They say this inflammatory shit to scare people and justify the actually-existing, heavily armed right wing militias.
The language of the right keeps getting more extreme to match every authoritarian escalation by the GOP.
People write off batshit accusations as unserious, which is a mistake. The accusations itself is a test of how far propagandists can take things, of how much bs people are willing to swallow.
What happens when the idea of a blue militia catches on?
We continue to treat the GOP’s authoritarian threats as jokes, while taking their unfounded concerns seriously. It’s so backwards.
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A hardwired belief that fascism can’t happen here has made it that much harder to confront the radicalization of the GOP. My latest for @Convo_ist, a primal scream for American democracy: conversationalist.org/2021/05/27/the…
If the GOP’s strategy is to pack the courts, overturn elections, incite mobs, gerrymander, suppress votes, and otherwise harass the vulnerable, then the size of its base is not as relevant a concern. conversationalist.org/2021/05/27/the…
Republicans have been on the path toward authoritarianism for more than two decades. (Reasonable people/historians will disagree on how far back to go.)Trump just speeded up the journey and helped them blossom into their worst selves.
What’s so sad is that people are only now giving this attack on democracy the urgency it deserves, late in the game with extremists deeply entrenched in our system.
January 20th won’t solve the fascist problem in America. Instead of chaos coming from the executive, it’ll be state GOP parties and local police harassing Democrats and marginalized people, suppressing votes, passing racist laws and ordinances, inciting violence.
Stop demanding Republicans do the right thing, or telling them what they should do. Force them. It’s the only way.
Why are Democrats so terrified of hard power? Use it.
The world won’t end if you upset your (treasonous) Republicans colleagues by forcing their hand, but it can get much bloodier if you don’t. Succession crises can spiral in all kinds of ways, expected and unexpected. Do something, don’t sit on this.