Faced with that kind of situation, some are spending less time arguing that their policy preferences are superior to Democrats’ policy preferences, and have instead gone to apocalyptic predictions of catastrophe should the Democrats take control. Here’s a striking one from conservative writer Rod Dreher:You can smell the panic. And he’s not alone.If your memory stretches all the way back to 2009, that kind of thing may sound familiar. When Barack Obama — a center-left president who spent years trying to win Republican support for his agenda — took office, many on the right absolutely lost their minds with fantasies of oppression and dictatorship.Republicans said over and over again that Obama was a “tyrant,” when all that was happening was that he was enacting the policies he ran on. As Jon Stewart said in April 2009 after running through a litany of conservatives decrying Obama’s tyranny, “I think you might be confusing tyranny with losing."“When the guy that you disagree with gets elected, he’s probably going to do things you disagree with,” Stewart continued. “Now you’re in the minority. It’s supposed to taste like a s--t taco.”But Republicans never seemed to get their minds around that idea. It was never enough to say “This is a very bad thing Obama is doing.” He had to be a tyrant who was moments away from rounding us up, imposing martial law, and putting us in FEMA concentration camps.
How on Earth do we get the American Right to stop this catastrophising BS? Where are the Republican who will decry paranoia and put national unity and goodwill over political scaremongering? (OK, there are some - look at those campaigning that they will vote for Biden.) But how can they overcome the sick feedback loop between Right wing media making money from encouraging paranoid conspiracy amongst the grass roots, and the politicians who see their endorsement as essential?
Update: what a sick worry this is -
GOP Candidates Open To QAnon Conspiracy Theory Advance In Congressional Races
It is a shame. Before Obama won there were a number of republicans who looked to have good futures.
ReplyDeleteThey all took dopey pills.
Are there any sane republicans left?
"Democrat control of government would be a communistic disaster..."
ReplyDeleteIt would be a CORPORATIST disaster. You must keep up 007. The DNC destroyed the chances of any true progressives and small business advocates. Now if you, as I do, think of big corporations as essentially communist monstrosities .... Yeah it would be a communistic disaster for sure. Tulsi was full steam on making things easier for small business. Yang would have made it easier for people to retreat from the cities, into the small towns, and slowly put some sort of small business together.
Corporatism is the reappearance of the communist catastrophe. Just in less inspiring packaging.
You must not understand how a limited hangout works. Q Anon is a misinformation source sure. But as a limited hangout, by its nature it MUST provide quite a bit of accurate and even some inside information. These sources are very useful. If a great deal of what Q Anon says was not pretty on the ball none of these sheilas that dote on this source would be held so in sway. Q Anon is a great source of HOPIUM for these deluded sheilas. But he would cease to be that way if he ran out of accurate information.
ReplyDelete