Trump, Trumpism, the people who elected him, evangelicals and populists - the GOP.
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Unfortunately true for this article.
I was where Adita currently is about 10-15 years ago, thinking that a lack of understanding and common ground was what prevented conservatives/republicans from at least reaching compromise with liberals/democrats.
Then I lived through 8 years of all-out war by conservatives on Obama.
And then 3 years of Trump catastrophe so far.
I watched regular GOP voters cheer Trump doing the same things (and much much worse) than they accused Obama of doing. Besides “triggering the libs”, I’m not sure there is core conservative philosophy to the modern day GOP as they seemed to have forsaken every supposed principle to lavishly support Trump.
What common ground can be had with people whose modus operandi is to literally hate your guts?
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I would love to see that!
I agree this isn’t about us waiting for a “coup,” it’s about them staging a mutiny : - )
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Not a division between left and right, it is true.
It is now a division between left and wrong.
No, this is not “sowing dissension” or some such, it is a recognition that only one side recognizes the rule of law. Period.
Journalism needs to take a deep look into itself and adopt new ethics and practices. No, both sides aren’t equally valid, with the truth lying in some imaginary middle. Journalists need to be able and willing to call lies what they are, and to refuse to promote propaganda. Unless they do this they privilege lies and liars as they have been for a quarter century now.
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x gazillions
Love the comment.
Mort Saul used to say that most Americans were right wing social democrats. Probably it is still the same in spite of the noisy right and left. The country has really changed for the better in my lifetime and these three bizarre years of Trumpism will not change that. Demography is destiny don’t be afraid.
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Thanks for that - it helped.
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Wordy indeed.
The more I think about this column the less I like it (and I didn’t like it when I read it the first time).
For example: she speaks of the “big sort”, which I guess just sort a happened.
Some commentators (those data journalist types) point to demographics, showing the cities turned blue and the rural areas went red – without examining why that happened.
The right-wing has been turning itself into a white supremacist party for 50 years. The dog whistling has been a staple since the 1970s for example. If you create a white supremacist party you are going to drive out people who aren’t white (or white enough) and those that are well educated, you will keep the less educated whites. And that is a pretty accurate description of the “big sort” both culturally and demographically.
Then too it would behoove an actual journalist to examine the evidence of political polarization using, say, the DW-NOMINATE score of Congress over time. What it shows that while R has moved right and D has moved left, R moved right much farther and sooner. It would also help to drop Newt Gingrich into the discussion.
And then there is this lovely bit of “analysis”:
Even as I look back on President Obama’s presidency, I can see the ways that President Obama — struggling with a Republican Senate that wouldn’t work with him — laid the groundwork for some of the abuses that we’re seeing under President Trump on appointments and executive orders. President Trump has taken that lesson and gone well beyond it.
Sorry Juneja this a pathetic failure. If you do not realize you are carrying water for the right with this you need to take up some other line of work until your blinders fall off.
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But it is telling that your analogy uses monkeys instead of humans. Are you having a hard time seeing Fox News viewers as people?
The change was inevitable. I’m surprised it took this long. It’s not about race or region. Let me explain. I was about 27 when I first began living in the USA. The place was Oklahoma. It didn’t take long for me to see what a huge number of provincial uneducated folks lived in America. Lazyboy snoozing, digiorno pizza eating rubes that spent a half years income on “duelies” for the F250 at the expense of their kids teeth. Nobody dead enders. Then along came Nixon and Reagan to round them up. They gave them states rights and the Second Amendment to obsess on. Sarah Palin called them real Americans. GW Bush said they were heartlanders. And they didn’t have to do shit to merit that. Didn’t have to brush their teeth, clean the floorboards of their pickups or mow the yard. Just be a Republican and now they are somebody. A patriot. To be a real American all you need do is find a cool bald eagle with waiving flag in the background avatar and go after the libs on the internet. “they just want”…
Like being an evangelical or a biker. All you have to do is decide that’s what you want to be and voila! No work, no special skills or talent required. Just buy a bible or a Levi jacket or in the case of the rube GOP’er a stars and stripes tee shirt. And now you are somebody. I can’t believe it took so long to round the rednecks up.
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No, this is wrong. We tried to do exactly that for many many years. They literally do not care about the harm they cause, as long as they are harming the “right” people. Your mindset, and the mindset reflected in this astounding waste of electrons masquerading as analysis, is about 30 years out of date and, given the current stakes, incredibly dangerous to hew to.
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I have found myself moved by [my Republican colleagues’] willingness to fight their own party,
And yet, huge majorities of Republicans approve of the Trump presidency: https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3643
So, I would call this quote at best anecdotal, and in no real way a reflection of any movement towards moderation in the Republican rank and file. The reality is that Republican voters tend to like Trump, not despite but because of his flaws, as do the Republican politicians these people vote into office.
So, let’s forego the bothsiderisms, and get to the root of the problem: today’s GOP is predominantly a white-supremacist, authoritarian organization. They’ve been this way since Nixon’s Southern Strategy. Trump just made it cool to be open about it.
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Right on playit! And here I thought you were just a frivolous punster.
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And now we know what 111 does for a living.
Yep, I was off yesterday. One of my favorite holidays of the year. The kiddo and the wife had to work / school… I got to have the day to myself. That doesn’t happen very often.
It’s a little late for this. The Republican party, by virtue of manipulation of religious institutions, and by capitalizing on fear of black equality has successfully coopted our democracy. They rule the Senate and the White house, despite having far less than a majority.
Our democracy is over. A constitutional convention, based on the rules in the constitution, can’t save it.
Also, umm, at this point, being a republican means support for the anti-christ. Sorry, these people aren’t good people. I am open to forgiveness, but I won’t call the people cheering the abuse of Hispanic migrant children good. They are not.
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Sorry, nothing is more important than getting rid of a criminal, incompetent POTUS.
I can see the ways that President Obama — struggling with a Republican Senate that wouldn’t work with him — laid the groundwork for some of the abuses that we’re seeing under President Trump on appointments and executive orders.
This is where you lost me. Every administration issues executive orders, which are limited in their scope. Republicans chose to clutch their pearls about Barack Obama’s executive orders. They also whined about his appointment of too many people with the title “czar”. But the Obama administration faithfully complied with subpoenas from Congress. Barack Obama everyday conducted himself in a manner that spoke to our common dreams and desires and democratic traditions. And Obama enjoyed a relatively stable and scandal-free cabinet for his eight years.
Aditi, please don’t blame our current authoritarian breakdown on Barack Obama. And Josh, please seek out writers with a more substantial and honest perspective.
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If much of the problem relates to the “big sort” – and I think it does – then one of the things we need is a real focus on getting people together across those lines, at scale. The only way I can think of to do that is with a massive voluntary national service program.
(And yes, most Democrats would support that, while Republicans have done all they can to destroy the national service programs that already exist, like Americorps.)
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That is simply not true. We all value the Constitution of the United States, even if we fervently disagree how it should be interpreted and implemented. If you are willing to trash the Constitution and go outside of regular Constitutional order, then yes you are right, America no longer has any fundamental values.
The author raises some very valid points, which the superficial and non-thinking only dismiss at their peril. Whether or not we want as a nation to give up Constitutional principles and the notion of democracy itself to “get what we want” has become the burning issue in American politics, no matter what side of any issue one cares to debate. It is implicit in the conundrum we as humans face in settling our affairs with one another.
My sense is that while we do still have a Constitutional order, but under Trump, who feels he can violate his oath of office to suit his whim, it is fragile. It is fragile not only because of Trump, but because there are now many fault lines among the various factions of so many undecided and perhaps undecidable issues that face us as a nation. People want to hold on to their beliefs even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. While this is quite typical of human nature, it also poses a great danger to all of us in that failure to address some kinds of problems, such as wanton destruction of marine ecosystems upon which 50% of all human protein derives or such as human induced climate change will manifest themselves whether or not we find choose to disagree.
Another fundamental problem with our Constitutional system is the Constitutional system itself. It is a document written largely within a 18th century mindset. In the 21st century there are now issues that our Constitution was never designed to address and consequently provides little guidance or help in resolving these issues. It also brings with it the many inherent structural biases that are of a historical nature, but which make solutions to 21st century problems virtually impossible to solve in the context of a well-functioning democracy. Although amendments have kept us afloat as a nation, they are extremely difficult to achieve. In our currently highly polarized political environment perhaps virtually impossible.
We have also entered into a world when the distinction between foreign and domestic interests have blurred. With the rise of multinational corporations and our president now openly seeking to involve foreign governments in our national elections, the bulkhead envisioned by our founding fathers against foreign influence in our politics has been breached. Whether it can be patched before it sinks our ship of state is an open question. In a world beset by growing problems that require international solutions, this is not necessarily always a bad thing. Unfortunately, how such politics are now played, particularly with the Citizens United decision, the Dred Scott decision of our times, to allow unlimited dark money in politics no matter the source or the purpose, our Constitution no longer offers a set of rules to serve as bounds on how these new politics are to be played. Another major problem is that the concept of checks and balances inherent in our constitution take time to implement. With the world changing at “internet speed” and ecosystems upon which human life depends disappearing as we speak, this mechanism to guide our politics no longer keeps up with the challenges we face. Consequently, people opt for political expediency over the Golden Rule, justice, and the rule of law embodied in the Constitution itself.
Another area of Constitutional anachronism is the structure of the Senate, which gives a very small minority great leverage over the majority. Consequently, we have reached the point where one person, the Senate Majority leader can overrule the majority no matter how large. Such impediments greatly threaten the very notion of democracy itself. Ultimately, we are faced with either finding ways to amend our Constitution or run the risk of losing our nation to others with more contemporary adeptness in responding to the challenges humans face in our now ever more rapidly changing world. Whether we are up to the challenge, remains to be seen. However, one thing is clear. We are rapidly running out of time as global warming accelerates, as ecosystems upon which we depend for survival disappear, and as the consequent geopolitical squabbles get more and more intense.
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