I have heard it suggested that Tom Cotton might be the next charismatic Republican leader, and I think y’all have some serious misunderstandings about the aesthetics of fascism.
It’s gonna be Josh Hawley. He always looks like he’s about to bust out into a chorus of “Tomorrow Belongs To Me.”
Guys no.
The fascist aesthetic is not “interchangeable scrawny white guy in a suit.” Where’s the perversity in your appeal?
Do I have to spell out the aesthetic? The fash strongman has to embody masculinity, but not in a way that offers an unobtainable ideal. So: not too pretty/athletic. Maybe once in his prime, but if so, definitely gone to pasture a bit. Can’t quite be a dweeb, which is why Carlson had to put on weight before he could play the part and why Ted Cruz needs to lose that ridiculous Roger Delgado beard. You want manly, but not actually attractive. Slightly unkempt is good for this.
Again, what’s important is a perverse appeal. Fugly, as the kids used to say. A charisma that stubbornly defies observable reality.
This [Dan Crenshaw] is a damn fascist strongman.
Tucker [Carlson] absolutely has the it. You’d have crowds of angry screaming men wearing bowties. Matt Smith would be the new Pepe. Genuinely nightmarish.
Women have a hard time with the fash aesthetic, which is too misogynistic for them to thrive at the top. [Sarah] Palin came closest because, again, perversity.
Dan Bongino is probably the one figure that i’d be most alarmed to hear was mounting an exploratory committee.
Dark horse, but … Yeah, that’s the look.
Re: Trump Jr, nah. Can’t make lightning strike twice.
Peter Theil or Elon Musk?
Good lord no.
the Hillbilly Elegy guy [JD Vance]
Maaaaybe. But I doubt it. Too much “it’s ok, sometimes puberty is just really late” energy. (As distinct from Carlson, which is “look, puberty doesn’t work out for everyone and that’s OK.” Which works. Fascist masculinity is a subtle beast.)
Oh Well, no Carl of Swindon candidate on the cards then. What about The Rock though? He’s known as a republican right? I couldn’t see him as fash himself but maybe as an easy backdoor useful idiot for a fash establishment?
This overcorrects into “too attractive.” Men need to idolize but also plausibly aspire to.
The “completely made up set of medals” thing is 💯💯💯 — [Sheriff David] Clarke has the exact right fragile masculinity for fascism, which is to say one that is utterly oblivious to its fragility.
Someone said Matt Walsh, and guys, you cannot simply beard your way out of dweebhood.
Ben Sasse … I see where you’re going but I don’t think you’re quite there.
Weev demonstrates that there is such a thing as overdoing it.
