I have watched people (whom I already loathed) like Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz forget what a despicable ass Trump was to them and wondered what the hell does Trump/Putin have on these people? How could it be so bad that they would abandon the little shreds of honor and principle they might have once had? Or, are they afraid that he will come after them on Twitter? What’s so scary about that?
Then I read this piece by Amanda Marcotte in Salon,and realized they *are* following their principles! It all fits. They simply realized that Trump can make their dreams come true. Their dreams, and those of their fearful, entitled, racist-but-often-in-denial, Islamophobe, anti-Semitic base.
Why was every single Republican in the hearings (not just Gym Jordan and Mugshot Gaetz) so eager to spew lies, false outrage, and Russian propaganda?
“Republicans are not cowering in fear of Trump. On the contrary, they are exalting in his shamelessness. Watching Republicans at impeachment hearings, where they performed outrage for the cameras, lied with obvious glee and gloried in sharing conspiracy theories, it did not appear that they were intimidated by their president or anyone else.”
And what is this dream that he can help them fulfill?
“Trumpism differ{s} in no meaningful way {from} fascism. It's a movement of white men and their wives who hold a narrow, racist, reactionary view of what being an "American"is. They believe that those of us who don't fit into that view — because we're not white or because we're not Christian or because we're pointy-headed intellectuals who believe in free thought or because we're queer or because we're feminists — are not legitimate Americans, therefore not legitimate voters. So, Trump's law-breaking to undermine the 2020 election is seen only as a necessary corrective to the "problem" of a pluralistic democracy.”
I used to think it was simple tribalism, but why is the Right *so* tribal, and the Left far less so?
“That is why there's such deep division in the U.S. over impeachment. It's not that conservatives can't see what Trump did when he used the power of his office to cheat in the 2020 election. They just don't care. If anything, they're glad he did it.”
Thank you Amanda Marcotte for the best, shortest, most Ockham’s Razor explanation of what is going on. They are willing to subvert elections. What will they do if they lose elections? We are all so screwed. Nevertheless...
Get Out the vote !