This was one of the Republican Party's most successful propaganda efforts. A way to help break government is to make people hate it. Reagan was a master at this bit of propaganda.
Hamilton understood that the way to give a government legitimacy was for it to help people.
Hamilton understood that the way to give a government legitimacy was for it to help people.
https://twitter.com/erinnburke/status/1400123100272807942
Why did they want to "break" the federal government?
After the Civil Rights movement, the white supremacists, corporate interests, and white Evangelicals found themselves with a common goal: Dismantle the federal government.
Each had their own reasons.
After the Civil Rights movement, the white supremacists, corporate interests, and white Evangelicals found themselves with a common goal: Dismantle the federal government.
Each had their own reasons.
White Evangelicals wanted the church to run people's lives.
White Supremacists resented the Supreme Court's decision to desegregate America and federal legislation that made that happen.
Corporations wanted to dismantle the New Deal and regulatory agencies.
White Supremacists resented the Supreme Court's decision to desegregate America and federal legislation that made that happen.
Corporations wanted to dismantle the New Deal and regulatory agencies.
They are trying to dismantle the federal government on purpose.
You might say that there is a direct line from Reagan ("The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help" and the Jan. 6th insurrection.
You might say that there is a direct line from Reagan ("The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help" and the Jan. 6th insurrection.
In this @BulwarkOnline piece, @Joshua_A_Tait gives the chilling history of how the American conservative movement was always uncomfortable with democracy.
thebulwark.com/anti-democrati…
Tait takes us back to the 1950s, that pivotal decade when segregation was ruled unconstitutional.
thebulwark.com/anti-democrati…
Tait takes us back to the 1950s, that pivotal decade when segregation was ruled unconstitutional.
People who read Democracy in Chains are familiar with these arguments and history. (The title of this book is enough to enrage libertarians. The ones I've argued with absolutely deny that their movement rejected Brown. v Board of Education.)
Back to Tait's article . . .
Back to Tait's article . . .
In 1957 Wiliam F. Buckley wrote a National Review editorial about Black voting rights in the South.
He concluded the White community was entitled to “take such measures as necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not predominate numerically.”
He concluded the White community was entitled to “take such measures as necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not predominate numerically.”
This, for Buckley, was because of the “right of the few to preserve, against the wishes of the many, a social order superior that that which the many, given their way, might promulgate.”
He understood that the 15th Amendment was in the way.
thebulwark.com/anti-democrati…
He understood that the 15th Amendment was in the way.
thebulwark.com/anti-democrati…
To get around the Fifteenth Amendment, he suggested that the South should deny the vote to “marginal” voters of both races.
They cloaked all of this in fancy language, but the upshot was that some people are more equal than others.
They cloaked all of this in fancy language, but the upshot was that some people are more equal than others.
The idea is that democracy is in tension with “liberty.” They argued that too much democracy leads to “tyranny” and the worried about the “tyranny of the majority.”
No, kidding, right? If your ideas are unpopular and you think you're right, you reject democracy,
No, kidding, right? If your ideas are unpopular and you think you're right, you reject democracy,
This brings us to what Prof. @dziblatt calls the “conservative dilemma" which goes like this: How can conservatives win national elections with unpopular economic policies?
So it's not a surprise that those who call themselves "conservatives" are trying to suppress votes and rig elections.
Fortunately, the liberal heroes taught us how to fight back against this: Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Thurgood Marshall, MLK, Jr, and others.
Fortunately, the liberal heroes taught us how to fight back against this: Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Thurgood Marshall, MLK, Jr, and others.
I was invited to be on a podcast next week to talk about Susan B. Anthony, so I think next I'll write about how those who advanced democracy did it, and what we can learn from them.
(I also wrote a book about Thurgood Marshall. He led the way in the courts)
(I also wrote a book about Thurgood Marshall. He led the way in the courts)
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