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Why Republicans are resorting to anti-socialism hysteria
Link to tweet
Stoking fear of “socialism” is a familiar refrain from right-wing populists and wannabe authoritarians. It goes hand in hand with efforts to define who counts as a “real” American, painting the country as under siege from foreign influences — immigrants, socialists and secularists. When Republicans in high dudgeon carry on about the demise of “Western civilization” and the threat of socialism, they are tapping into a mind-set that casts anti-Trump forces as an existential threat to the United States.
As Robert P. Jones, chief executive of Public Religion Research Institute and the author of “White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity,” told me back in August, “references to saving or protecting ‘Western civilization’ are commonly used as a euphemism for White culture or identity by white supremacist groups. ... This language — captured also in the ‘Make America Great Again’ rhetoric — is about preserving an ideal of a White Christian America, protecting it from the changing culture and demographics in the U.S.”,,,,
If the alternative is national destruction, then what’s the problem with a little narcissistic excess, you see? Likewise, if Biden and company are “socialists,” then any lie and any act of obstruction in defense of “real America” are justified.
All of these rhetorical strategies — hollering about national suicide or hyperventilating about “socialism” or inveighing about the downfall of Western civilization — simply amount to the right frantically searching for ways to infuriate and frighten its base. It seeks to instill an ends-justify-the-means mentality (you might have to overturn an election or two) and steer politics out of the realm of facts. The question in the years ahead will be whether some segment of the Republican Party calls out this nuttery and demands a return to rational political discourse. Right now, the hysterics have the party by the throat.
As Robert P. Jones, chief executive of Public Religion Research Institute and the author of “White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity,” told me back in August, “references to saving or protecting ‘Western civilization’ are commonly used as a euphemism for White culture or identity by white supremacist groups. ... This language — captured also in the ‘Make America Great Again’ rhetoric — is about preserving an ideal of a White Christian America, protecting it from the changing culture and demographics in the U.S.”,,,,
If the alternative is national destruction, then what’s the problem with a little narcissistic excess, you see? Likewise, if Biden and company are “socialists,” then any lie and any act of obstruction in defense of “real America” are justified.
All of these rhetorical strategies — hollering about national suicide or hyperventilating about “socialism” or inveighing about the downfall of Western civilization — simply amount to the right frantically searching for ways to infuriate and frighten its base. It seeks to instill an ends-justify-the-means mentality (you might have to overturn an election or two) and steer politics out of the realm of facts. The question in the years ahead will be whether some segment of the Republican Party calls out this nuttery and demands a return to rational political discourse. Right now, the hysterics have the party by the throat.
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Evidently, they’re afraid that the new administration might do things that help all the people.
-Laelth
