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Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
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26 May, 5 tweets, 2 min read
If you want to unpack what the conservative movement has been all about since the 1950s and what is animating the Republican Party today, there really is no better place to start than “Dismantling systemic racism is Communism”
There’s a pretty straight line from “Race Mixing is Communism” - the slogan of those who opposed school integration in the 1950s and 60s - to Cotton’s fight to uphold the social caste system.
This famous photo, for instance, was taken at the Little Rock, Arkansas state capitol, August 1959 – the “Communist Race Mixing” in question was the integration of Little Rock’s Central High School (from a Library of Congress collection)
Conservatives have always derided anything that threatens racial hierarchy - any sort of leveling attempt - as "Communism."
And really, this goes back a long, long time...

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More from @tzimmer_history

Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
28 May
Unless the system is fundamentally democratized, we’ll soon reach the point where it will become impossible to stop America’s slide into authoritarianism through elections.

Some thoughts on what is at stake, based on this important piece by @RonBrownstein: 1/
If democratizing reforms do not come, all the states in which Republicans are in power will soon resemble apartheid South Africa much more than anything that could reasonably be called a functioning multiracial democracy. 2/
In about half the states, Republicans will be erecting stable one-party rule and install a system that is best described as a herrenvolk democracy: A system that is fairly democratic if you happen to be a white Christian man – and something entirely different if you are not. 3/
Read 23 tweets
Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
25 May
I went on CNN on the weekend to talk about Trump’s “Big Lie,” and what history can tell us about why it’s captured the Republican Party. In the very short segment, I didn’t get to talk about why I’m actually somewhat skeptical of the focus on the #BigLie idea. Let me explain: 1/
The term “Big Lie,” as it is defined today, refers to a specific kind of political propaganda: A lie that is told for political purposes and that is so outrageous, so bizarre, that it’s hard for people to resist. 2/ merriam-webster.com/dictionary/big…
As the theory goes, people believe the Big Lie precisely BECAUSE it is so shocking, because it is difficult to imagine anyone would lie in this shameless fashion about important political matters. 3/
Read 40 tweets
Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
18 May
I think @ThePlumLineGS has this exactly right: The protection of voting rights is a partisan issue – because democracy itself has become a partisan issue.

It’s the fundamental reality of American politics, and it’s worth putting in historical perspective. A few thoughts:
It’s crucial to understand what “democracy” meant in the U.S. before the civil rights legislation of the 1960s: A system that was fairly democratic if you happened to be a white Christian man – and something entirely different if you were not.
Until the 1960s, there was a pretty stable, bipartisan elite consensus that democracy should not interfere with the established power structure, and so the system was deliberately set up in a way that left white Christian male dominance largely untouched.
Read 15 tweets
Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
18 May
I went on the @DinDpodcast alongside @ConStelz for a wide-ranging discussion about the state of democracy in a transatlantic perspective.

If you’re interested in the past, present, and possible future of pluralistic democracy, I promise this episode is for you.
We covered a lot of ground – topics include:

- Angela Merkel’s legacy – and how worried should we be about the future of German democracy?
- Has the pandemic taught us anything about the ability of democracies to handle collective action crises?
- ...
Also:

- The dangers of the “politics of anticipated backlash”
- Why we should be more skeptical of established narratives of democracy’s supposed triumph after the end of the Cold War, the rise of “populism,” or the “crisis” of liberal democracy in the 21st century
- ...
Read 6 tweets
Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
15 May
What I find so persuasive is the combination of a complete lack of nuance, the absence of any informed assessment of the risks and pitfalls of the “No more masks” policy, and the abundance of self-righteousness.
For real though, here are just a few issues you might have expected the founder of Persuasion to address if he wanted to make a serious effort to, you know, *persuade* people:
The fact that fully vaccinated people have a very low chance of getting sick, but it’s not zero, and more importantly, there’s a chance they might still spread the virus. Which is why many in the medical community are critical of the new guidelines and will continue to wear masks
Read 11 tweets
Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
14 May
This is such an important observation - and it points to a failure among some who categorically reject the idea of fascism in the present-day U.S. to adapt their analysis to the specific conditions of 21st century America.
There are many strands of the debate over whether or not what we’re seeing on the Trumpist / Far Right can adequately be described as “fascism.” Many of the prevailing arguments are based on a comparison to fascism’s rise in the European interwar period.
One prominent argument holds that fascism can only arise in response to the threat of a Far Left takeover that ultimately compels the Center-Right to make common cause with the fascists. This is indeed what enabled Mussolini and Hitler to take power.
Read 12 tweets

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