Are All Authoritarian Conservatives Without Conscience?
Dean Says No. Just as Dean is careful not to put all conservatives in the “authoritarian” category, he also refrains from positing that all authoritarians are conservatives without conscience. For there are high and low degrees of authoritarians, and some low degree authoritarians think for themselves sometimes, and don’t always blindly follow authority. Dean gives Patrick Buchanan as an example of an authoritarian conservative who displays a conscience–sometimes, at least. Buchanan, for instance, admitted that Nixon’s ordering and covering up a burglary was wrong. And he had refused to organize the “Plumbers Unit” responsible for the burglary at the Watergate, and for other dirty tricks. Buchanan drew the line at what he considered illegal, immoral, and unethical. Thus, though readers may differ as to whether or not Buchanan has a conscience, it is clear, at least, that Buchanan had a line in the sand he would not cross. The Current Administration: Is There a Line It Will Not Cross?
