Mitch McConnell breaking ranks to criticize January 6th and the censuring of Cheney and Kinzinger is a major story, but not because McConnell is principled.
There's a war in the GOP and an authoritarian, illiberal movement is taking control.
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jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/a-party-tear…
Mitch McConnell represents a past generation of Republicans ensconced in neoliberalism.
What we are watching are the consequences of the GOP partnering with authoritarian powers to further their power and profit and a terrifying changing of the guards.
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McConnell was correct that January 6th was a violent insurrection, but we also have to recognize that his actions and the actions of the GOP explicitly laid the foundations for this to happen.
Pretending this was a spontaneous phenomenon is simply delusional.
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The battle in the GOP over Liz Cheney and others who have denounced January 6th and Donald Trump isn't about Cheney or Trump or even McConnell.
It's about the fact that a new authoritarian movement created by the GOP is rapidly overtaking the traditional members.
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What we witnessed in the Trump years was a shakeup within the GOP, a shift in who controls the party and what its ideology should encompass
To understand how we arrived here, we have to look at the past to see how the modern GOP came into being and where the fissures emerged
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The modern Republican Party emerged in post-war America, where its pro-business ideologues intentionally merged with libertarians, cultural conservatives, evangelicals, and conspiracy theorists to create a broader base.
This has been called a Fusion.
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By merging pro-business ideas with white evangelicalism, the new Republican Party created a broader, more powerful appeal that fought cultural battles as if they were apocalyptic showdowns.
The church was thoroughly politicized and radicalized beyond imagination.
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Eventually, this fusion on the Right Wing would lead to the election of Ronald Reagan, who embodied the pro-business, evangelical, libertarian, and conspiracy theory riddled fringe.
In this role, he would change America and the world forever.
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Reagan and fellow politicians like Margaret Thatcher were used by pro-business interests to forward a new ideology: neoliberalism.
This idea would enforce cruel austerity, destroy government as a public good, and create a new economic system to the benefit of the wealthy.
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Neoliberalism was the destruction of the New Deal consensus and represented a massive redistribution of wealth from the bottom up.
It was also meant to dismantle democracy and ideology, creating a world only focused on profiting the wealthiest few.
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Neoliberalism found purchase on both sides of the aisle. Democrats joined Republicans in an economic consensus that prioritized markets while carrying out austerity.
The differences were cultural and almost never economic. As a result, neoliberalism spread around the world.
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Neoliberal globalism is a complicated subject that relies on economic and political expertise to truly understand.
Unfortunately, this opened the door for conspiracy theories redirecting anger to vulnerable populations.
Call it the New World Order or Deep State.
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Anger over neoliberalism and these conspiracy theories metastasized into movements like the Tea Party, which were funded and directed by the same people benefiting from globalism.
Wealthy donors and Right Wing media pushed this astroturfed movement and gave it power.
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You might remember Republicans like John Boehner struggling to control the Tea Party as it grew and came to consume the GOP.
The fusion project demanded the party move further right, embracing conspiracy theories and the radicalization of the Tea Party.
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Trumpism is the evolution of the Tea Party and its ideology. That Donald Trump was able to takeover the party was because of these efforts and the foundation.
What happened was that the GOP saw him as useful, but knew the fusion project was in danger of collapsing.
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Stalwarts like Mitch McConnell used Trump to pass their agenda, including stocking the judiciary as the party grew more and more unpopular.
McConnell's job, as always, was to obstruct social programs and progress while continuing to pass tax cuts and create firewalls.
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Figures like Paul Ryan only cared about budgets, maintaining austerity, and furthering the neoliberal project of accumulating wealth at the highest tier.
He used Trump for these purposes while struggling like Boehner to keep the fusion project working. He bailed soon after.
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By using Trump to pass their agenda, the GOP let poison slip into the body politic. Trump mainstreamed authoritarianism, laundered dictators, and peddled neofascistic garbage.
This took a massive toll as radicalization only increased exponentially.
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By the time Trump was voted out of office, the base was more than fine with extralegal violence, intimidation, and authoritarian tactics, the movement obsessed with a culture war turned bloody.
Slowly but surely, the power within the fusion project started to shift.
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The reason the momentum shifted is because the GOP weren't the only ones using Trump.
Opponents of neoliberalism and liberal democracy like Steve Bannon saw Trump as the perfect weapon to carry out their plans to reshape the world by unseating neoliberalism and replacing it
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As this happened, parts of the fusion project, including cultural conservatives and libertarians, grew dissatisfied with the deal they'd made with neoliberals and the pro-business sect.
Multiculturalism, tolerance, and progressivism were way too big a price to pay.
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Because Trump had cleared the way for authoritarian measures, this new movement started presenting illiberalism from around the world, including Hungary and Russia, to the base.
As this happened, they pushed to reject neoliberalism and create something new.
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What people like Tucker Carlson are peddling now is illiberalism, or the destruction of liberal democracy, in order to create a theocratic-based state with controlled elections, education, and culture.
This is still partly in lockstep with the GOP, but rejects neoliberalism
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This new National Conservatism movement builds off white anger against neoliberalism and promotes protected markets, preferred citizens, and a new authoritarianism that moves beyond the Constitution, our laws, or customs.
It's about power and profit. Period.
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National Conservatism is currently winning the battle against Republicans like Mitch McConnell in the contest for power.
It's because neoliberalism is losing its grip on the body politic. McConnell is fighting like hell to keep what he has.
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What we're watching now is the total collapse of the fusion project that has stood for decades and a new push by National Conservatives to take control of the GOP and pilot illiberalism within the United States.
And they're winning. Undeniably winning.
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McConnell didn't say what he said because he believes in freedom or liberty. It's about control over the future.
Neoliberalism needs replaced by something, and National Conservatives are offering an alternative, albeit a horrifying one. This is a changing of the guard.
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That McConnell would come out like this and break ranks is telling. He's losing control over the GOP as National Conservatives in the illiberal, Trumpist mold assert their dominance.
Things are about to escalate. Quickly. People should be ready to fight back against this.
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