10 Historical 'Facts' Only a Right-Winger Could Believe

[BridgeTheGap]

As you may have noticed by following their writings, conservatives are not sticklers for historical accuracy, especially when they have a point to defend and not a lot of evidence to support it. Get a load, for example, of John Podhoretz explaining how the pro-choice Rudy Giuliani reduced abortions in New York City (though, um, not really) because he cut crime, which is one of "the spiritual causes of abortion."

Yeah, deadline pressure's a bitch. But there are some bizarre notions of American history in which conservatives have become so invested they've adopted them into their worldview. The best-known example is probably Jonah Goldberg's notion of "Liberal Fascism"; nowadays anytime a conservative talks about, say, Woodrow Wilson or Hillary Clinton, you may expect him to mention their resemblance to Benito Mussolini. They don't even have to think about it, even when normal people are gaping at them open-mouthed like audience members at "Springtime for Hitler" -- it's part of the folklore that helps them understand the American experience.

There are plenty of others. I've picked out 10 such ideas that are widespread enough to qualify. (In the nomenclature I have treated "Republican" and "conservative" as synonyms because, come on.)

10. The Robber Barons weren't robbers -- they were capitalist heroes.

http://www.alternet.org/story/149871/10_historical_%27facts%27_only_a_right-winger_could_believe?page=1

[Historic NY]

1. K&R

[Populist_Prole]

2. I've been "powerpointed" by some righties with some of these points

Not literally in the media fashion, but bombarded by a barrage of these points every chance they get. I get the impression that they don't fully believe in every single one of them, but just a few, but use them for solidarity of message. If I had to boil it and render it down to the nitty gritty, they're basically Christian evangelists that are really just "fellow travelers" in a broader based movement.

[saras]

3. Only a rightwinger would consider 'believing' an appropriate response to historical data

[Mopar151]

5. They continually confuse "beleif" and "fact" n/t

[jtrockville]

4. #11: Conservatives are fiscally responsible.