Well, I got into it the other day with a commenter who said it was no good calling Bachmann and her chief supporters "proto-fascists."
The commenter said: nope, they're not "proto-" they're just good old-fashioned fascists. And I said, nope, they're not fascists--because one of the hallmarks of fascism is the use of violence and physical intimidation as a matter of policy. So far, Bachmann supporters haven't embraced that as an operating strategy.
But we're getting closer. This Politico piece notes that Bachmann's security people have now developed a sort of policy of roughing up reporters, bloggers, or anyone who might be unfriendly to this candidate.
See the link, below.
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http://www.politico.com/...
Context:
She has a history of having a volunteer "security detail" around her, but she doesn't call it that. This goes back to before she was elected to Congress, you'd often see these big guys escort her as she walked to and from public engagements. (There's online video of this taking place, back in the day, but I don't feel like looking it up right now.) Some of these guys would surreptitiously video-record demonstrators, if there were any.
For future identification purposes, I suppose. But roughing up reporters...well, the most reliable accounts of that date from this year.
Bachmann is a petite woman, she speaks out on controversial issues, and ever since she began to lead anti-gay rights issues (back in 2004-2005) she's insinuated that she's been "threatened." (She's never published police reports substantiating the insinuations.)
She and her hard-core supporters also genuinely believe in "global conspiracy at work, here in the United States." So that adds genuine paranoia to the mix.
Of course, none of this is an excuse for pushing around reporters or any citizen who wants to get near enough to her to ask a question. United presidents and presidential candidates seem to be able to get through the weak without threatening members of the legit media.
But yes: the movement behind Bachmann is proto-fascist, as I've been telling people for years. When the press allows the paranoid right into the mainstream of U.S. politics, the fascist tendencies are bound to bubble up, and reporters will get shoved around.
We will wait for public apologies to the press from presidential candidate Michele Bachmann for condoning a security policy that includes pushing around and threatening reporters. But even if that happens: I don't see how that will stop this kind of thing. It's inevitable that things are going to get rough when American media tolerates a paranoid extremist presidential candidate who sincerely believes in conspiracy theories.