Much of this supposed turn to extremism doesn’t look like anything that would have bothered any number of modern European leaders from Disraeli down to De Gaulle. Once you look past the sensational personalities and media, the actual platforms look more like proposed reforms than planned revolutions.

The problem is that all history has been defined as an ever-Leftward trail. Therefore, any serious right is the enemy of progress. And some of the enemies, like Pim Fortuyn, don’t need to be right-wing!

It’s a sort of hysteria that doesn’t go away.
I suppose it shows that the European ruling elites on some level know how shaky their theory of things is and how little they have to offer if it is questioned in any way.

But “their theory of things” (which is more or less identical with what you call Liberalism) isn’t questioned by anybody, and certainly not by someone like Fortuyn (or even Heider). Aznar or Berlusconi are simply moderate liberals. Le Pen is a different sort of thing, but I really cannot take him seriously. What’s more, in Europe (which is the place I currently live in) media and academia are even more thoroughly liberal than in America. So any talk about “European rightward turn” is just pure nonsense.

Oh, I agree it’s rather rushing things. At present it’s the hysteria and inability to think or discuss anything that are most striking.

From our (European) perspective we could rather talk about “American rightward turn” (Bush as a president, resurgence of patriotism after 9/11, etc.) Of course, it doesn’t make any sense either.