Liberalism’s useful idiots: How moderate institutions enable authoritarian drift

Liberalism’s useful idiots: How moderate institutions enable authoritarian drift

In moments of democratic crisis, those who claim to be the guardians of the liberal order often prove to be its most hapless saboteurs. As the far right consolidates power across the United States—through voter suppression, ideological school boards, gerrymandering, book bans, and creeping theocratic nationalism—many of the institutions that pride themselves on defending “liberal democracy” have opted for paralysis, false equivalence, or appease…