10 Comments

Thanks for this wonderful dissection of the insanity of the modern Republican Party. There’s something about this piece that makes me wonder if we can frame a narrative about the Republican Party vs. the MAGA Party. Republican’s have done an excellent job painting all Democrats as Socialists as a way to disqualify Democrats from even being considered by many moderates. I wonder if we can do the same thing: Expose MAGA for the horror show it is (pro-Russian white supremacists), and then tag all Republicans as MAGA to disqualify them from consideration. Basically, use “MAGA” as a shorthand the same way R’s do with “Socialist.”

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The only component I would add is evangelical Christianity. That's the glue that really holds this together -- their values, their mythology. Also, I frequently come back to this Vox article (https://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11127424/trump-authoritarianism) and the importance of their view of the nuclear family and parenting. It's the foundation on which the whole authoritarian appeal rests.

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Thanks, Dan, for the important article and for clearly laying out the Trumpublican “thinking”/obsession with autocrats.

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You'll get no argument from me: IMO the GOP has been heading in this direction at least since the Reagan administration and more likely since Nixon's "southern strategy." I don't judge the GOP by the likes of Hawley or Gosar or Boebert or Greene. I judge it by the likes of Mitch McConnell and Bill Barr -- who are (or were until recently) "mainstream GOP" and who are in so many ways more appalling then the Qanon "fringe."

Fwiw, I do think you may have underplayed the fundamentalist Christian connection, It's integral to your points 1 through 3. The MAGAs' brand of Christianity is intensely authoritarian. It's long been susceptible to charismatic preachers, it's suspicious of critical thinking -- and then there's the old slogan "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it." Apocalyptic? You betcha. Their uncritical support for the Israeli right has a lot to do with hastening the second coming. (One can be anti-Semitic AF and still love Bibi.) They don't have to worry about what comes next, because *nothing* comes next. And as to white power -- this brand of Christianity had no problem rationalizing slavery, and IMO if you can rationalize slavery, you can rationalize pretty much anything. Need I note that this is not the Christianity that fueled the civil rights movement, the Catholic Worker movement, or the work of the Revs. Barber and Warnock today?

So far I'm not seeing an obvious connection to your point 4, but I'm working on it. If someone else has a clue, LMK?

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Fear, chaos – lack of control! That is the environment Republicans create, and they do it intentionally. They intentionally create problems where none exist, because that gives them the power to step in with “easy” solutions. They are not the party of freedom; they are the party of laziness.

That is the main difference between Democrats and Republicans. However imperfect the results can sometimes be, Democrats try to solve problems. Republicans always try to create them. We can't afford that kind of leadership.

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The beginning of a larger trend or the continuation of a mentality that has lain more and then less latent over the years. Or is it the fulfillment of a plan that was put into motion decades ago. None of this is new. It’s just coming to fruition. Much like Putin’s Russia. He and his compatriots have bern laying the groundwork for decades for what he’s doing now. It’s just that we didn’t notice until recently. What’s new for us is not new.

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Thank you for this clear explanation of a Republican Party that my father's generation(WWII) would not recognize.

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And what is the counter attack?

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