This is who I was thinking of, he would appeal to those who see strength, fame, and wealth as indicators of virtue. One problem is the GO₽ isn’t unified enough for there to be central figure like Khrushchev, and the message will be actively undermined by foreign influence campaigns.
Waiting for the American Khrushchev: Who will deliver the “Cult of Personality” speech to Americans?
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I don’t think such a thing is possible.
Cultists have been too thoroughly immunized by constant attacks upon their Dear Leader. We already know there are a lot of Republican politicians who hate the guy, but they’re too afraid to get eaten alive by their constituents (metaphorically, literally or both) to speak out.
And even if they did, no matter how high up someone was in the party, they’re not higher than Trump. So they can easily get denounced as just another RINO.
The problem is that Republican voters actually really like Trump and seemed kind of disillusioned with most of the rest of the Republicans. So no one else is big enough or honking in your face enough to to drown out the living embodiment of the Big Lie.
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With Khrushchev initiating widespread rehabilitations of former enemies of the people and many of the exiles returning to their homes from labor camps in Siberia, truth, however, was increasingly difficult to deny …
… until the last couple of decades during which Stalinostalgia has become increasingly prominent and powerful.
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I was going to say Betty White.
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…Maybe this could work? I suspect she’s a bigger icon for the left than the right, but I sure hope I’m wrong. Who could hate Betty White?
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Clint Eastwood.
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Nah, Republicans are super quick to dismiss Hollywood conservatives as part of the radical left the moment they show any sign of moderation. Just look at how Arnold Schwarzenegger’s criticisms of Trump have been received.
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It’s an interesting idea. They do worship his characters and he demonstrated some affinity toward their crazy with the “empty chair” speech. On the other hand, as @Brainspore notes, they turn very quickly on any “Hollywood type” who breaks with their personality cult.
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I feel like he’s got a certain credibility with that demographic that would outweigh the Hollywood thing. And I think to call him and Arnold ‘conservative’ or to say they’re both Republicans is only technically true at best.
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If you want to draw this parallel, then it doesn’t look hopeful. For the secret speech method to work, a few other things would need to be true. Look at the situation Khrushchev faced:
- Stalin was already completely out of the picture. So for this to work, Trump has to be out of the limelight and be quiet- imprisoned, exiled or otherwise silenced. If not, there’s a competing voice to rally the supporters back to trumpism
- The power struggle over who was to succeed Stalin was already resolved by the time the secret speech was given. This means that whoever is to emulate it must also eliminate any rivals for control of the party. This is incredibly unlikely, as the Republicans are still as incredibly divided as they were in 2016- there is no obvious leader around whom they can coalesce, which is how Trump managed to grab the nomination in the first place.
- Khrushchev was able to make sure that everyone who needed to heard the secret speech, and not any other countervailing narratives. This suggests that the power doesn’t lie in the hands of Republican politicians, but rather with Rupert Murdoch. A repudiation of Trump will only work if it’s backed up by the full force of Fox news. Even then, if the other conditions aren’t met, the mob ill migrate to facebook, to Q message boards or RT if there’s a demagogue to lead them there.
- A final problem that the Republicans face is that they don’t have as tight control over the party as Khrushchev did. The Republicans are not the CPSU, and the central organisation cannot keep all the state and local organisations in line. If anything, rogue billionaire donors and local primary challengers could set the tone of the party, as they did in the Tea Party era.
So in other words, If they need a Khrushchev, they’re not going to get one.
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The Guardian reported that Kellyanne Conway is going to give a televised interview soon.
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But you need to find someone who would actually deliver the speech (in addition to someone who would have the credibility with the masses). Limbaugh and Carlson will be pro-Trump to their dying breaths, literally: Trump could be choking them and they’d still blame ANTIFA! for their hypoxia and inability to inhale.
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She’s got the name going for her, that’s gotta help a bit.
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Time will take care of it. Don’t forget, us Americans have short attention spans and short memories.
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Then, decades later…
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Yeah, but in fairness, this didn’t just “happen”. The Putin regime has carefully tended the rehabilitation of Stalin and his works.
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Three words: television casting show.
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I could see Mitch doing it, if the rumours that he might vote to convict in Trump’s impeachment trial are true.
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The problem is the last time we tried something like that was Obama and Bush’s war crimes. It turned into an utter cover-up with no responsibility, no truth, and no consequences.
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