Senator Mark Hatfield was a moderate Republican from Oregon. In the preface to this 1968 book on the far right, he warned of the danger such groups posed to his party and the nation. It makes for interesting reading in 2020.
Hatfield delivered the keynote address at the 1964 GOP convention that nominated the self-proclaimed "extremist," Barry Goldwater. Neither Goldwater nor most of his supporters were present for the speech. They had another event lined up off site. https://www.nytimes.com/1964/07/14/archives/transcript-of-the-keynote-address-by-gov-hatfield-at-gop-convention.html
In his 1968 preface to that book Hatfield opened by referring to his 1964 denunciation of extremist groups including "Communist Party, the Ku Klux Klan, and the John Birch Society."
He had expected "a strong reaction...but was frankly shocked at the intensely emotional and irrational tone of much of the correspondence."
"This type of [right wing] political extremism feeds on fear and frustration. The massive domestic problems and international crises that we fear we cannot cope with...have left many people desperate to return to a simpler time." Like to a time when America was once great?
"The Far Right has been successfully united by a well-designed, well-financed and persistent campaign of fear..."
"...the continual fanning of this fear by the Billy James Hargiss and other 'crusaders' has created such a distortion in the perceptions of some adherents of the Far Right that they can no longer distinguish between fantasy and reality, or between cause and effect."
"As Far Righters continually repeat their suspicions, these suspicions are transformed, in their mind, into fact. Thus, Far Righters can-with sincere conviction if not logic--insist that federal projects and welfare programs are socialistic..."
"...that socialism is essentially the same as Communism; and, therefore, most people in government in the past 30 years have been agents of Communism."
"The validity of their judgements rests on the logic of 'either/or' and they have little tolerance or the comprehension of a middle ground between these two extremes."
"The 'Communist conspiracy' is seen by the Far Righters as the cause of everything from ghetto riots to fluoridated water. In so distorting the nature of the problems we face, they propose solutions that are irrelevant, & often detour efforts to find the appropriate answer."
"They further retard the workings of our political process through their inability to discuss issues *rationally*...Instead of participating in an exchange of ideas, one finds himself listening to a monologue of conditioned responses to emotional slogans."
"Far Right crusaders would deny that a man is Christian if he does not share their political beliefs...they counsel that you can accept either the welfare state or Christ--but not both. Far Righters often equate Communism with the devil and America with God."
"And God, to the Far Righters, is a personification of a white, Protestant, anti-Communist American. They have turned the scriptural tables and created God in their image." Mark Hatfield, a devout Christian Republican, said this in 1967.
"I, like many other political figures, am aware of the potential power of the Far Right but too little research has been done concerning the real extent of its influence. We can be sure that the Far Right will continue to be a major force at all levels of our political system."
Here's how the author, John Redekop, defines the "Far Right." I suspect it'll sound familiar.

They "attribute evil motives to recent and contemporary political leaders and see liberalism and Communism as being basically identical."
They "oppose the UN & what they term 'one world internationalism.'" They also oppose "most types of social reform and tend to see 'the Red Conspiracy' at work everywhere." They also articulate "a nostalgic desire to return to a state of 'traditional Americanism.'"
"Rightists long for the 'good old days' in which 'Christian Patriotism' was presumably revered by all and in which the income tax and civil rights marches were unknown."
--this was written in 1968, about the right edge of the GOP
Yeah, as I was saying about the lasting influence of the far right. https://twitter.com/ECMcLaughlin/status/1271284976093294592?s=20
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