Thread by @tzimmer_history

As aggressive Trumpism rapidly spreads within the GOP, we hear a lot about how a “lack of courage” is supposedly preventing establishment Republicans from standing up to Trump – when what is actually the problem is a lack of commitment to democratic principles. 1/

https://twitter.com/walshfreedom/status/1552106680342781952

The narrative that Republicans are just scared and cowardly obscures the actual problem: Most of them are on board with the anti-democratic radicalization, and they have given themselves permission to tolerate or even embrace authoritarianism to fight back against “the Left.” 2/

The “cowardice” perspective fails to explain not only what animates the conservative base, but also the actions of Republican elected officials up and down the country who are actively complicit and often seem to revel in the attack on democracy. 3/

Mike Pence epitomizes the fallacies of the “cowardice” narrative. Are we supposed to both revere him as a hero of the Republic for his courageous stand on January 6 – and simultaneously chalk up his continued support for Trump and Trumpist figures to a *lack* of courage? 4/

https://twitter.com/svdate/status/1551927278090723328

There’s a far more plausible explanation available: All the reasons why Republicans united behind Trump in the first place still apply - they wanted a brawler to fight back against the “leftist” menace. They still do. So why break with him? 5/

They wanted someone who could harness the extremist, far-right popular energies on the base to prevent egalitarian, multiracial, pluralistic democracy from ever upending traditional hierarchies. That was the promise of Trumpism, and Trump has never betrayed that promise. 6/

Most of these establishment Republicans certainly thought they would be able to control Trump and the radical popular energies that fueled his rise. And if you look at the actual legislative agenda, they were mostly right. Why would they be disappointed with Trump? 7/

Almost getting killed by the mob? Unfortunate, certainly. But hey, priorities. Definitely can’t let those “Un-American” forces of wokeism and leftism destroy “real” (read: white Christian patriarchal) America. And so here we are. No disagreement “on issues.” 8/

https://twitter.com/svdate/status/1551930411625975809

Republicans are not just cowards, not simply afraid of Trump. They are convinced to be waging a noble war against insidious forces that are threatening “real” (read: conservative white Christian patriarchal) America and what they see as the natural / divinely ordained order. 9/

Let’s pay attention to the exculpatory implications that make the “lack of courage” tale so attractive, and not just for people on the Right. Acknowledging that we are dealing with true believers is a scary proposition for everyone in the pro-democracy camp. 10/

More comfortable to pretend everyone loves democracy and some are just scared of the mean demagogue and his cult followers. And by conveniently ignoring the longstanding anti-democratic tendencies on the Right, we can tell a story that begins (and possibly ends!) with Trump. 11/

For Republicans, the “lack of courage” tale provides cover: It may not be ideal, but it’s still better to be regarded a coward than an extremist. The doors to polite society will always be open to cowards. 12/

For the news media, the cowardice tale provides justification for clinging to the notion that the GOP is a “normal” party just struggling with an authoritarian insurrection, with a hostile takeover engineered by a few extremists who don’t represent the party’s true nature. 13/

In many ways, the “lack of courage” interpretation is another manifestation and extension of the myth of white innocence. Whatever animates white people’s extremism, it must not be racism and they cannot be blamed for their actions. 14/

The myth of white innocence has a sanitizing effect on the American political discourse, and it clouds the perspective on Republican elites. Whatever their political choices, there must exonerating circumstances absolving them from too much blame. 15/

And so, since Republicans cannot possibly be animated by white nationalism or a reactionary project of hierarchy maintenance, they must be motivated by more benign forces – maybe they are just cowards, or they are being seduced by the mean demagogue. 16/

Ultimately, the “cowardice” narrative fails to grapple with the depth of the ideological conflict we are witnessing and conceals rather than reveals what is fueling Trumpism’s rise and what is actually animating the American Right’s assault on democracy. /end

Addendum: The “Republicans are just cowards” tale is another variant of the pervasive idea that deep down, we really all want the same thing for the country, only some people currently can’t bring themselves to act on those shared beliefs and values for whatever reason.

Such an approach is completely oblivious to - or deliberately tries to obscure - the fact that no such consensus exists, that there is no fundamental agreement on which to build. It is entirely misleading because it negates the actual nature of the conflict and what is at stake.

At the core of the political and cultural conflict is the question of what “real America” is and who gets to be an American; who gets to define and dominate this country; who has a right to have their own image reflected back at them and whose authority is to be respected.

On all these questions, conservatives have fundamentally different answers than those preferred by the vast majority of people in the Democratic coalition and by the majority of Americans - answers that are increasingly incompatible with democracy itself.

Rather than imagining them as cowards who would love to act differently and simply don’t dare, we need to take these people seriously: They have decided that egalitarian,multiracial, pluralistic democracy is the biggest threat to their vision of what America is and should be.

Getting this right matters greatly - analytically and politically. Because the political response to someone who is categorically opposed to true democracy and any attempt to level traditional hierarchies probably needs to look different from one that deals with mere cowardice.