There has always been lunacy on the political right. In the 1950's it found expression in the John Birch Society, which accused President Eisenhower of being a communist agent. William F. Buckley took on the Birchers in the pages of The National Review. They were banished from the Republican Party and went underground.
The extremist approach is built on a belief in dreadful conspiracies and hidden motives. It indulges the wildest charges aimed at associating political foes with evil and subversive forces. What’s striking about our current moment is that such groundless and reckless accusations have become a routine part of politics — all the way to the top.
The difference between the 50's and now is that Eisenhower new garbage when he smelled it. President Trump sees conspiracies everywhere, intent on doing him in:
Ah, you might say, campaigns are often dirty. But current forms of right-wing dirty politics reflect a reversion to the old extremism. It has become part and parcel of “normal” politics and justifies kooky pronouncements as expressions of patriotism. Ordinary political acts are painted as diabolical. Dark plots are invented out of whole cloth. They are first circulated on websites that traffic in angry wackiness, and are eventually echoed by elected officials.
Remember, Steve Bannon used to be Trump's chief political strategist. He's now back at Breitbart News peddling his lunacy. In the 1950's there were Republicans -- like Buckley -- who took on the crazies. These days, there are no Buckleys in the Republican Party.
It's raining where I am. But, rain or shine, have a happy Thanksgiving Day.
Image: meanlefthook.com
10 comments:
Happy Thanksgiving, Owen, and let us hope that the obvious failures of the American education system are not exacerbated by Betsy DeVos, whose dream is the further dismantling of the system, resulting in an even more credulous populace.
The masthead of the Washington Post reads Democracy Dies In Darkness, Lorne. Truly educated citizens keep democracy alive. Happy Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving from some one who thinks most things are not as they seem.
The most enigmatic actions of the alt right is their insistence that the good
steward, guided by the invisible hand is infallible.
Aside from thermonuclear war, the war on the environment will be the worst of Trumps legacy.
Before they branded themselves "alt-right," they went by the "Tea Party" moniker. But now that the GOP's in charge, their fake concern over budget deficits has gone out the window, just as did when Reagan, Bush and Bush Jr were maxing out the national credit card.
Cap
If and when Trump goes to war, Steve, the results won't be invisible.
Their hypocrisy has been stunning, Cap.
Hypocrisy is easily accommodated within the Republican party and its circles because they're an opposition party ill suited to governing. When they achieve ultimate success, a 'unified government' in control of both houses of Congress and the White House, disaster tends to ensue. The three great economic collapses of the 20th century - the 1907 panic, the Great Depression of 1929 and the Great Recession of 2007 - all took place after an extended period of Republican unified government. Now they're again out to dismantle regulatory safeguards once again, especially Dodd-Frank.
The Republicans run and sometimes win on what can only be considered an oppositional platform. Take health care. After seven years of "repeal and replace" dogma when they have the power to make that a reality it turns out they've never gone beyond the repeal stage. They have no consensus on replacing the Affordable Care Act. Trump promised a more expansive and comprehensive replacement but that was rank deceit and, when it came to it, he was content with simply scrapping or subverting Obamacare, stripping tens of millions of their health care coverage. When it comes to governance the Republican dog cannot hunt.
The era of neoliberalism has the Republicans under a harsh spotlight. Prior to Reagan, every president, Republican and Democrat, managed to reduce the government's debt as a percentage of GDP, including during the insanely costly Vietnam war. That all changed under Reagan. Voodoo economics, supply side and trickle down sleight of hand, it all was ruinous. Bush Sr. tried to staunch the fiscal flow by the only means at hand, taxes, but after his "no new taxes" pledge it cost him a second term. Clinton managed to balance the budget and pay down debt but that was less his doing than the unexpected revenue flow from the Dot.Com bubble. Bush/Cheney funded two foreign wars and two massive tax cuts for the rich - all on foreign borrowings. Cheney even sold Junior on the second tax cuts by claiming that Reagan showed that "deficits don't matter." Meanwhile the Republican Congress ushered in the era of deregulated, Casino Capitalism, that led to the crash of 2007. Obama inherited a government in meltdown and is to be credited for his success in salvaging both the government and important aspects of the economy.
Now we again have a unified Republican government that seems intent on repeating the failures of their predecessors. They're out to further slash taxes, mainly on the rich, which will require new borrowings or slashing other services such as health care. They're still lavishing money on the military, Congress funding the DoD by $40 billion more than Trump requested. Meanwhile America remains tied down in its Middle East/South Asia quagmires even as Trump may open one or two new wars - North Korea and Iran. And it will all be borrowed money.
Relieved of the burdens of democracy, the Republicans and their oligarchic patrons, seem intent on putting the US into a death spiral. Friends and, I suspect, even foes are left to look on in apprehension from the sidelines. However, with no coherent vision, no viable narrative that addresses the many challenges America now faces, including its environmental vulnerabilities, it's about as stable as an airplane with an empty cockpit. And we get to watch it unfold, day by day, before our eyes.
The Republicans have a long history of this kind of folly, Mound. They appear to have learned nothing from it. It's sheer stupidity -- and there's no indication that it will end.
Happy Thanksgiving, Owen, and thanks for having these discussions. I learn.
Happy Thanksgiving, lovingit. That's what it's all about: learning.
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