Remember something: their goal isn’t to govern; it’s to strip their opponents of power. It’s to discredit and smear their enemies. Again, I can’t overstate this: the Republican party has radicalized.
I will remember that just a bit, since all what you said here was already taken into account. Being radicalized is now not being seen as proper by big business in America. It is not only the tool of the polls that we need to use, we have to constantly remind corporate America that they are not supposed to cuddle fascists that in the end are not their friends as much as they wanted to claim.
Just substitute Tea Party Tim with Trumpsters there.
In 2010, it was the Tea Party; in 2016, it was Trump. They’re escalating, radicalizing. They will continue to radicalize. That is because elites are not unified as the cartoon suggests; they are fractured and stratified, just like the classes beneath them. What has probably protected us up to this point is what remains of economic policies and institutions of the 20th Century (i.e. the welfare state, regulation, and so forth), as well as the separation of powers, although the separation of powers is now being weaponized as much as it is being used in our defense.
If the economy collapses, and if it takes the middle class with it; if it hurts state and municipal governments ability to function and provide economic assistance and if our dollar declines rapidly, then what happened on Wednesday will be child’s play compared to what happens next.
Latest I heard is that even the Marriott Hotel people have decided to not fund the politicians that supported the coup. So yeah, the bad guys are radicalizing more, but at the same time they are losing key support. So we all have to also do is a reverse boycott in favor of industries (I will have to join Twitter too now) that are doing the right thing now.
All well and good – I hope more follow. I’m especially encouraged by the actions of major tech companies.
But we have major ecological problems heading into the future, and what I suspect is that Joe Biden is in a position where he has no choice but to succeed. He must succeed as president, or there will be serious debate about democracy’s value and place in our society (i.e. whether we really need it at all).
I think this sums up nearly every GOP “mia culpa” I’ve heard so far:
“The only thing I hate more than the population of the planet Alderaan, who totally deserved it, is consequences. Consequences and not having a job! I think any galaxy in which I had to face a consequence for my past work on this weapon would be a sad one. That would be divisive and the last thing we need.“
Um, bullshit.
I agree. January 6 was our nation’s Beer Hall Putsch.
Memphis and Tulsa and Rosewood and the NYC Draft Riots were our kristallnachts.
Not sure where this question belongs, but this may be as good a place as any: Has anybody with their finger on the pulse of conservative Christian voters, the ones who considered Trump deplorably sinful but an acceptable vessel for the exaltation of their “righteous Christian” standard-bearer, evangelical VP Mike Pence, reported on their reactions to the insurrection attempt?
I mean, those were their fellow Trump voters in the Capitol (not to mention all over social media) shouting that their adored Pence needed to be hanged, as in, extrajudicially executed for not completely abandoning his constitutional responsibilities. Is this causing any evangelical Republicans to rethink their choice to get into bed with the Trumpists?
“God works in mysterious ways. It is not for us mere mortals to question why God favors Dear Trump.”
I’ve seen “Beer Belly Putsch,” but personally I like “Yee Haw Putsch” better.
Why is God the only one who gets to work in mysterious ways (and still keep His job)?
I have a conservative FB friend who responded to something I posted about the insurrection by pointing out that all the trouble was caused by paid thugs, who were undoubtedly the same ones chanting to hang Pence. I’m trying to decide if it is worthwhile posting a list of verified Trump supporters who were identified on the front lines, starting with the dead Air Force veteran.
It’ll probably just make them more determined to reject whatever you’re arguing. The human brain rarely reacts well to being told ‘You’re wrong,’ rarely agrees the first time even when evidence tells them they’re clearly wrong. And in our ego-driven culture, that’s magnified by a thousand.
As a non-American looking on, what happened was horrible however let it not be lost how powerful the media is.
IMHO the American media on both sides played a large roll with the fueling the flames of divisiveness in your country over the past four years.
You have a great country sad to see some of you at each others throats.
Both sides? How did you get that conclusion?
It’s a fact of nature that no matter how out there the Republicans or Fox News gets, the Democrats or MSNBC must, ipso fatso, become equally crazy, forever and ever, amen. I think it’s Neutron’s FORTH Law (stack-based languages are the best, and every rightward move must be met with an equal and opposite leftward move).
Well, you see…the right wing media reported lies, half-truths, etc, and inflamed and agitated the easily duped, while the left-wing media reported the truth, which inflamed and agitated the easily duped.
See! Both sides! Ben gazzie! Buttery mails!
I imagine quite a few evangelical men started their trek to DC right after they left church on Sunday.
They do not worship the suburban God of peace and love that I am familiar with. Their God is an angry God, longing for vengeance on a world that has fallen to the degradation of liberalism. They must now obey the sacred laws of God, not the corrupt God of men. (This is just my commentary, not an actual quote)
I’ve done quite a bit of reading on the very strong and deep long-running alliance between fundamentalist and evangelical religions and conservatism. It’s frightening. They love Trump without reservation. They think he is God’s gift to mankind to save a fallen world.
Some of them may balk at publicly supporting civil war, but the idea that they are embarrassed by Trump’s behavior is really off base. His adultery and affairs…I’ve studied religious cults. The behavioral restrictions don’t apply to the leaders, there’s no judgment and everyone recognizes it as the way the world works.
Spot on – they are not embarrassed by his behavior at all; they identify with it. They see themselves as Christian warriors, and Trump is their battering ram that they have used to knock down the walls of the enemy’s castle.