Would it be incorrect to think that Mark Twain already described how scammers feed off the US religious right in “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (1884). I am referring to “The King” and “the Duke”.

I think you should add in promoting the imperial interests of a very hostile power, Russia, to your list.

There is still some contestation within the Republicans - unfortunately not as strong in the House as in the Senate. Some strong words feature in the article:

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called Carlson Russia’s “useful idiot.” After Navalny’s death, he added: “History will not be kind to those in America who make apologies for Putin and praise Russian autocracy. Nor will history be kind to America’s leaders who stay silent because they fear backlash from online pundits.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) urged fellow Republican and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to “spend less time pushing Russian propaganda.”

A top political aide to Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) promoted Young’s denunciation of Navalny’s death by saying, “My U.S. Senator is not a venal Putin apologist, but I’m less sure about yours.”

Presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Navalny was killed by the “same Putin who Donald Trump praises and defends.” Haley soon noted that, while Trump weighed in repeatedly on NATO this week and posted dozens of times on Truth Social on Friday, he hasn’t yet mentioned Navalny . Former Trump vice president Mike Pence posted, more generally, “There is no room in the Republican Party for apologists for Putin.

Pretty hard for me to see a difference between a pacifist and a tankie