Speaking of James Taranto, on July 23, 2003 he revealed what was wrong with me, all my friends, and the vast majority of my family members

Hitler Was Conservative, New Study Reveals

Blogger Rory Miller noticed this first, and we're a little reluctant to pick it up, because we can't tell if it's a parody. But it does appear on the UC Berkeley Web site, and it looks for all the world like a legitimate press release announcing a new "study." So here goes:
Four researchers who culled through 50 years of research literature about the psychology of conservatism report that at the core of political conservatism is the resistance to change and a tolerance for inequality, and that some of the common psychological factors linked to political conservatism include:
• Fear and aggression• Dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity• Uncertainty avoidance• Need for cognitive closure• Terror management
OK, so far this sounds almost plausible. Now read this, from the same press release:
Disparate conservatives share a resistance to change and acceptance of inequality, the authors said. Hitler, Mussolini, and former President Ronald Reagan were individuals, but all were right-wing conservatives because they preached a return to an idealized past and condoned inequality in some form. Talk host Rush Limbaugh can be described the same way.
Of course! Hitler, Mussolini, Reagan, Limbaugh, they have lots in common. Can you imagine if some conservative published a "study" likening, say, Stalin, Castro, Bill Clinton and Alan Colmes? He'd be dismissed as a nutjob, attacked as a McCarthyite or both. But wait! Get a load of this, from the same Berkeley press release:
The researchers conceded cases of left-wing ideologues, such as Stalin, Khrushchev or Castro, who, once in power, steadfastly resisted change, allegedly in the name of egalitarianism.
Yet, they noted that some of these figures might be considered politically conservative in the context of the systems that they defended. The researchers noted that Stalin, for example, was concerned about defending and preserving the existing Soviet system.
So you see, all dictators are conservatives, just like Reagan and Limbaugh. Thank you, American higher education, for spending our tax dollars on this path-breaking research! This "study" is attributed to Berkeley's Jack Glaser and Frank Sulloway, Stanford's John Jost and the University of Maryland's Arie Kruglanski. Is it for real, or is some Berkeley prankster enjoying a huge laugh at their expense?