That is what American conservatives admire about Orban. They don’t see him as a corrupt autocrat they can emulate. They see him as someone who unapologetically fights and wins culture war battles from the right — who shows it’s possible not just to halt the leftward ratchet but to reverse its course.
I know where I stand — on the side of those who’ve won their rights. I want an America open to the world and willing to extend the blessings of liberty to all of our fellow citizens. Yet I don’t consider the effort to oppose or limit these cultural and political developments illegitimate, provided those who make that effort agree to wage the battle democratically, by seeking to win majority support and accepting the results if they ultimately fail in the effort.
Far more ominous than admiration for Orban on the American right is the rise of arguments in favor of disregarding the need to prevail at the ballot box — of seizing and exercising political power in the name of a right-wing cultural agenda regardless of what the majority prefers and supports.
That really would be an effort to impose a form of tyranny on the United States, and something far worse than anything Orban has attempted.
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