"The big problem for the radical right is that, in a diverse, pluralistic modern society, patriarchy, white supremacy, plutocracy, and theocracy are all radically inconsistent with anything even vaguely resembling liberal democracy. We can see clearly now that the solution to this otherwise insuperable dilemma is to get rid of liberal democracy. [snip]
"What follows from this? Because, to the extent that this view is sincerely held, it practically requires those who hold it to launch a civil war against the evildoers, that if successful will result in either a final solution to the leftist question, or the formal breakup of the nation.
"There is, in short, no living with these people. A liberal
democracy can’t survive when one of its two major parties is a radical
reactionary authoritarian ethno-nationalist party, that rejects the very
idea of a pluralistic liberal democratic society as a matter of first principles. Either that party or that liberal democracy must be destroyed, and will be." -- Paul Campos, on the dynamic playing out on the radical right following the decisive loss by Mango Mussolini. When a collection of autocratic, anti- democratic sociopaths masquerading as a political party thinks it unlikely they'll ever win a national election again, it's easier to understand what's motivating their insane gambits, violent rhetoric and escalating intimidation tactics unfolding every day.
2 comments:
I'd like to believe that Trump and his party of crooks and thugs were a terrible, failed experiment about how government works and how it doesn't. I wish that the people who voted him in would understand that hiring a guy who claims to have been a successful businessman and millionaire didn't work at all, on any level, and that now we can see that it was all a big con, a grift, a way for rotten people to do horrible things. But I don't think that will happen.
And now we have to clean up a mess so toxic and vast that even with the best people it will be overwhelming. Covid has knocked us to our knees, aided by Trump and a party of soulless monsters like Mitch McConnell. But we spoke up and we stood up and now we'll clean up. It's the only way.
donnah -- viruses like the Red Hat Cult have always been in our political bloodstream. But the amplification of their nihilism and authoritarianism is largely thanks to the right wing noise machine that's been pumping out a tribalistic alternate reality for decades. So, you're right, a revelation of the depths of the incompetence, corruption and lies is not going to happen to people who are too far down the rabbit hole. Fighting them with a clear vision of their "bottomless bad faith" is the task we (and most likely our children) face ahead.
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