I would never post this had it not come from that paragon of right-of-center respectability, UCLA Law Prof. Stephen Bainbridge. But since it does, I cannot resist:
Bush: Commie Dupe? Here at ProfessorBainbridge.com, we dote on conspiracy theories. So we were amused by science fiction writer Charles Stross argument “that George W. Bush is a communist dupe.” Or, more precisely, a dupe of a conspiracy of a cabal that has combined “the Shachtmanite version of Trotskyism” and “right-wing crypto-Nieztchian philosopher Leo Strauss.” It would seem to explain a lot.
Of course, Prof. Bainbridge also mentions in the comments to that item that “here at ProfessorBainbridge.com we were very taken with Cthulhu’s slogan in the 2004 Presidential race: ‘Why settle for the lesser of two evils?'” … so be forewarned….
That’s actually a pretty old theory; Charlie is just the most famous (and the most read by right-wingers) person to have mentioned it. I know I was muttering about Maximum Leader Genius being a communist plant around the time the upper class tax cuts started to rip the guts out of the budget in 2001, and I know that that wasn’t something I dreamed up on my own (for all I know, Charlie could have been the one who mentioned it [in alt.peeves, before it became a right-wing wankerfest]; it’s seems like it’s been decades since 2001.)
Oy! PrisonPlanet.com! Wanker conspiracyland central.
On the other hand, here’s an interesting discussion of the neocon trotskyist theme from History News Network.