Glenn Greenwald: Today's Republicans are as phony as John Wayne

Glenn Greenwald's new book Great American Hypocrites: Toppling The Big Myths of Republican Politics looks like a doozy. This excerpt is from a recent interview about the book (AltWeeklies.com):

RLN: You begin your analysis with the example of John Wayne as a prototype of the hypocritical would-be hero of the right. What specifically drew you to him, and why does he stand out?

GG: To this day, John Wayne is the prototype of the uber-patriotic, uber-masculine, uber-courageous Moral Republican Warrior. His imagery is the template that pioneered the brand and that the Right uses to this day to build up their political leaders. [...]

Yet John Wayne was one of America's biggest and most repugnant frauds — in exactly the way that modern Right-wing leaders are. At a time when virtually nobody avoided combat, Wayne did exactly that, using the most dishonorable means imaginable, throughout all of World War II. Because the most successful male actors, including older ones, went to fight, he was able to stay in Hollywood and become extremely rich playing war heroes. He spent the rest of his life glorifying every American war and accusing war opponents of being cowards, Communists and traitors. He crusaded for traditional American morality, attacking others whom he perceived to deviate, while he engaged in compulsive womanizing and adultery, repeatedly breaking up his own family, and wallowing in pill addictions.

Before there was Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, George Bush, Bill Kristol, David Vitter and even John McCain — there was John Wayne. One finds key parts of Wayne in each of them. To this day, he's the role model for how the Right conducts itself and the methods they use to swindle the American public.