This is not the Republican party that I have loathed over the last 30 years....

[hookaleft]

This is a whole new animal. I thought Dubya and Cheney were the spawn of satan. I never imagined that sh*t would get this crazy!!?? I don't recognize this country anymore. The tea party was irritating AF but these people are animals....

[madaboutharry]

1. They are fascists.

That is who they are. They have told us so.

[KS Toronado]

13. That's it in a nutshell.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. They had terrible ideas before, but this group has gone completely off the rails

Supporting those who encouraged sedition and violence and promoting dangerous and anti Democratic lies.

[RegularJam]

3. They have tapped into a group highly susceptible to authoritarianism. nt

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. It's the Party of Trump.

Whack jobs will primary intelligent Republicans. This is the future of the Trump Republican Party.

[RainCaster]

10. Trump is just another loser, this is the party of Putin

Vlad is in complete control

[OAITW r.2.0]

14. That too.

But the idiots who think Trump is god's gift to the American people disagree. They are incapable of connecting the dots that Trump is owned by Putin.

[Skittles]

5. never, EVER assume repukes cannot get worse or go lower

they always, ALWAYS find a way

[uponit7771]

6. Miss 911 Warnings, Lie US into war with Iraq, Financial Crash, Hate Black President, Solicited & ...

... Accepted Help From Russia to win Election, Destroy Post Office, Kill 500k Americans ...

If a foreign country had done these things in 1980 we'd be at war with them

[Hekate]

7. Yep

[Hippo_The_Pointer]

8. Link to the decline in church attendance?

It certainly seems to be a different beast from where we were at 30 years ago. Here's a somewhat off the beaten track theory: The problem lies in the decline in Christianity!

As likely many DUers are aware Christianity in the USA has been in decline for many years. The so called high-church (the well established traditional Christian denominations with highly structured liturgy) have seen significant decline in attendance since the 1980's. In response they have softened their doctrine in an attempt to make things more palatable to a broader audience (e.g. become more amenable to liberal social thinking - ordining women, acceptance of gay marriage, etc). Presumably the hope was that that would stop the decline.

The other main form of Christian church in the US is the evangelicals. They typically have less structured liturgy and less centralized leadership structures (if any centralized structure at all). These churches are the ones that grew as the baby boomers entered their adult life in the 1970's on-wards. In the face of declining Christian numbers, these evangelical churches have done the opposite of the high-church. Instead of softening their doctrine they have clung to the more 'traditional' values. Essentially they have hardened their doctrine. No wedding cakes for you gay couples is a classic example. That stance is then attracting traditionalists away from high-church and into the evangelical church. And it works. The evangelicals have managed to keep their attendance numbers roughly stable in the last 20 years.

The hardening sees the evangelicals decoupling from where mainstream society is moving. That has opened the door for the "longing for the past" syndrome that is the underpinning of the MAGA movement.

Recognizing the harden as a business opportunity the likes of Murdoch and Sinclair have been more than happy to feed it and sustain it. From there the GOP then see it as a voting block they can dominate. Foreign nations look for influence are then more than happy to fund the GOP in the hope of gain should a republican president be elected.

Those external parties are then creating a bubble around the evangelical church. Every one watches the same news, listens to the same radio and socializes with each other. Those inside the bubble become increasingly cut off from reality. From their craziness is acceptable - As long as you hate the liberals you are a part of the team and even if you are a bit crazy at least you are not a liberal (speaking from the right wingers perspective here).

The thoughts of a rambling Hippo - The Hippo

[KS Toronado]

11. Welcome to DU Hippo......keep pointing

You appear good at it.

[littlemissmartypants]

15. Welcome to DU, Hippo_The_Pointer.

This would make a great O P. If you are able to start one I think it would be a great contribution.

❤ pants

[Duppers]

19. In addition...

There's a large organization of atheists in a red southern city in a very red southern state. Used to be a member until I discovered their political insanity. Evangelical churches aren't the only morons.

[JohnnyRingo]

9. These MAGAs were the Tea Party

They've grown up and become more obstinate and more selfish.

They never cared about "taxed enough already". They were the grassroots of Racist America from the Obama years who found newborn kindred spirits in Trump. He progressed them from tri-corne hats to the white hoods they felt more comfortable in.

[Jon King]

17. True, back in 1976 our next door neighbor was a loud mouth re-enacter.

He did the whole dress up stuff with the tri hat and nasty attitude. He died recently in his late 80s, a huge Trumper at the end. These lunatics have been around for a long time.

[OAITW r.2.0]

12. They have gotten progressively worse.

I really thought the Party - post Nixon - would be a better Party.......I liked guys like Oklahoman Fred Harris who broached the idea of making OPEC countries pay for US military assets that protected their product to market. Plus he brought a keg to his rally at my school. I liked that.

[Jon King]

16. Same people as before but now very desperate due to changing demographics.

They were always evil. Now that evil is combined with the realization that America is truly changing in their life times. This is desperate people clinging to the past by any means they can....lying cheating, denying reality.

[SunSeeker]

18. Our high school in CA proposed an ethnic studies elective and crazy Trumpers threatened the school.

The School.Board then decided to have a public neeting to discuss the proposed class and make clear it would not "teach kids to hate America," that it would be an elective class and nobody would be required to take it. The threats only got worse, and the police advised the school board to hold a virtual instead of in person meeting, for security reasons. A bunch of Proud Boy freaks still showed up at the School Board to protest while the virtual meeting was going on.

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/05/10/police-advise-los-alamitos-school-board-to-go-virtual-as-anger-grows-in-social-justice-debate

[dalton99a]

20. They had a taste of fascism and loved it

[pecosbob]

21. It's like the 700 Club went to Washington

Some, like McCarthy and Cruz are just new political televangelists selling increasingly cray-cray messaging to their increasingly cray-cray base. A couple like MTG and Boebert are truly out there.

It's the profit above all else, the end always justifies the means, a world hegemony safe for capitalism and KFC types that scare me.

[GoCubsGo]

22. They have become a reinactment of "Lord of the Flies."

It remains to be seen whether or not they get rescued, though. Or, who else they'll take out in the meantime.