Just finished listening to this entire podcast series and I highly recommend it. npr.org/podcasts/10642…
A couple takeaways. 1) Right wing extremists are almost always liars. The host is too polite/restrained to just say that, but we encounter multiple examples of "leaders" just shamelessly lying about their actions/beliefs in order to try to mainstream themselves.
2) I appreciate that the host identifies the "authoritarian" danger of this extremism. These folks pose a threat to the US because they hate and are working to disrupt most aspects of modern, pluralistic, constitutional, majoritarian democracy.
3) At this point, only a small minority of Americans agree politically with these extremists. They know this. It's why they a) lie and b) are trying to take over the institutional apparatus of one of the nation's two main political parties, the GOP. It's their ticket to power.
One key corollary to #3 above is that the shape of the nation's political rides quite heavily on the decisions that GOP elites (including media, donors, state parties, and elected officials) and voters will make in the coming years. The extremists are currently gaining ground.
The MAGA/Bannon takeover of the GOP has been very rapid & successful at the county & state level, though it's still not complete. The only thing that can turn the tide in the other direction is a) massive voter turnout in opposition to this dynamic and b) pushback inside the GOP.
I appreciate how the host centers voices of "conservatives," moderates, and those on the left who are working to counter the influence and political power of right wing extremists. But in many places, like the rural Pacific Northwest, it's hard to see these efforts succeeding.
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