Weird what’s going on in America right now. A fascist regressive minority is consolidating power at every level of government and most of the general population is disinterested or apathetic.
Obama was
but it’s funny how arguably his biggest 2008 campaign mis-step was slipping up and telling the truth about white people stubbornly clinging to their guns and religions.
It’s not a perfect analogy but there are similarities between America now and many middle eastern nations during the 60’s-90’s. Some Middle eastern nations had more open societies than they would be in the ensuing decades like pre-Shah 50’s Iran started radicalize in an ugly, regressive way similar to how white American conservatives are now.
Middle easterners had valid reason to be enraged though (American-led coups, support of corrupt dictators, economic sanctions, bombings, funding Israel, military bases surrounding them, etc.). MAGAs are just mad that they feel they are being to share power and equality under the law with groups of people they think they’re better than.
These people have always felt the way they do on the inside. They just needed a series of of events and lived history like 9/11, the immigration issue and changing demographics, the financial crash, and finally a Black president to prime them for a demagogue (Trump) to get them to let it all hang out.
The politicians on the right were always pieces of shyt; totally psychopathic trash. All of them, including the ones Joe Biden thought liked him because they go golfing together and they introduced him to their family or whatever. They’ve found their opportunity to move and they’re seizing it. It’s about to be open season on civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, worker rights and the environment.
As much as we hate and disparage elites and for good reason, I can at least acknowledge that the elites in media, education, law, academia, etc. of the past several decades did try to be stewards of moving society forward in terms of social issues: attitudes at least, if not public policy. That’s why white supremacists have these conspiracies about “ZOG” and so forth.
But the people have always been behind the elites on social issues. When the institutions of power decided in the 60’s it was time to turn the page on Jim Crow style racism, the people had to be drug along. A lot of white people just never agreed with civil rights and thought there still be colored only places and services. Most of them won’t admit it though. For all the “progress” that takes place there’s usually about half of people that just don’t agree and eventually just be quiet about it.
People like Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, McConnell, Grassley, Gingrich, etc. have no fealty toward common ground, social cohesion and unity as a nation. They live their whole lives waiting for moments like this. Yet somehow people like Susan Collins dumb ass still wanted to believe it wouldn’t happen. Or Obama who came into office with a 70% approval and both houses and a supermajority and was more concerned with chasing phantom Republican votes and being bipartisan than passing legislation that would be effective.
Democrats keep saying “Nah they wouldn’t do that” then Republicans do that and say “What are you gonna do about it“? Then the Dems do nothing.
Trump was a crash dummy. I don’t know what Ron Desantis prospects are but if he becomes president, he will be a far more insidious and effective authoritarian than Trump. He’s even more authoritarian than Trump is. Trump was just a man-baby which manifested itself in authoritarian ways. Desantis is a soulless evil calculating authoritarian who would eliminate all vestiges of civil rights protections and lead an organized nationwide campaign to disenfranchise Black voters and gerrymander anywhere on the map left to gerrymander.
