country (as pundits wallowing in memories of the scary 60s love to point out) but all the authoritarian action since the oil crisis of the 70s has been on the right. That's where the power, money and attention are for the authoritarian leaders.
When I first heard David Horowitz (the blithering idiot, not the consumer reporter), I thought he just wanted to be right about something and didn't care what that was as he was in love with the sound of his own voice and with telling other people what to do. So when he said he had been a Stalinist (Stalin was an authoritarian much more than he was a communist), I wasn't surprised. And if the balance of power ever swings back towards the left (past the DLC gatekeepers), Horowitz, or others like him, will be right there, claiming to speak for us all, without a hint of irony (or memory).
Who are among the fearful?
Those members of the CIA and the FBI we don't like much (though there are dedicated public servants in both agencies).
Neocons, who are so sure they can save us from the enemies only they can see clearly.
Teapartiers, who have been carefully taught to hate and fear the wrong people.
Conservative fundamentalists, who crave the control of others and seeing others controlled.
Remember this is a free-floating anxiety we are discussing, that settles on those psychologically predisposed to it. If you don't feel the need to preemptively cut your enemies off at the knees now, you're unlikely to feel that way when the pendulum swings back. Neocons, teapartiers and fundamentalists do not create authoritarians (well, maybe children) as much as they attract them.
This has been a little rambling in style, so I hope I've been clear.