So many good arguments for how and why the Republican party, and especially the MAGA wing of the party, has become so corrupt and dangerous to the Republic. The problem is that we're all preaching to the choir. We're all patting ourselves on the back in own own little self-righteous echo chamber. MAGA Republicans don't read any of this. …
So many good arguments for how and why the Republican party, and especially the MAGA wing of the party, has become so corrupt and dangerous to the Republic.
The problem is that we're all preaching to the choir. We're all patting ourselves on the back in own own little self-righteous echo chamber. MAGA Republicans don't read any of this. And they wouldn't trust it if they did. They've already decided who and what they want to believe, and by God they're sticking to it. Rational arguments do not change minds that have been seduced by the demagogue. Have you talked to any of them lately? Regardless of the devil they choose in the next election, they haven't budged an inch.
The time for preaching and for rage is over. If Trump, himself, should disappear from the stage of our current history, the fascism in the Republican party that he made overt and acceptable will not die with him. At this point Trump is close to irrelevant. Cruz, DeSantis, Hawley and a host of other Trump acolytes are young, well educated and consumed by obscessive ambition to rule this nation. They seek , by any means necessary, nothing less than a One Party State.Unlike Trump, they wish to be feared not loved. A chain of serial election defeats in national and state elections--in purple states--over perhaps 20 years will be necessary but insufficient by itself to drive the fascist contagion back into the dormant “spore” stage of its life cycle. Italy in the 1980s and France today prove that. Like anthrax, the spores of fascist politics are always there. The most effective antidote to MAGA fascism in the corrupted Republican Party is massive turnout at the polls, contribution by ordinary citizens of time and money , sustained activism and high turnout of all those who understand the threat but do not vote. Can we be an effective Democracy when since the 1984 election turnout in National and State elections has never exceed 55% of those eligible to vote. As Franklin said, “We have a Republic, if we can keep it”. If fascism wins, it will be because of the political indifference of the American voters.
Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors. Familiarize yourselves with the chains of bondage and you are preparing your own limbs to wear them. Accustomed to trample on the rights of those around you, you have lost the genius of your own independence, and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises. - Lincoln
True and yet while such assuring one another that it's awful is only palliative, clarity is potent weapon against dishonesty. That part of how a skilled and ethical prosecutor works. And democracy is dead in the water without conversation. Successful social movements highlight things society is reluctant to tackle, or even acknowledge. They keep a spotlight trained on an injustice until it becomes hard to ignore. Progress is rarely comfortable.
So many good arguments for how and why the Republican party, and especially the MAGA wing of the party, has become so corrupt and dangerous to the Republic.
The problem is that we're all preaching to the choir. We're all patting ourselves on the back in own own little self-righteous echo chamber. MAGA Republicans don't read any of this. And they wouldn't trust it if they did. They've already decided who and what they want to believe, and by God they're sticking to it. Rational arguments do not change minds that have been seduced by the demagogue. Have you talked to any of them lately? Regardless of the devil they choose in the next election, they haven't budged an inch.
I wouldn't get too comfortable.
The time for preaching and for rage is over. If Trump, himself, should disappear from the stage of our current history, the fascism in the Republican party that he made overt and acceptable will not die with him. At this point Trump is close to irrelevant. Cruz, DeSantis, Hawley and a host of other Trump acolytes are young, well educated and consumed by obscessive ambition to rule this nation. They seek , by any means necessary, nothing less than a One Party State.Unlike Trump, they wish to be feared not loved. A chain of serial election defeats in national and state elections--in purple states--over perhaps 20 years will be necessary but insufficient by itself to drive the fascist contagion back into the dormant “spore” stage of its life cycle. Italy in the 1980s and France today prove that. Like anthrax, the spores of fascist politics are always there. The most effective antidote to MAGA fascism in the corrupted Republican Party is massive turnout at the polls, contribution by ordinary citizens of time and money , sustained activism and high turnout of all those who understand the threat but do not vote. Can we be an effective Democracy when since the 1984 election turnout in National and State elections has never exceed 55% of those eligible to vote. As Franklin said, “We have a Republic, if we can keep it”. If fascism wins, it will be because of the political indifference of the American voters.
Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors. Familiarize yourselves with the chains of bondage and you are preparing your own limbs to wear them. Accustomed to trample on the rights of those around you, you have lost the genius of your own independence, and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises. - Lincoln
True and yet while such assuring one another that it's awful is only palliative, clarity is potent weapon against dishonesty. That part of how a skilled and ethical prosecutor works. And democracy is dead in the water without conversation. Successful social movements highlight things society is reluctant to tackle, or even acknowledge. They keep a spotlight trained on an injustice until it becomes hard to ignore. Progress is rarely comfortable.