Conservatism started its descent into the sewer with Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election. Nixon then took the baton and gave us the Southern strategy and Watergate, which sealed his fate as the most corrupt president until the current " president " came on the scene. Reagan followed with his hatred of government and conservative media from Fox to Rush Limbaugh echoed this theme, along with a steady diet of overt racism. GW Bush took the country from budget surpluses to massive deficits with his obscene tax cuts and then of course trump comes along, capitalizing on the racist backlash to a black president and spilling all of conservatism's pathologies out in the open for all to see. As the author noted, trump is the end result of 50 years of Republican lies, deceit, racism and contempt for good government. Republicans have much to answer for.
I was vague about the start date (I said half a century) because 1600 words only lets you say so much. I completely agree that the roots go back well before Reagan. There are obviously historical antecedents, or versions of conservatism, that go all the way back to before the American revolution. I think, though, that there is something distinctive about the modern conservative movement, and that has to do with the fact that it was fundamentally a reaction to civil rights and to the New Deal. So that places a focus on the current version in the post-war decades.
I pretty much agree with your outline of what happened. But I'll note that the descent into the sewer has accelerated over time as the right in this country became increasingly open in their hatred of the "other" and increasingly willing to embrace ever more blatant lies.
I saw the hatred and division really ramp up in the 90s, with the key contributors to that trend being right-wing talk radio (especially Rush Limbaugh) and Newt Gingrich. The face of conservatism under Reagan at least provided the appearance of being amiable under Reagan, but any pretense of amiability was jettisoned between the red meat of talk radio and Newt Gingrich's explicit "othering" of anyone who was moderate or left of center.
And then there was the racist backlash to Obama in the form of the so-called Tea Party. No longer was the racism limited to dog whistles, but it was out in the open (just one example was the portrayal of Obama as a witch doctor on multiple occasions by right-wing protesters). The whole birther movement was also based in racism, because no one who was white would have had his legitimately questioned in that particular way. And, of course, the Tea Party's agenda was entirely based on lies -- lies about Obama's birth certificate, lies about nonexistent tax increases, and lies over policies (think of "death panels" and "Obama phones").
When the Tea Party rose to prominence on a pile of lies and bigotry, GOP leadership had the opportunity to distance itself from those lies and that bigotry. They chose instead to embrace that stuff...and in the process, they pretty much paved the path for Trump to rise in their party.
I totally agree, I was there and I watched this. Goldwater was the beginning, what a nasty piece of work he was. I’m proud to say I broke the Goldwater figurine that my friend’s parents had at their house. I just picked it up and it fell apart, guess I’ve had the touch. Always knew the republicans were not for me or for anyone but themselves.
lifelong Democrat here but one of the first candidates I voted for when I was eligible was the late Charles Mac Mathias of Marylanf. He was a moderate to liberal Republican in the 60's-70's; very thoughtful, well versed on foreign affairs. When he was up for re-election I happily voted for him, not Barbara Mikulski, his Democratic challenger. Mathias was a fine Senator, represented Maryland and the Republican Party (as it then existed).
Looking back Reagan began the hard right turn that the GOP took. For years Reagan robbed off the most extreme elements of the religious right, as did G.H.W. Bush.
"But the suggestion that the corruption, chaos, and brutality coming out of this administration is just the work of one demented individual is misleading"
Not only is the thought misleading, it's incorrect. The article detailed the build-up that has been coming for decades. Fear, hate and racism have always been at the bottom. LBJ noted in his famous quote, ""If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." ": Republicans latched onto this with a vengence and have been using it (or versions of it) ever since to gin up their base. They have also prided themselves in a "one horse one rabbit" economic distribution, and there have been plenty of lies to justify it. In short, the build-up has been engineered over decades with the help of a complicit media.
An outstanding article. So brief, so lucid, so true. However, it boggles my mind that after January 6th debacle, people would even look at, never mind choose, the president we now have. There were other candidates who were disregarded. So it really does come down to citizens as to how they vote. And this is what the winning side got: a horror show.
Let me ask what is conservative about spending $1 trillion to remove undocumented immigrants or just plain "people magas don't like" Where is the cost/benefit analysis on that? If we get rid of the people who power our farms and food processing chains, construction companies, and hospitality and healthcare sectors, how much more must we spend with domestic workers to replace them? How much are we losing in taxes that many noncitizens pay and the contributions that they make to the local economy?
While I'm at it, I cannot calculate what my pain and suffering are worth when deportees' constitutional rights are violated and I lose trusted members of my community, let alone when DHS forces harm or kill anyone who gets in their way. I have suffered along with everyone else for the past month as this mess has escalated. Multiply that cost by millions of caring people, and the damage far outweighs any possible good in extricating noncitizens. Go back to the drawing board, "conservatives."
I just read a report projecting to 2034 the job growth by sectors in the US.
4 of the top 5 jobs will pay under $40K and the top needed job by a large amount will be home healthcare provider. I wonder who would fill those jobs, hmmm?
So when the MAGA supporters can't find help for their elderly parents or have to remortgage their homes to pay for help, do you think they will link it back to Trump's mass deportation frenzy? Unfortunately, this will hurt everyone to, not just the MAGAs.
One can only hope that a large part of the population will come to realize that maybe immigration isn't such a bad idea...
Well said. The only way I think there will ever be comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. is if the labor shortages the Trump regime’s sadistic immigration policies are causing lead to out of control inflation in the U.S.
For now, all of the focus of Democrats, in my judgement, should be on abolishing or at least thoroughly
reforming the regime’s ICE Gestapo and holding its masked jackbooted cowards legally accountable for their abuses of power and crimes against humanity.
Unfortunately, I think the root of the problem begins with the US Constitution, created as a compromise between Southern colonies that were dependent on slavery and the Northern colonies. Because of this compromise, every state gets two senators regardless of population, thus skewing the power of rural and regressive populations, as well as pre-civil war skewed by the 2/3 compromise on enslaved people. Nowadays, North Dakota and other rural states gets two senators as does California, which has 4 cities alone each with more people than North Dakota. Similarly undemocratic aspects of the US can be found in the Electoral College, and the lifetime appointments of the Supreme Court Justices, none of whom have ever been convicted by the Senate during impeachment proceedings.
Don't disagree. But still left with the really nasty fact that T won the popular vote in 2024. Something very wrong here beyond the undemocratic elements of our Constitution.
Review how North Dakota & South Dakota were made into states. The part of the Dakota Territory that became North Dakota & South Dakota was slated to enter the Union as ONE state, but the Territory was divided explicitly to create TWO extra rural senatorial seats.
"This plan ... split Republican Dakota Territory into two new Republican states."
Funny you should mention 50 years. Since the election of St. Ronnie in November 1980, I have been saying exactly that - and that is almost exactly 45 years ago. It started with Reagan's team playing dirty with the release of the American hostages in Iran, continued on through H.W.'s dirty Iran-Contra deal and has found it's culmination in what we have today.
Interrupted only a couple of times by presidents who actually cared about and for this country, but have been verbally attacked by the liar\s, thieves and robber barons on the far right, who have benefited the most.
Is there a bit of a Stockholm syndrome there, are Dem voters influenced by all the negative & surreptitious republican disinfo? There’s always talk about ‘Dems devouring their own’ … republicans got to where there were not just because they play dirty, but because they march LOCKSTEP - right or wrong.
— I hope Dems & Indeps have learned whatever it is that they need to this time around, if the republic survives.
* ‘The perfect cannot become the enemy of the good/ possible.’
This making a "deal" while DHS is still operating with impunity is unacceptable. You make them fix it; then you deal with the budget. Sheesh, Schumer. He always does this. There are no deals with Donald Trump.
Except the “all or nothing” approach doesn’t work so well when Trumpublicans are willing to see unlimited pain visited on the public in the pursuit of their own fascist goals.
Longest govt shutdown ever last time around : the 1%-er/ GOP cd care less,
When I feel overcome with all the anger, frustration, fear and confusion, I take a sanity break. As a chef and former science teacher I seek a grounding principle, a basic fact, upon which I can view the chaos with more clarity.
1. There is one race - Human
2. We all share one home - Earth
Let's not forget that as we navigate these difficult times.
Former Republican political strategist and Lincoln Project founder, Stuart Stevens, made similar points in his latest book, “It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump.”
The backlash among the American people to what conservatism has deteriorated into under Trump may end up leading to many of the very policies in the U.S., like a single-payer heath care system and wealth tax, for example, that conservatives have always reviled.
Well, and why do they revile natural resource regulation? Same deal. They can either make all the money now and quit forever or make a set amount by exploiting our managed resources indefinitely over time.
I want to believe in your idea of a backlash that would lead to transformative and structural changes such as single-payer health care and wealth tax. Plus as mentioned below, natural resource regulations, and really the list could go on.
But as the author notes and as Contrarians here have echoed, these so-called conservative forces have been at work to dominate our politics for at least 50 years - and HCR would argue in one form or another since our nation's founding. Just in T 2.0 the "conservatives" have achieved almost incalculable redistribution of wealth and deregulation.
This concentration of wealth and power which is opposed to government, and certainly a "welfare" government is a pretty intimidating force to defeat. If the last 50 years hasn't yielded a solution to break up conservatives control, then time for new solutions, ideas that haven't been tried before? Hopefully?
The only thing I think, unfortunately, that will end “The concentration of wealth and power which is opposed to government, and certainly a ‘welfare’ government•••” in the United States is when it causes enough suffering for the American people that there is a peaceful popular uprising against it.
A good example of this is how the economic misery of the American people during the Great Depression of the 1930s paved the way for FDR’s New Deal.
We may be on the cusp of something like that given how much pain the Trump regime is causing the American people.
Most of us know from experience that ‘lessons learned the hard way’ have the most impact, for sure!
And that is what it is going to take for MAGA to ‘get it’ - altho there will always be the ‘unrepentant’ among us that will require divine intervention.
It may be that you are right that change won’t happen until there is a popular uprising brought on by economic misery - or just misery. But I am sure hope for other solutions. Misery never falls equally. And I worry that a popular rising might lead to a strongman solution. I think it might have been Senator VanHollen who said Americans have to have agency. Maybe solutions will come from the state and local levels where it is easier to exert agency. Horrible times.
David, again I agree. And I shouldn’t have dropped the word peaceful, because I know you used the word intentionally.
And again I agree that a federal role is critical - a good example being the one you cited, federal civil rights legislation. And our federal taxing system.
But my concern is that the concentration of power in the federal government makes it an easier target for conservative forces to overwhelm. This last year it has been state and local governments that have been the most effective in finding solutions from workarounds to loss of social services to keeping residents safe from armed assault.
I agree with Ms. Stewart. The challenge is finding "the plan" or "the message" that's going to resonate with voters. Right wing bumper sticker slogans are easy. Defining difficult problems and their possible solutions don't fit on bumper stickers or cut through the lies and gaslighting of right wing media sources like Fox "news". Mainstream media has been no better -- happy to "normalize" obscene behavior rather than calling it out for what it is. The right wing SCOTUS members, the "shadow docket", the lack of ethics and the corrupt acceptance of "gifts" from people that have business in front of the court needs to be called out EVERY DAY. Right wing members of Congress, cowering in fear of a mean tweet, need to be called out EVERY DAY. The Contrarian is a good step in the right direction for communicating the challenges ahead. How to communicate the threats to democracy and possible solutions to issues in a way that voters can identify with and appreciate is something I struggle to find a solution.
That the American Conservative Movement has failed is to say that most of the movement has failed to adhere to its oaths of office and has accepted lawlessness and authoritarianism, and through greed and fear, surrendered all power to a deranged tyrant.
Beyond the politicians like Nixon, Reagan, Gingrich, McConnell and many others, are the merchants of hate and division, like Rush Limbaugh, Rupert Murdoch, and yes, Charlie Kirk. Limbaugh made hundreds of millions of dollars and spawned a whole new generation of copy-cat charlatans eager to cash in on peddling bile and making cruelty "cool." They dragged civic discourse into the sewer, for profit, and thus undermined the fundamental pillars of of our society.
Conservatism started its descent into the sewer with Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election. Nixon then took the baton and gave us the Southern strategy and Watergate, which sealed his fate as the most corrupt president until the current " president " came on the scene. Reagan followed with his hatred of government and conservative media from Fox to Rush Limbaugh echoed this theme, along with a steady diet of overt racism. GW Bush took the country from budget surpluses to massive deficits with his obscene tax cuts and then of course trump comes along, capitalizing on the racist backlash to a black president and spilling all of conservatism's pathologies out in the open for all to see. As the author noted, trump is the end result of 50 years of Republican lies, deceit, racism and contempt for good government. Republicans have much to answer for.
I was vague about the start date (I said half a century) because 1600 words only lets you say so much. I completely agree that the roots go back well before Reagan. There are obviously historical antecedents, or versions of conservatism, that go all the way back to before the American revolution. I think, though, that there is something distinctive about the modern conservative movement, and that has to do with the fact that it was fundamentally a reaction to civil rights and to the New Deal. So that places a focus on the current version in the post-war decades.
I pretty much agree with your outline of what happened. But I'll note that the descent into the sewer has accelerated over time as the right in this country became increasingly open in their hatred of the "other" and increasingly willing to embrace ever more blatant lies.
I saw the hatred and division really ramp up in the 90s, with the key contributors to that trend being right-wing talk radio (especially Rush Limbaugh) and Newt Gingrich. The face of conservatism under Reagan at least provided the appearance of being amiable under Reagan, but any pretense of amiability was jettisoned between the red meat of talk radio and Newt Gingrich's explicit "othering" of anyone who was moderate or left of center.
And then there was the racist backlash to Obama in the form of the so-called Tea Party. No longer was the racism limited to dog whistles, but it was out in the open (just one example was the portrayal of Obama as a witch doctor on multiple occasions by right-wing protesters). The whole birther movement was also based in racism, because no one who was white would have had his legitimately questioned in that particular way. And, of course, the Tea Party's agenda was entirely based on lies -- lies about Obama's birth certificate, lies about nonexistent tax increases, and lies over policies (think of "death panels" and "Obama phones").
When the Tea Party rose to prominence on a pile of lies and bigotry, GOP leadership had the opportunity to distance itself from those lies and that bigotry. They chose instead to embrace that stuff...and in the process, they pretty much paved the path for Trump to rise in their party.
I totally agree, I was there and I watched this. Goldwater was the beginning, what a nasty piece of work he was. I’m proud to say I broke the Goldwater figurine that my friend’s parents had at their house. I just picked it up and it fell apart, guess I’ve had the touch. Always knew the republicans were not for me or for anyone but themselves.
Yes,they do.
lifelong Democrat here but one of the first candidates I voted for when I was eligible was the late Charles Mac Mathias of Marylanf. He was a moderate to liberal Republican in the 60's-70's; very thoughtful, well versed on foreign affairs. When he was up for re-election I happily voted for him, not Barbara Mikulski, his Democratic challenger. Mathias was a fine Senator, represented Maryland and the Republican Party (as it then existed).
Looking back Reagan began the hard right turn that the GOP took. For years Reagan robbed off the most extreme elements of the religious right, as did G.H.W. Bush.
American conservatism has been replaced with right wing extremism.
"But the suggestion that the corruption, chaos, and brutality coming out of this administration is just the work of one demented individual is misleading"
Not only is the thought misleading, it's incorrect. The article detailed the build-up that has been coming for decades. Fear, hate and racism have always been at the bottom. LBJ noted in his famous quote, ""If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." ": Republicans latched onto this with a vengence and have been using it (or versions of it) ever since to gin up their base. They have also prided themselves in a "one horse one rabbit" economic distribution, and there have been plenty of lies to justify it. In short, the build-up has been engineered over decades with the help of a complicit media.
An outstanding article. So brief, so lucid, so true. However, it boggles my mind that after January 6th debacle, people would even look at, never mind choose, the president we now have. There were other candidates who were disregarded. So it really does come down to citizens as to how they vote. And this is what the winning side got: a horror show.
A well-engineered cult can, through its leader, gain quite a following. It is also true that some people will buy anything.
...if the guy selling it hates the same people they hate.
And then it's very difficult and humbling to admit you were deluded.
So true. Nobody likes to admit that they made a poor choice, and some are even more resistant to admitting a mistake.
Let me ask what is conservative about spending $1 trillion to remove undocumented immigrants or just plain "people magas don't like" Where is the cost/benefit analysis on that? If we get rid of the people who power our farms and food processing chains, construction companies, and hospitality and healthcare sectors, how much more must we spend with domestic workers to replace them? How much are we losing in taxes that many noncitizens pay and the contributions that they make to the local economy?
While I'm at it, I cannot calculate what my pain and suffering are worth when deportees' constitutional rights are violated and I lose trusted members of my community, let alone when DHS forces harm or kill anyone who gets in their way. I have suffered along with everyone else for the past month as this mess has escalated. Multiply that cost by millions of caring people, and the damage far outweighs any possible good in extricating noncitizens. Go back to the drawing board, "conservatives."
I just read a report projecting to 2034 the job growth by sectors in the US.
4 of the top 5 jobs will pay under $40K and the top needed job by a large amount will be home healthcare provider. I wonder who would fill those jobs, hmmm?
So when the MAGA supporters can't find help for their elderly parents or have to remortgage their homes to pay for help, do you think they will link it back to Trump's mass deportation frenzy? Unfortunately, this will hurt everyone to, not just the MAGAs.
One can only hope that a large part of the population will come to realize that maybe immigration isn't such a bad idea...
Well said. The only way I think there will ever be comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. is if the labor shortages the Trump regime’s sadistic immigration policies are causing lead to out of control inflation in the U.S.
For now, all of the focus of Democrats, in my judgement, should be on abolishing or at least thoroughly
reforming the regime’s ICE Gestapo and holding its masked jackbooted cowards legally accountable for their abuses of power and crimes against humanity.
Unfortunately, I think the root of the problem begins with the US Constitution, created as a compromise between Southern colonies that were dependent on slavery and the Northern colonies. Because of this compromise, every state gets two senators regardless of population, thus skewing the power of rural and regressive populations, as well as pre-civil war skewed by the 2/3 compromise on enslaved people. Nowadays, North Dakota and other rural states gets two senators as does California, which has 4 cities alone each with more people than North Dakota. Similarly undemocratic aspects of the US can be found in the Electoral College, and the lifetime appointments of the Supreme Court Justices, none of whom have ever been convicted by the Senate during impeachment proceedings.
Don't disagree. But still left with the really nasty fact that T won the popular vote in 2024. Something very wrong here beyond the undemocratic elements of our Constitution.
Musk $$ and a gullible young male audience contributed.
‘Latinos for Trump’ vote should now dissipate a little too? 🙄
— voter regret is real & will increase.
Review how North Dakota & South Dakota were made into states. The part of the Dakota Territory that became North Dakota & South Dakota was slated to enter the Union as ONE state, but the Territory was divided explicitly to create TWO extra rural senatorial seats.
"This plan ... split Republican Dakota Territory into two new Republican states."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Territory
Funny you should mention 50 years. Since the election of St. Ronnie in November 1980, I have been saying exactly that - and that is almost exactly 45 years ago. It started with Reagan's team playing dirty with the release of the American hostages in Iran, continued on through H.W.'s dirty Iran-Contra deal and has found it's culmination in what we have today.
Interrupted only a couple of times by presidents who actually cared about and for this country, but have been verbally attacked by the liar\s, thieves and robber barons on the far right, who have benefited the most.
Those most vilified--Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, Joe Biden--were the most caring. Fancy that.
Absolutely, but Democrats always seem to take the fascists' vilifications lying down. No unified defense of their presidents.
Is there a bit of a Stockholm syndrome there, are Dem voters influenced by all the negative & surreptitious republican disinfo? There’s always talk about ‘Dems devouring their own’ … republicans got to where there were not just because they play dirty, but because they march LOCKSTEP - right or wrong.
— I hope Dems & Indeps have learned whatever it is that they need to this time around, if the republic survives.
* ‘The perfect cannot become the enemy of the good/ possible.’
This making a "deal" while DHS is still operating with impunity is unacceptable. You make them fix it; then you deal with the budget. Sheesh, Schumer. He always does this. There are no deals with Donald Trump.
Except the “all or nothing” approach doesn’t work so well when Trumpublicans are willing to see unlimited pain visited on the public in the pursuit of their own fascist goals.
Longest govt shutdown ever last time around : the 1%-er/ GOP cd care less,
— but ‘we the non-fat-cats’ had begun to suffer.
Great comment. Wish I could give you more than one like.
I’ll take being woke any day 👍
Yep. No single, hysterical, or wedge issue to divide & conquer us!
All in favor of a big tent and lots of reasoned discussion.
When I feel overcome with all the anger, frustration, fear and confusion, I take a sanity break. As a chef and former science teacher I seek a grounding principle, a basic fact, upon which I can view the chaos with more clarity.
1. There is one race - Human
2. We all share one home - Earth
Let's not forget that as we navigate these difficult times.
pEaCe
sTeVe
So true. Thanks for your lessons.
And here’s a Smithsonian ‘sanity break’ SNOWY PANDA frisking video for you.
— off-topic, hope you like it, short. 🐼
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-zoo-conservation-biology-institute/2026/01/28/see-how-the-animals-enjoyed-a-snowy-week-at-the-smithsonians-national-zoo/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=92883290
Oh thank you!
The joy of being a Panda on a snowy day.
Thanks Jay Jay Eh
Kathrine,
Former Republican political strategist and Lincoln Project founder, Stuart Stevens, made similar points in his latest book, “It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump.”
The backlash among the American people to what conservatism has deteriorated into under Trump may end up leading to many of the very policies in the U.S., like a single-payer heath care system and wealth tax, for example, that conservatives have always reviled.
Why have they ‘reviled’ single-payer healthcare system tho?
— are they really that short-sighted, self-invested & misanthropic?
A healthier serf class makes for a better worker with a longer lifespan after all.
Well, and why do they revile natural resource regulation? Same deal. They can either make all the money now and quit forever or make a set amount by exploiting our managed resources indefinitely over time.
I think one of the reasons is that it would work. People would see that it worked and want more from government.
Check below; I responded to your comment, Jay Jay.
David,
I want to believe in your idea of a backlash that would lead to transformative and structural changes such as single-payer health care and wealth tax. Plus as mentioned below, natural resource regulations, and really the list could go on.
But as the author notes and as Contrarians here have echoed, these so-called conservative forces have been at work to dominate our politics for at least 50 years - and HCR would argue in one form or another since our nation's founding. Just in T 2.0 the "conservatives" have achieved almost incalculable redistribution of wealth and deregulation.
This concentration of wealth and power which is opposed to government, and certainly a "welfare" government is a pretty intimidating force to defeat. If the last 50 years hasn't yielded a solution to break up conservatives control, then time for new solutions, ideas that haven't been tried before? Hopefully?
Wendy,
The only thing I think, unfortunately, that will end “The concentration of wealth and power which is opposed to government, and certainly a ‘welfare’ government•••” in the United States is when it causes enough suffering for the American people that there is a peaceful popular uprising against it.
A good example of this is how the economic misery of the American people during the Great Depression of the 1930s paved the way for FDR’s New Deal.
We may be on the cusp of something like that given how much pain the Trump regime is causing the American people.
Best,
David
Most of us know from experience that ‘lessons learned the hard way’ have the most impact, for sure!
And that is what it is going to take for MAGA to ‘get it’ - altho there will always be the ‘unrepentant’ among us that will require divine intervention.
It may be that you are right that change won’t happen until there is a popular uprising brought on by economic misery - or just misery. But I am sure hope for other solutions. Misery never falls equally. And I worry that a popular rising might lead to a strongman solution. I think it might have been Senator VanHollen who said Americans have to have agency. Maybe solutions will come from the state and local levels where it is easier to exert agency. Horrible times.
I used the words “peaceful popular uprising,” Wendy. The American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s is the perfect example of this.
Also, state and local solutions won’t be nearly enough to address the social and economic inequalities in the U.S. because they are national problems.
David, again I agree. And I shouldn’t have dropped the word peaceful, because I know you used the word intentionally.
And again I agree that a federal role is critical - a good example being the one you cited, federal civil rights legislation. And our federal taxing system.
But my concern is that the concentration of power in the federal government makes it an easier target for conservative forces to overwhelm. This last year it has been state and local governments that have been the most effective in finding solutions from workarounds to loss of social services to keeping residents safe from armed assault.
Really just thinking out loud.
Points well taken.
I agree with Ms. Stewart. The challenge is finding "the plan" or "the message" that's going to resonate with voters. Right wing bumper sticker slogans are easy. Defining difficult problems and their possible solutions don't fit on bumper stickers or cut through the lies and gaslighting of right wing media sources like Fox "news". Mainstream media has been no better -- happy to "normalize" obscene behavior rather than calling it out for what it is. The right wing SCOTUS members, the "shadow docket", the lack of ethics and the corrupt acceptance of "gifts" from people that have business in front of the court needs to be called out EVERY DAY. Right wing members of Congress, cowering in fear of a mean tweet, need to be called out EVERY DAY. The Contrarian is a good step in the right direction for communicating the challenges ahead. How to communicate the threats to democracy and possible solutions to issues in a way that voters can identify with and appreciate is something I struggle to find a solution.
Incremental changes, everyone at every level, doing what they can.
There are more of us for this, than those against.
And the incoming pains of this corrupt admin will be increasingly felt by ALL.
— even 1%-ers are beginning to feel uneasy, altho they won’t feel the same pain as we plebes.
"The opposite of the extremes of deregulation they champion is not a free market; it is crime, kleptocracy, and misrule."
This should read "the OUTCOME of the extremes...". As written, it says the opposite of what you're trying to express.
I noticed that myself.
True, good catch. but otherwise a super & succinct article.
Agreed.
This is a great thought piece. Great.
That the American Conservative Movement has failed is to say that most of the movement has failed to adhere to its oaths of office and has accepted lawlessness and authoritarianism, and through greed and fear, surrendered all power to a deranged tyrant.
"Conservative nihilism"
"Major reform so this never happens again".
Thank you.
Beyond the politicians like Nixon, Reagan, Gingrich, McConnell and many others, are the merchants of hate and division, like Rush Limbaugh, Rupert Murdoch, and yes, Charlie Kirk. Limbaugh made hundreds of millions of dollars and spawned a whole new generation of copy-cat charlatans eager to cash in on peddling bile and making cruelty "cool." They dragged civic discourse into the sewer, for profit, and thus undermined the fundamental pillars of of our society.