Republicans have become party Russia; this makes me sick.

[elleng]

Last edited Thu Dec 26, 2019, 01:43 PM - Edit history (1)

by Max Boot

'Of all the changes that have occurred in our politics since the rise of Donald Trump, the most gut-wrenching for me personally is to see the Republican Party transformed into the Kremlin’s “useful idiots.” As a young refugee from the Soviet Union growing up in Southern California in the 1980s, I was attracted to the GOP because it was the party of moral clarity — the party willing to stand up to the “evil empire.” How far we have come — in the wrong direction.

Today, we have a Republican president who, while reluctantly acceding to sanctions against Russia, incessantly praises its dictator, Vladimir Putin (“a terrific person”); tries to bring Putin back to the Group of Seven; conceals the details of their meetings; undermines Ukraine, a victim of Russian aggression, by harping on its corruption while ignoring Russia’s own kleptocracy; allows the Russians to take possession of U.S. bases in Syria; and propagates Russian propaganda blaming Ukraine for 2016 election interference. Trump is joined in spreading Russian disinformation by his secretary of state and other supporters, such as Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.), even though the U.S. intelligence community has exposed claims of Ukrainian election interference as a “fictional narrative.” . .

While Republicans are primarily motivated by Trump toadyism, there is also an element of ideological affinity for Russia. While all Republicans were staunchly opposed to the “godless” Soviet regime, some of them admire Putin’s fascist regime, which combines crony capitalism with ultra-nationalism. Putin has marketed himself to credulous conservatives as a champion of Christianity, traditional values and the white race. As my Post colleague Christian Caryl noted, this propaganda has no basis in fact: To take but two examples, Russia has much stricter gun control laws than the United States and a much higher rate of abortion. But Republican Russophilia is so strong that a Russian agent had no difficulty in infiltrating the National Rifle Association. A high-level NRA delegation visited Moscow in 2015 and a group of Republican lawmakers visited Moscow on the Fourth of July 2018.'>>>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/04/republicans-have-become-party-russia-this-makes-me-sick/?

[Skittles]

1. um....Max?

repukes have *NEVER* been the party of "moral clarity"

[Jake Stern]

2. Trump is merely a symptom

The tumor has been growing for years but he's the sign that finally made it impossible to ignore.

What is happening today can be traced directly back to when the hard right began their takeover of the GOP via Barry Goldwater.

Nixon and Lee Atwater birthed the beast while Raygun and the Christian Right/Moral Majority pumped the beast full of steroids with Bushes I and II lovingly guiding it into adulthood.

This is why I scoff at Max Boot's waxing nostalgic about the GOP of old.

[Rebl2]

7. Need

to add Newt Gingrich in there as well.

[brewens]

3. Suspicious Russians were the topic a right-wing buddy was all over about ten years ago

talking at my house. A town in northern Washington state by a lake he likes to fish. Russkie's that had moved in and weird things going on. Those guys out on the lake at night doing who knows what. Pretty much the trust most of them would have for any Russians before Trump, the NRA and the rest of the repiglickin's were in cahoots with them.

[Vogon_Glory]

4. A lot of Democratic Cold Warriors have seen this change and are seething

Talking about Cold War Democrats may not be fashionable in certain quarters, but there were more than a few of us out there. We opposed the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact and opposed the old USSR’s domestic and foreign policies.

Some of us are still around. We view Donnie’s and the Trump-publicans’ embrace of Vladimir Putin with anger and dismay. We view the Far Right’s and their Republican enablers’ embrace of Putin and Russian financial and cyber-support as abrogation of genuine American patriotism in favor of white ethnic-nationalism.

Pooty-Poot-Poot at least has the excuse of being a Russian nationalist acting to advance what he sees as the interests of the Russian state (That doesn’t mean I like him or support his agenda, though). His American collaborators lack that excuse.

[Kid Berwyn]

5. America has Oligarchs, too.

Kochs, Waltons, Zuckerberg, DeVoses...

[CrispyQ]

6. I didn't realize this:

The percentage of Republicans who view Russia as an ally has nearly doubled since Trump took office.