Am I out of line here? Remember, I grew up with these people, I know who they are. I know how they think. I have very good reasons to be afraid of them. Think about it: Southern Protestant Evangelicals, Tribal Islamists, the Catholic Priesthood. Is a pattern emerging?

So what if her nickname was Sandy? So? What the fuck is wrong with these people?

Conservatives’ bizarre, escalating obsession with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reached a new level this week when The Daily Caller published fake revenge porn of the new congresswoman.

“Here’s The Photo Some People Described As A Nude Selfie Of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” the Caller’s original headline read, before it was changed and the site posted a “we regret the error” message on Twitter. For the record, the photo is not of Ocasio-Cortez, despite what “some people” have said.

Since Ocasio-Cortez, a 29-year-old working-class democratic socialist, unexpectedly toppled powerful white male incumbent Joe Crowley in a June primary, she’s become an object of fixation among Republicans, especially Republican men. Conservative writer Ed Scarry posted a photo of her backside on Twitter, questioning whether her black suit was befitting of a “girl who struggles.” Right-wing media discovered that she ― like a lot of people named “Alexander,” “Alexandra” or some variant thereof ― went by the nickname “Sandy” in high school. A self-proclaimed “proud Christian Dad” on Twitter circulated a video of her dancing in a T-shirt in college as if it would be a career-damaging revelation. A Republican strategist referred to her as “the little girl” on Fox News, which runs segments about her constantly.

This explains the state’s predominantly Red electorate. Florida’s native, traditional population has always been rural Dixie, poor and oppressed, especially in the Panhandle. But a lot of the new voters now moving into Florida just couldn’t make it in their home states, and they had to come here to fail, all over again.

You see, folks who can’t compete in the modern world find it difficult to accept that perhaps it might be due to economic and historical forces over which they have no control, or that the social and economic class they aspire to join might actually be the ones responsible for causing their own depressed condition. And of course, no one likes to dwell on their own inadequacies and shortcomings, whether personal or cultural. They prefer to blame all their problems on foreign enemies, evil conspiracies and sinister elites who are stabbing them in the back and betraying their country, or culture…or race.

And these attitudes are quickly recognized and exploited by demagogues—but, I don’t have to explain that to you again, do I? Godwin was wrong. This is a resurgence of good old-fashioned fascism, just like in Europe a century ago. For the same reason, and by the same people.