Quote:
Originally Posted by TeflonDawg
i think i read the exchange you had with fly in the dork web thread and now this with rep. comparing those two to any nitty definition, part, or parcel of Trumpism or whatever it is you want to juxtapose them with is nonsense
maybe they spew venom, maybe they spit hot fire, their heart's in the right place imo. maybe they can take it down a notch, but you can also choose how you react to them and you definitely don't have to be so stubborn about it
wrt to American political history, you guys just sound like you're arguing about semantics and/or nitty definitions of arbitrary timelines but i'll give this a shot: the current Republican Party is a result of 50-60 years of racist and/or disingenuous behavior. it started with Southern Strategy and has basically never wavered from that in principle. the only thing Trump did was amplify the microphone
ETA: social media has also basically taken off the launchpad from the time Trump announced his candidacy to now. social media has amplified EVERYTHING. so all the negative **** in the world is now in your face on a phone, pad, lap or desktop and psychologically you always remember the negative more than the positive on a one for one basis. it is really ****ing disturbing at this point
I have to admit I’m surprised that everyone seems to think trump is no different in degree, if not kind, from previous iterations of the GOP.
It’s making me second guess my position but I’ll try to defend it one last time. I’m open to being convinced I’m mistaken.
I’ve conceded earlier today that most of trumpism existed in the GOP for decades but I do think there are very significant differences in degree. Sure the GOP has been racist forever but the leaders of the party were not literally calling Neo-nazis good people, holding press conferences surrounded by skinheads, and openly advocating for excluding people from the country based on race and religion. All racism is bad but trumps out in the open advocacy is surely far more toxic.
As for differences in kind I just don’t think the previous iterations of the GOP were out to literally destroy the fabric of democracy by doing everything possible to divide the nation, eliminate the people’s faith in institutions, destroy the 4th estate, and actively disassemble constitutinal checks and balances. Sure the GOP has had some authoritarian streaks but trumps love of dictators and desire to be a literal king seems unique to me.
P.S. for the record I ignore rep unless he attacks me which he did today. I never respond to any of his posts otherwise because I simply don’t think there is any chance for real debate or for me to learn anything interesting.