The hypocritical party

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The American Orbánistas are likewise revealing themselves. Though they are familiar with the folly of political tourism, they are lining up now to laud a leader who no longer even pretends to be democratic. The nations best prepared for the future, he declared in a 2018 address, were “not liberal, not liberal democracies, maybe not even democracies.” The new state Hungary is building, Orbán said “is an illiberal state, a non-liberal state.” Freedom House agrees. It no longer lists Hungary among the world’s democracies.

Orban used his supermajority in parliament to increase the size of the constitutional court from 11 to 15 (appointing four new members of the Fidesz party), and then lowered the mandatory retirement age for judges and prosecutors, freeing up slots for party members. Fidesz has used its control of the judiciary to hound competing political parties with fines and investigations. Orbán has also taken control of 80 percent of Hungary’s news media, and these crony-controlled outlets now constitute an enormous propaganda machine. Voting, which never had a long history in Hungary, was hamstrung by gerrymandering to give Fidesz a huge advantage. As the Economist noted, “In the general election last year, Fidesz won 67% of the parliamentary seats—maintaining its supermajority—while taking just less than half of the popular vote.” At the start of the COVID pandemic, Orbán was granted sweeping powers to rule by decree. The newly empowered state immediately made spreading “misinformation” a crime.

Orban’s nationalism is appealing to American conservatives. You can sense their excitement when he says things like “We do not want to be diverse. We do not want our own color, traditions, and national culture to be mixed with those of others.” The trouble for the American Orbánistas is that Hungary, a central European nation of 10 million, is not diverse. The United States is and—this cannot be stressed too often—always has been. The “conservatives” who thrill to talk of a monoculture are not preserving an American tradition, they are seeking to import something else..

What Orbán’s Apologists Reveal About Themselves - The Bulwark

• Parts of the left used to tout the SU, then China, Cuba, or Nigaragua. That didn't end well and they were rightly criticized for doing so.
  
• But some of those same people criticizing the left for touting these nasty regimes are now fanning over... Hungary