Jared Yates Sexton Profile picture
Hoosier, Political Analyst, Muckrake Podcast, Author THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM: A HISTORY OF POWER, PARANOIA, AND THE COMING CRISIS @duttonbooks available now

Jun 18, 2021, 25 tweets

So. A lot of people want to believe the GOP will heal itself or "return to normal."

But we have to talk about how the Right, from the moment of their origin, has used wild-eyed, antisemitic conspiracy theories to justify oppression and fascism.

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jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/a-long-and-f…

People are delusional in thinking that Donald Trump represented an aberration with the GOP and that as soon as he was gone things would return to "normal."

The truth is that Trump represented the true, actual nature of the Right and their racist white supremacy.

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What we are watching with antidemocratic violence, voter repression, racist conspiracy theories, attempted coups, and this daily horror show in which shared society and representative democracy are imperiled isn't new...it's what the Right does.

It's who they are.

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The origins of the modern Right lie in the 18th century and the outbreak of the French Revolution, which overthrew the monarchy.

The Right grew out of fears that the act would lead to widespread revolution and the empowering of the people.

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As the French overthrew the monarchy, a reaction grew. In England, the government cracked down on free speech, individual liberty, created police forces to rein in the people, and adopted violence and oppression as a means of trying to suppress any revolution there.

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Edmund Burke is considered the originator of "conservatism" and it was rooted in opposition to the Revolution in France.

Burke believed in hierarchies and the need to control the will of the people...for their own good.

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But conservatism, from the very beginning, was founded in conspiracy theories.

The belief was that the French Revolution was a master plan by a shadowy cabal obsessed with overthrowing nations.

If that sounds familiar...it should. But recognize: it was there from the start.

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The belief was that a shadowy conspiracy between the Masons, Illuminati, and, of course, the Jews, had created the French Revolution in order to destroy Christianity and create a one-world government.

Read that again.

It's the same conspiracy theory over and over.

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After Napoleon was defeated, there emerged a Concert of Europe that sought to contain these conspiracies and create a "Conservative Order" that might stabilize the continent and root out the conspirators.

It was oppressive. A dystopia, really.

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The main feature of the Right, beginning from the very start, was to use these fears of conspiracies to rationalize policing, oppression, surveillance, and a crushing society where individuals were made to fear for their safety should they call for any reform.

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It should be no surprise that antisemitic conspiracy theories grew like wildfire during this time as the calls for reform and liberalization were met with charges of a massive, international Jewish conspiracy to destroy the aristocracy and the nation-states.

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Out of this paranoia emerged the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forged document that reported on the "conspiracy" and gave only solution: more control for the wealthy and powerful.

It was a means of fearmongering and scapegoating in order to consolidate power.

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You don't need me to tell you where this went in Europe. It inspired the Big Lie in Germany, fascism, Nazism, genocide, and widespread societal oppression and destruction.

But here's something you might not know: It directed American politics and still affects us.

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Our Civil Rights Movement was met with allegations of Communist/Jewish conspiracies, dismissed as an international plot to destroy America.

It legitimized violence and suppression, framing it as national defense.

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White supremacist leaders like George Wallace told the police and southerners that this was a Communist plot, the insinuation fully there that it was part of the Jewish conspiracy as well, all of it rolled up into a tidy fascistic ball that legitimized violence.

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If all this sounds familiar, it should.

These same racist, classist, antisemitic conspiracy theories were revamped to become the New World Order and Deep State conspiracies.

They're the same fascist stories, just updated for the times.

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Even back in the 1990's the GOP was selling the same conspiracy to their followers, including the Patriot Movement, of which Timothy McVeigh was a member.

These conspiracies and fearmongering are nothing new. They've just become more and more visible.

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In this current iteration, it works like this: BLM and other social reform movements are ploys by conspirators to overthrow America.

They're fake. Operations obsessed with plunging America into a Satanic, one-world dystopia.

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While mainstream Right Wing media mostly refrain from using the most racist, antisemitic concepts, they hint at them.

There's something *happening*, a plot that's unfolding. They plant the seeds for further radicalization and further conspiracy mongering.

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But under the surface is the same, antisemitic conspiracy theory.

Jews working in the shadows to weaken the nation, create havoc, and unseat the power structure so that they can rule the world.

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It's constant rebranding.

New plots to fit whatever the moment requires, whatever it takes to prepare the Right Wing for preemptive violence, antidemocratic actions, and widespread, oppressive control.

But it's the same story, just different paint schemes.

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Recently, it's the fight against "CRT," which is just a new version of "cultural Marxism," the same conspiracy theory that animated the Nazis and allowed fascists to take complete control over their societies and brainwash their people.

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The fearmongering is a means to an end. Even most GOP members have no idea what CRT actually is, but it allows them to create fear and paranoia, furthering their control over both education and the political sphere.

It is, after all, an emergency.

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The "Stop The Steal" conspiracy theory is more of the same.

There's a conspiracy that's already stolen government, so it's time to tear down democratic institutions and take control.

Because...it's an emergency.

Because...it's self-defense.

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The point is that Trump wasn't the disease, he was a symptom.

This is who the GOP is, who the Right is. They have ALWAYS been a white supremacist movement using conspiracy theories to legitimize antidemocratic actions and suppression.

We have to understand this. Now.

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