Thread by @JYSexton

All right.

We need to talk about the GOP sharing images of themselves killing political rivals, the history of conspiracy theory as a political appeal, and how all of this puts us in extreme danger and almost ensures bloodshed.

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jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/the-fantasy-…

Of course, we're talking about Rep. Paul Gosar, who widely shared a video of himself decapitating AOC and attacking President Biden.

It's an absurd thing, but part of a larger trend of escalating violent rhetoric and fantasies that inspire violence and antidemocratic actions

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The video is repulsive and childish, but is part of an ongoing narrative the GOP uses to win elections.

That narrative promises that Democratic victories will lead to an apocalypse, which necessitates a war the American people must fight, legitimizing violence.

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It's not a coincidence that these conspiracy theories led to a coup attempt where several actors planned on killing Democratic politicians.

This is what happens when you embrace fearmongering as an appeal. History tells us this will inspire violence.

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We need to go back and see how the GOP came to embrace these conspiracy theories, but first we need to make our way through the modern area, which capitalized on white supremacist paranoia with Barack Obama being elected president.

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The Tea Party was a result of that white paranoia and was created by rich libertarian forces to marshal racism and fear in order to swing the GOP and government further right.

It was almost entirely artificial, and was incredibly successful in changing the nation.

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What made this possible, and what still holds sway over the GOP and its base, is the New World Order conspiracy theory, which blames Democratic traitors in league with foreign enemies for "destroying" the nation and planning on engaging in widespread, satanic violence.

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The GOP/New World Order strategy has its roots in the battles of the 1990's, where Republicans like Newt Gingrich utilized the paranoia and fear to carve out huge political victories by portraying Bill Clinton and moderate Democrats as traitors and dangers to America.

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The GOP of the 1990's succeeded by branding itself as the last guard against the Democratic "plot," positioning the party as a check on evil that might, if given power, keep the New World Order from taking peoples' guns and homes and throwing them into concentration camps.

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The New World Order conspiracy theory is actually a mythology that explains globalization, or how the GOP systematically de-industrialized the country, handed over power to corporations, and turned economics upside down.

It grafts a supernatural lens to economics.

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The truth is that, going into the 1990's, Democrats and Republicans found an economic consensus in neoliberalism.

But the GOP needed something to differentiate themselves, and the avenue chosen was to portray Democrats as evil and dangerous, perpetuating these conspiracies.

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It's important to note, there are always consequences to fearmongering. The GOP and NRA using these conspiracy theories radicalized great swathes of Americans, some of whom took matters into their own hands as they literally believed they were engaged in an invisible war.

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That radicalization continues to this very day as Right Wing extremists believe they are soldiers in a war against traitorous liberals and must engage in violence and antidemocratic violence.

GOP messaging ensures more people will come to believe this.

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All this fearmongering leads to a further radicalizing within the GOP as candidates realize they need to continue with the conspiracy theories but increase them in order to win and rake in the cash.

This has created a new generation of Republicans who are even more radical.

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Because the GOP had to destroy the consensus reality, they're left without principles. They're not fiscally or socially conservative or for small government.

Now, their entire purpose is to perpetuate the idea of a radicalizing war, promising to "fight" a fictional foe.

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This is how QAnon came to dominate the GOP. It took the ridiculous conspiracies and alternate realities and combined them, capturing the base and thrusting them into a world where the war is going to boil over and make possible coups and executions.

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Already we've suffered the terrible consequences of these conspiracy theories as people who believe they're warriors against an evil conspiracy take matters into their own hands.

Sharing videos like the Gosar one only strengthens the chances of these things happening.

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And lone wolves are one thing, but the GOP and QAnon and these conspiracy theories have radicalized large swathes of their base, making attempted coups like January 6th not only more acceptable, but possibly more common.

This has an effect. We're watching the consequences.

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To be clear, none of this is innocuous. The GOP is priming its base, day after day, to not only accept violence and antidemocratic actions, but to demand them.

Every moment we move closer to really devastating moments where all of our lives and freedoms could be endangered.

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A lot of us have been warning about this for years. People often shake their heads, believing this will work itself out or that it can't happen here.

It can and it is. We're watching radicalization grow, and it's obvious where this is heading unless we take it seriously.

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