"There’s an old saying: Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue. Meaning, those who say one thing and do another are at least acknowledging that right and wrong exist. If you want to understand the evolution of Donald Trump’s Republican Party, that’s the whole rancid enchilada.
It’s always been about building a political base of authoritarians. But at least Republicans used to be sheepish about it. Donald 'They’re Rapists' Trump was but a milestone in the Republican Party’s long journey toward dropping the pretense altogether. January 6, 2021, was another. Build your party’s power by actively seeking out thugs, and of course things eventually get out of hand." -- Author Rick Perlstein writing in New York Magazine about the long history of the Republican / White Supremacist / Insurrectionist party / cult in promoting authoritarianism, and the consequences that have been unfolding ever since.
Consider the thugs Perlstein is referring to in the Republicans' corner: the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, right-wing militias, lone wolf domestic terrorists, hate radio and other right wing media organs. That's on top of the party's extreme right-wing insurrection caucus that seeks to blow up the Federal government in service to the Malignant Loser, and far right domestic oligarchs and foreign authoritarian forces (e.g., Russian war criminal Vladimir Putin). A fight for democracy against these malign forces is worth it, and necessary to preserve our freedom.
