The GOP’s descent into authoritarianism

by

This is not your father’s GOP. The carcass of the Republican Party has been hollowed-out by the parasitic radical extremist fringe elements of the far-right. These are the “double high authoritarians” that John Dean warned about in his 2006 book, Conservatives Without Conscience. See Michael Bryan’s 2006 book review, John W. Dean, “Conservatives Without Conscience”.

They have now coalesced around a demagogue, a professional grifter and con man given to conspiracy theories and appealing to the worst human instincts: racism, bigotry and fear of others and the unknown. Add white nationalism, fundamentalism and political party tribalism, and it forms a toxic brew.

Supporters of Donald Trump are willing to allow him to fulfill his dream of becoming an authoritarian despot, like his pal Vladimir Putin, and rejecting American democracy in favor of “Dear Leader,” according to two new polls taken this week.

Laurie Roberts writes at the Arizona Republic, Would Trump supporters really nix free speech and democracy?

Just how far are Republicans willing to go in their support of President Donald Trump?

Pretty darn far, it seems. Scary far.

They actually believe Trump’s spiel

According to a recent academic survey of 650 Americans who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, nearly half (47 percent) say Trump won the popular vote in 2016. Sixty eight percent believe that millions of illegal immigrants voted.

Meanwhile, 52 percent said they would support postponing the 2020 election if Trump said it needed to be delayed until the country can make sure that only eligible American citizens are voting.

Think about that. More than half of Republicans surveyed would go along with a Trump call to postpone our most precious and important right to determine who will lead us until Donald Trump could assure them that no illegal immigrants would voting.

The word of a guy who announced that three to five million people illegally voted in 2016 without so much as a scintilla of evidence to back that up would be enough for 52 percent of Republicans surveyed to allow him to remain president without the inconvenience of having to win another election.

Why would they toss these rights?

That number rises to 56 percent if congressional Republicans joined in the call to postpone the election.

If that’s not alarming enough, a new YouGov/Economist poll finds that 45 percent of Republicans believe judges should have the power to “shut down news media outlets for publishing or broadcasting stories that are biased and inaccurate.”

[Hence Trump’s constant assault on the mainstream media as “fake news.”]

Let’s review, shall we?

Not even eight months into Trump’s presidency, nearly half of Republicans are now willing to toss out two fundamentals upon which this country was founded: free speech and the right to democratically elect our leaders.

And we’re worried about North Korea?

The authors of the study Laurie Roberts cites add, In a new poll, half of Republicans say they would support postponing the 2020 election if Trump proposed it:

Not surprisingly, beliefs about the 2016 election and voter fraud were correlated with support for postponement. People who believed that Trump won the popular vote, that there were millions of illegal votes in 2016, or that voter fraud is not rare were more likely to support postponing the election. This support was also more prevalent among Republicans who were younger, were less educated, had less factual knowledge of politics and strongly identified with the party.

[Low information voters and political party tribalism.]

Of course, this is still hypothetical.

Of course, our survey is only measuring reactions to a hypothetical situation. Were Trump to seriously propose postponing the election, there would be a torrent of opposition, which would most likely include prominent Republicans. Financial markets would presumably react negatively to the potential for political instability. And this is to say nothing of the various legal and constitutional complications that would immediately become clear. Citizens would almost certainly form their opinions amid such tumult, which does not at all resemble the context in which our survey was conducted.

Nevertheless, we do not believe that these findings can be dismissed out of hand. At a minimum, they show that a substantial number of Republicans are amenable to violations of democratic norms that are more flagrant than what is typically proposed (or studied). And although the ensuing chaos could turn more Republicans against this kind of proposal, it is also conceivable that a high-stakes and polarized debate would do the exact opposite.

Postponing the 2020 presidential election is not something that Trump or anyone in his administration has even hinted at, but for many in his constituency, floating such an idea may not be a step too far.

As the father of the Republican Party (long since defunct), Abraham Lincoln presciently warned:

“From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some trans-Atlantic military giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe and Asia…could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide.”

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77 thoughts on “The GOP’s descent into authoritarianism”

  1. Dear Arizona, is Senator Kavanaugh really as dumb as he always sounds?
    A reader from Massachusetts

  2. The woman killed by the Nazi Trump supporter was Heather Heyer. A married mother of two with a husband battling cancer.

  3. Truth.

    Charles M. Blow‏Verified account @CharlesMBlow 10h10 hours ago

    Stop saying “we need to bring ppl together.” I will NOT be “brought together” w racists. There is middle ground btw us. #charlotesville

    • “Charles M. Blow posted: “Stop saying “we need to bring ppl together.” I will NOT be “brought together” w racists. There is middle ground btw us. #charlotesville”

      I agree with Mr. Blow…I will not lumped in with right wing white supremacists or left wing anarchists. I do not believe either extreme represents the positions of the right or the left.

  4. Does anybody know how many people actually read this blog because based upon the comments, there seem to be about a baker’s dozen. Also, when is the annual dinner?

    • According to Alexa.com, Amazon’s analytics company, Blog for Arizona has about 5,000 unique visitors a month.

      I forget the average number of pageviews and visits each of those 5,000 perform.

      This is down from 7,000 about 6 months ago.

  5. My, My, Liza, you have been busy today. I took all your comments and combined them into a single response. It just was easier that way…

    ”It never ends, does it?”

    No, it doesn’t, Liza, and it never will as long as there is a left and a right to oppose one another.

    ”All I know is we’re in a world of sh!t.”

    You are the perpetual pessimist…cheer up! This isn’t the end of the world. There are just interesting times. We have had them before and we have them again. Despite the doom and gloom, we are still and solid democracy and will continue to work as they should.

    ”Right. Blame everyone, hold no one responsible.”

    That is the tone he should take. The riot and killings were caused because of two separate groups that clashed. Had the counter-protestors not shown up ready to bust some heads against the idiotic white supremacists who were gathered hoping the leftists would show up so they could bust some heads, it would not have happened. It took the two sides deciding to get together to clash violently to make this tragedy happen. He should not take sides under these circumstances because both sides were stupid and wrong.

    ”Bernie Sanders‏ had a lot of quotes that got stronger throughout the day and which condemned the white supremacists. However, like most politicians, Bernie has done nothing of substance to correct the underlying problems. He could have spoken out to encourage the counter-protestors to ignore the white supremacists (which is the really the smartest way to deal with the dirtbags) or once things went bad, he could have spoken out to try and calm things. Instead he waited until after and scored some cheap political points. Big help he was…

    ”Claude Taylor‏: “Take your “both sides” and shove it you race baiting, malignant narcissist hate monger.”

    Your friend Claude is just the voice for reason that everyone needs at times like this. He would certainly be helpful in a serious situation, wouldn’t he?

    ”President Crazy Pants, the Worst of All Time, unable to even condemn death and violence without kissing the chubby white asses of his base.”

    First of all, Liza, you don’t know for certain if the white asses are actually “chubby” or not. Second, as I said, his job as President is not to choose side as much as it is to condemn the killing and the violence in total.

    ”But if I had to tie this to recent history, I would choose the white backlash provoked by a twice elected African American president.”

    Of course you would choose that, Liza, because you are fixated on it. In choosing you would also be wrong. There is no doubt a small minority of people did not like having a black man President, but that was not a big issue for the majority. If there is a “white backlash” – and I think an argument can be made there is one – it is the result of being singled out for vilification and condemnation by all sides at all times in our current culture. Speak out and you are told to sit down and shut up because whites held all the marbles for so long it is time to pay the price. The alternative is to adopt a sort of Copenhagen Syndrome where you are ashamed of being white and constantly speak out against anything that benefits whites as wrong. I think you and Tom suffer from that malaise badly and can’t even see it. It gives you the chance to be righteous and to be part of the “cool kids crowd”.

    Talk to you later!

    • Hi, Steve,
      Yeah, I spent more time on this than I intended to but there were new developments throughout the day and I am kind of news junkie.

      I haven’t really had an opportunity to think about all of this in great depth, I’ve just been following the story. So, I’m not able to respond to conservative reactions at this time. However, I do feel compelled to point out that the white boys from out of town who showed up with helmets and weapons clearly intending to hurt people seem to contradict your opinion (shared with Trump) that “both sides” are responsible. And Trump is never going to disavow white supremacy because he believes in it.

      Also, I am not the one who said that Trump supporters have “chubby white asses”. That was Tom.

      There is one observation about today that I will share with you. There are people out there who are going to fight this administration and what they are trying to do to this country.

      The resistance is growing, and that’s good.

      • Thank you for taking the time to post such a nice reply, Liza. It was very kind of you!

        ” I do feel compelled to point out that the white boys from out of town who showed up with helmets and weapons clearly intending to hurt people seem to contradict your opinion (shared with Trump) that “both sides” are responsible.”

        Yes they did, and we all knew they would. That is nature of these disgusting reprobates. Having known that these vermin showed up hoping for, and prepared for, a confrontation, I have to assume that the leftist who showed up for the counter-protest were also looking for a confrontation of some sorts. That is why I say both sides contributed to the violence. If the leftists had stayed home, there might not have been a confrontation.

        “Also, I am not the one who said that Trump supporters have “chubby white asses”. That was Tom.”

        I am sorry about that! Mea culpa! ;o)

        “There are people out there who are going to fight this administration and what they are trying to do to this country. The resistance is growing, and that’s good.”

        I agree with you that there are many people who will fight the Trump Administration, and that group does appear to growing. These certainly are interesting times…

        “…I am kind of news junkie.”

        That is a good thing to be, ‘methinks! Keeps things interesting, the mind agile and bright, and keeps you well informed. The only problem is there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to keep up with it all.

      • “BTW, Steve, what do you think of the pictures at this link:”

        I find the pictures to be utterly disgusting. The people beating that poor man should prosecuted and put in jail. I truly hope that you didn’t think I would feel any other way about it.

        • They were beating a kid, he looks to be around 17 to 19 at the most. I was really just asking you what you see there other than a vicious assault.

          These white supremacists remind me of the civil rights era, the same kind of people who showed up with pipes to beat the hell out of freedom riders in Montgomery, for example.

          It is bone chilling, quite honestly, that this could be 2017.

          • “They were beating a kid, he looks to be around 17 to 19 at the most.”

            We wouldn’t see that the same way because I was a soldier and a large percentage of our younger soldiers are in the 18-19 years old range. I don’t see them a kids, I see them as young men that can be far more than you can imagine just looking at them. They are capable of taking on great responsibility and functioning at a very high level when required to do so.

            “These white supremacists remind me of the civil rights era, the same kind of people who showed up with pipes to beat the hell out of freedom riders in Montgomery, for example.”

            I would agree with you on that. The up side on it is that it is only a tiny percentage of people who think and act that way. At Montgomery, the thugs did their business to the cheers of the crowd…today they are jeered, pilloried, and usually stopped because they disgust normal people. Things have gotten better, thank God. They still need to get even better, but that is what we strive for.

            “It is bone chilling, quite honestly, that this could be 2017.”

            I couldn’t agree more…

          • It’s a tiny percentage who will show up at an event like this prepared to hurt people, so that is an improvement. Of course, in these times there may actually be consequences unlike the 1960s when “law enforcement” allowed, encouraged, and participated in the violence against civil rights protesters in the Deep South.

            But what people think is something else. I can’t speak to that.

  6. This whole discussion relates directly back to Bob’s NYT curve. In 2000, we quit creating jobs and inequality had nothing to do with it. From 1980 to 2000, low income people were outperforming the rest of the curve.

    That stopped in 2000. Taxation hit record highs every year from 1996 to 2000 when the straw broke the camel’s back.

    We then trapped millions of people on foodstamps and social security disability. The total dysfunction of this group is what we are now dealing with.

    With no jobs, our economy became the deadend for millions of people that liberals love.

    Millions of people dependent upon them and their largesse.

    What they didn’t count on is people voting their values and not their economic interests.

    The only mistake Trump is making is not going right at Black voters with a sledgehammer message about economic and education opportunity.

    First, he needs a school which is doubling, tripling or quadrupling academic gains for Black students to demonstrate the hell hole district schools truly are for minorities.

    • Very insightful, John. But I’m having difficulty relating this to any discussion on this thread or the original post. Trollin’ tonight?

      • This post is all about the severe alienation that lower income white people are experiencing from the broader economy.

        They are the one demographic that is experiencing shorter lives with “deaths of despair” – alcoholism, drug abuse, suicide. You are making a big deal of their philosophical anger and how it is being expressed while your policies are causing it.

        The data suggests that millions of them are trapped on disability and foodstamps.

        I know one of these people. He would have to get a salary of $60,000 per year to equal all of his family’s welfare benefits. Its a sad, sad case. He looks to me like he will be dead by 50. He’s not expressing himself the way these people are, but it is still a completely dysfunctional situation.

        My comment isn’t a troll – its a thoughtful point, in fact, your comment calling me a troll is a trolling comment.

        • ”I know one of these people. He would have to get a salary of $60,000 per year to equal all of his family’s welfare benefits.”

          I know one of those people, too. He is my youngest brother. He got trapped in it long ago and can’t get out of the trap. He cannot make more than $33,100 per year or he loses about $63,000 per year in government handouts. And he loses those benefits the instant he makes $1 more than $33,100! In other words, he has to get almost a 100% raise at once to make up for what he loses by making that $1 over $33,100. It can’t be done. The same liberal designed programs that are supposed to help him now have him trapped in poverty with no way to escape without causing his family great harm and economic pain. I can’t even help him out officially without him losing everything when he hits that $33,100 threshold.

          That is something liberals never understand. They do more damage with their programs “to help” than if they were actually trying to hurt these people. I don’t care what race you are, these programs hurt and create horrible circumstances for follow-on generations who think that is how you are suppose to live.

        • Are white supremacists predominantly lower income white boys suffering from despair, alcoholism, and drug abuse? Were the white boys who showed up in Charlottesville trapped in welfare, disability, and food stamps?

          I know that you don’t know who showed up in Charlottesville because there are a lot of people out there right now trying to identify some of them so they can be charged with crimes.

          And supposing for a minute that what you said is true about these poor, disenfranchised white people. That is not a license for them to put on helmets and carry weapons with the intention of hurting people they hate (for any reason). This isn’t Birmingham, or Jackson, or Montgomery, and this isn’t the 60s.

          If you want to talk to me about white supremacy you better study up, because you don’t know jack about the history of this country.

          This was an expression of “philosophical anger”? Caused by “policies”?

          You make my head hurt. Damnit, now I need an Advil.

          • “And supposing for a minute that what you said is true about these poor, disenfranchised white people. That is not a license for them to put on helmets and carry weapons with the intention of hurting people they hate (for any reason).

            You are 100% correct, Liza! Their economic situation and any frustration they feel is NOT an excuse for anti-social behavior, especially if that behavior is violent and hurts other people. We have never accepted that type of situation as an excuse from blacks living in the inner city, from hispanics living in poverty in their barrios, nor from asians living poorly in the various asian village and towns within our cities. It sure as hell should not be accepted from whites living in poverty, either. Regardless of the reason people live in poverty, we should expect – no demand – that they use peaceful means to express their opinions. Violence is never justified. Further, people seem to respond much better to peaceful demonstrations than violent ones.

            However, the “subject” of poverty, it’s causes, and ways to alleviate it are worth studying, but not as a reason to excuse violence in it’s name.

    • Aug 12 2017

      STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOHN McCAIN ON WHITE SUPREMACIST ATTACK IN CHARLOTTESVILLE

      “Our Founders fought a revolution for the idea that all men are created equal. The heirs of that revolution fought a Civil War to save our nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to that revolutionary proposition.

      “Nothing less is at stake on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, where a violent attack has taken at least one American life and injured many others in a confrontation between our better angels and our worst demons.

      “White supremacists and neo-Nazis are, by definition, opposed to American patriotism and the ideals that define us as a people and make our nation special.

      “As we mourn the tragedy that has occurred in Charlottesville, American patriots of all colors and creeds must come together to defy those who raise the flag of hatred and bigotry.”

      https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=press-releases&id=64ED6753-345F-4F64-9B64-2D8BDAE952B5

  8. Source: Facebook

    Raul M. Grijalva — US Representative for Arizona District 3
    55 mins ·

    “My thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by the recent outbreak of violence in Charlottesville. This is what hate looks like. This is what bigotry looks like. This is what racism looks like.

    Let me make one thing clear: the events that took place in Charlottesville are just a symptom of the racism and institutional discrimination that still prevail in our country, and have gained momentum over the past year. We must promote unity and tolerance not only in the words we speak, but in the laws we create.”

  9. More bad news…

    NBC News‏Verified account @NBCNews 43m43 minutes ago

    JUST IN: 2 troopers killed in helicopter crash southwest of Charlottesville, Virginia State Police confirm

    • The need to charge the guy drove his car into a crowd of people as a terrorist and Trump needs to man up and be an American and say so.

      Right after he fires Bannon/Gorka/Miller and disavows White Nationalism.

      But he won’t, and the right will blame the left, or say it was a false flag, because they’re cowards.

      • Yeah, I was thinking about the Bannon/Gorka/Miller trio. Trump won’t want to fire them, but that is exactly what he needs to do.

        World “leaders” have defining moments. Trump lacks the emotional intelligence to know that this was one of his. He has already failed.

        This farce of a presidency just accelerated its downhill momentum.

      • “But he won’t, and the right will blame the left, or say it was a false flag, because they’re cowards.”

        One question, Tom: If the leftist counter-protestors had taken your excellent advice and stayed home rather than going out to confront the stupid idiots from the white supremacist movement, would anyone have died today? The left does bear some of the blame because they went out looking to cause trouble. As the President stated, both sides bear some responsibility for what happened.

        By the way, as usual, you get things very confused, courage had nothing to do with making that point. You really need to work on those more subtle ideas like patriotism, Americanism, courage, etc. You know, those things you say the right doesn’t have because you say so? For someone who talks about such subjects so often, you would think you know what they mean…

      • And right on queue, Alex Jones has already called Charlottesville a False Flag Operation.

        From InfoWars:

        “EXCLUSIVE: VIRGINIA RIOTS STAGED TO BRING IN MARTIAL LAW, BAN CONSERVATIVE GATHERINGS”

        The GOP’s base is disgusting.

  10. Trump tries again, but still doesn’t condemn white supremacy/nationalism.

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 23m23 minutes ago

    We must remember this truth: No matter our color, creed, religion or political party, we are ALL AMERICANS FIRST.

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 1h1 hour ago

    What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives.
    #Charlottesville

  11. This right here…

    NAACP ✔ @NAACP

    Guess it’s hard to disavow bigots and hate when they are amongst your key strategists. #Charlottesville

    12:51 PM – Aug 12, 2017

    • In his speech Trump says “we condemn hate violence and bigotry”… okay, good so far…. “on many sides, on many sides”… and there it is.

      President Crazy Pants, the Worst of All Time, unable to even condemn death and violence without kissing the chubby white asses of his base.

      • Yeah, everyone seems to have noticed.

        This is just another manifestation of the leadership void, probably better described as a black hole.

        • Not everyone noticed. CNN and MSNBC are covering the death of an American and the 39 injured, Fox is talking about how we all need to be ascairt’ of North Korea, and is barely paying lip service to Charlottesville.

          I understand Fox is the Republican channel, but once in a while I’d like them to act like Americans.

          Nothing is going to happen with North Korea, they’ve been threatening the US every day for 50 years, but there was an actual murder in Virginia of a US citizen committed during a White Nationalist rally and Trump won’t disown the White Nationalists.

  13. get used to it. the right now considers itself an oppressed minority even though they are nearly half the country though clinton got 3 million more votes. the conservative republican establishment has come out and condemned the violence as the news media has demanded of them. ;but these people are anti establishment populists. this tragedy is the result of establishment corporate deep state clinton being foisted on the democratic party. the hope bernie sanders could have brought to this situation is now wasted. as the song says the time is right for fighting in the streets! we don’t like it ;but it is what it is! the media will try and say most white conservatives are shocked at the rioting ;but I doubt it. thats why both sides hate the corporate media’s lying to please the establishment.

    • Yeah, Captain, the smarter GOP conservatives (relatively speaking) will condemn this as some already have. But they have no problem embracing extremists, actually mainstreaming them, to get elected. This, my friend, is Donald Trump’s America.

      There is a lot of history here, this is an old problem that never fades. It just seems to morph into newer versions of itself with each generation.

      But if I had to tie this to recent history, I would choose the white backlash provoked by a twice elected African American president.

  14. Bernie Sanders…

    Bernie Sanders‏Verified account @BernieSanders 1h1 hour ago

    As hate crimes and hostility toward minorities surge, now more than ever we must stand against those who threaten our brothers and sisters.

    Bernie Sanders‏Verified account @BernieSanders 1h1 hour ago

    My thoughts are with those in the Charlottesville community and around the country who have been targeted.

    Bernie Sanders‏Verified account @BernieSanders 1h1 hour ago

    The white nationalist demonstration in #Charlottesville is a reprehensible display of racism and hatred. This has no place in our society.

    • Hillary Clinton…

      Hillary Clinton ✔ @HillaryClinton
      My heart is in Charlottesville today, and with everyone made to feel unsafe in their country.

      Hillary Clinton ✔ @HillaryClinton
      But the incitement of hatred that got us here is as real and condemnable as the white supremacists in our streets.

      • Funny quote I saw online, someone said his grandfather said that in his day, we didn’t march with Nazi’s, they ran from us.

  15. NBC News‏Verified account
    @NBCNews

    Trump on #Charlottesville: “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides”

    • Not a fan, apparently….

      Claude Taylor‏ @TrueFactsStated 10m10 minutes ago

      Take your “both sides” and shove it you race baiting, malignant narcissist hate monger.

  16. Pence speaks, but does not call out the white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

    Vice President Pence‏Verified account
    @VP

    I stand with @POTUS against hate & violence. U.S is greatest when we join together & oppose those seeking to divide us. #Charlottesville

  17. ACLU of Virginia‏Verified account @ACLUVA 44m44 minutes ago

    Folks said counter protesters were hit by a vehicle as they turned the corner. Medics are here. #Charlottesville

    • There’s a profile for the White Power folks. Mostly young, unemployed white men who are resentful of a woman taking care of them, mostly their mothers.

      See Richard Spencer, who has no job, lives off mommy, and whose family lives off the government. See JT Ready for past history, unemployed and living with his girlfriend until he killed her and her grandchildren. Then himself.

      They blame everyone for their situation but themselves, which is usually the basement of their mothers house (and yes, I have first hand experience with lots of them), and while they’re crying and whining that life is stacked against them they call everyone else triggered little snowflakes.

      They plan these events saying “we’re peaceful, but we’re ready to fight” and the far left takes the bait.

      I understand the “anti-fa” folks don’t want to see America go down the road to hell, but the left needs to stop showing up. These sad little white boys want a fight to feed Breitbart and Fox News, who will spin the story and edit the video, so they can say “see, the left is violent”, when it was the right that instigated the march.

      Go out and educate voters, register people, call and write your reps, and stop showing up for the intentionally confrontational BS marches.

      We see time and time again some KKK/Nazi/nationalist group calls for a big march and a few dozen people show up. Stop responding to them and let them get back to mommy’s basement.

      They’re feeding the beast.

      • Yeah, in the film footage I’ve seen it certainly looks like young, white males are the ones who showed up today to represent the “alt-right”.

        But I think a lot of people fear the growth of their movement and rightfully so with Trump et al occupying the Oval Office and Jeff Sessions occupying the DOJ, trying to live out his racist fantasies.

        All I know is we’re in a world of sh!t.

      • I was hoping that the people who detest the the fascists marching today would just not counter protest. It just foments more hate and leads to violence. I’m feeling frightened and hopeless, but you’re suggestions are the way to go. If you look back at the pictures of the young guys who were pictured during the civil rights movement, these mostly young, disaffected men are their reincarnation. O

  18. Interesting report from The Southern Poverty Law Center. The Trump connection is, of course, an no brainer.

    THE YEAR IN HATE AND EXTREMISM
    February 15, 2017
    Mark Potok, Senior Fellow

    The radical right was more successful in entering the political mainstream last year than in half a century. How did it happen?

    “Trump’s run for office electrified the radical right, which saw in him a champion of the idea that America is fundamentally a white man’s country.”

    https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2017/year-hate-and-extremism

  19. Trump finally reacts to the “alt-right” violence in Charlottesville, VA, with a tweet worded in such a way that he fails to call them out. Of course, these are his supporters.

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 19m19 minutes ago

    We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!

      • Those are Trump’s people.

        Well, really they’re Bannon/Gorka/Miller’s people, but Trump is a useful idiot in the White Power movement.

        It’s helpful to keep in mind that while these POS (that’s an acronym for Pieces Of Shit) get media attention, most of America is not like these POS.

        Most of America are not sad, unemployed little men living with their mothers who blame other people for their problems.

        Also, did I mention these people are actual POS, which is a highly accurate acronym for these racist Pieces of Shit.

        • “did I mention these people are actual POS, which is a highly accurate acronym for these racist Pieces of Shit.”

          (Sigh!) No, Mr. Potty Mouth, they are not “actual POS”. If they were, you would still be outclassed. No, they are actual human beings that you disagree with and you are so frustrated at being helpless to affect anything that you don’t know how to express yourself without profanity and silly name calling…again.

          “Most of America are not sad, unemployed little men living with their mothers who blame other people for their problems.”

          And you have no idea if that is true. I recognize the signs when you make up “facts” out of thin air, and that is what you are doing here…again. The really sad part is that you don’t need to make up anything about these white supremacist dirtbags. They are pathetic enough without you making up things bad to say about them. Just tell the truth and that is enough to condemn them. If you are trying to make it appear that you hate them more than anyone else, you are doing a bad job of it and are just looking foolish.

  21. Donald Trump’s AmeriKKKa:

    Terry McAuliffe‏Verified account @GovernorVA 18m18 minutes ago

    Governor McAuliffe has declared a state of emergency to aid state response to violence at Alt-Right rally in Charlottesville

    Terry McAuliffe Retweeted
    VA State Police‏ @VSPPIO 15m15 minutes ago

    Arrests are being made following declaration of unlawful assembly at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville. #cvilleaug12

    Terry McAuliffe‏Verified account @GovernorVA 1h1 hour ago

    The acts and rhetoric in #Charlottesville over past 24 hours are unacceptable & must stop. A right to speech is not a right to violence.

  22. for years before trump I have posted here that republicans are evil and how they have killed people in this state. thanks to democrat elitist ineptitude they have been joined by populists who normally vote democrat in places like iowa, michigan, pennsylvania and wisconsin. clinton couldn’t bring herself to put cory booker on the ticket. even though black vote is what got her nomination over bernie sanders. this cost her in pa. much. wisc. nc and florida.

  23. The Atlantic is reporting that 50% of Republicans would be okay with Trump cancelling elections until they can eliminate voter fraud.

    That’s half of a major political party being okay with suspending democracy based on a disproven conspiracy theory.

    These people, who all claim to be Patriots, don’t actually understand what makes America great.

    • “These people, who all claim to be Patriots, don’t actually understand what makes America great.”

      Well, thank goodness, Oh Great One that we have you to guide us on the straight and narrow as to what it means to be a “patriotic American”. I am assuming, of course, that you have taken some time to figure out what it means to be a patriot. You have made a habit of missing the mark so much in the past.

      Although I have a pretty good idea already, it would still be fascinating to hear you articulate for all of us what you think “makes America great”.

      “The Atlantic is reporting that 50% of Republicans would…”

      Ah-h-h…the Atlantic…that is always a good source for factual information about the right. It being so unbiased and all…

      One of your great problems, Tom, is you listen to left wing sources for your news on what the right is thinking and doing. I know you say you listen to right wing sources as well, but the comments you make about it tell me you don’t really listen as much as you rant and prepare your counter-points for later discussion. You listen to the left wing sources and base your judgements on them because they fulfill your preconceived notions about the right. You will always remain ignorant about the right because you remain willfully ignorant. As the saying goes, “There are none so blind as those who will not see.”

  24. I couldn’t agree more!
    I do think it’s important to note that even relatively level headed Republicans are supporting Trump by standing by and saying almost nothing. They have little integrity and serve to enable the nut case agenda of the hard core, anti democratic Right Wing.
    We should be sure to keep reminding everyone that three million more people voted for Hilary Clinton than Donald Trump.

    • “We should be sure to keep reminding everyone that three million more people voted for Hilary Clinton than Donald Trump.”

      Bill, please do if it makes you feel better. Just don’t be surprised if the response is a shrug, a yawn, and a “So what?”

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