There used to be more conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans than there are today. In that environment, it was necessary to compromise and work across the aisle. Neither side was lock-step on most issues. Even Al Gore (or at least his wife Tipper) was in favor of putting labels on records.
Today, the parties are becoming increasingly strident, and everyone is expected to toe the ideological line.
Why?
I had a long talk with Noman yesterday, and he had an interesting theory, which I’m merging here with some of my thoughts.
Politics used to be the boring, mysterious stuff that happened at the Capitol. Then came CSPAN, which gave back-benchers like Gingrich the opportunity to grab some attention by picking fights and calling names. Suddenly, politics was both accessible and interesting. It went from “watching paint dry” to watching a fight. Drama and conflict became the path to success.
One of the most visible fights was over abortion and the Supreme Court. Senators could no longer afford to approve qualified candidates. They were being watched. Failure to attack the other side was a sign of weakness. The folks back home wanted a fight.
Now here’s the weird thing. What the folks back home actually want is legal but restricted access to abortion — no late-term abortions, but no restrictions on very early abortions either. The parties, on the other hand, took extreme positions in both directions, allowing abortion up to the minute of birth or wanting to ban all abortions. (Note that extreme doesn’t mean wrong.)
Why did they go to the extremes? Perhaps for the same reason the news has.
The old adage was to be middle of the road and attract the most people. Or at least don’t repel them. But somewhere along the line people learned that taking a side paid off. It’s better to have the fierce loyalty of 10 percent of the population than the tepid interest of 40.
Again, the fight is far more interesting. Politics became drama.
This same tendency is at play in other areas as well. If you don’t follow the latest fashionable nonsense, you get attacked … viciously. It’s no longer a virtue to have friends with different views. You’re not even supposed to eat with grandma if she has offensive opinions.
It seems to me that a lot of independent factors, pointing generally in similar directions, have caused this slide towards extremism.
The important question is this: how do we get out of it?
The Pope of Cape Girardeau, MO was probably the start of it. It was he who ponfificated daily on the radio about who was “conservative” and who was not. I remember listening in 1993 at work and hearing about “America held hostage, day number xyz” and about Chelsea being the white house dog.
He received a presidential medal of freedom from orange bozo which was orange bozo’s way of promoting himself.
Democrats have usually lagged behind Republicans in grandstanding, as this had arisen first through cable TV and then through the internet. When Newt and Rush came on the scene, their opponents just couldn’t get up to that level of fire-breathing politics, though they did try. Back in the 90s I remember hearing much enthusiasm for those two in particular whenever I visited Redneckville, KY. And yet, Republicans still like to depict themselves as sweet gentle victims of harsh attacks from Democrats.
How do we get out of it?
Good question, but a bit premature. Put a “pin” in this. I’ll come back to it.
The following is from the book TRUMPOCALYPSE by David Frum a Canadian who writes for The Atlantic.
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Over the past four years, I have thought and spoken and written about Donald Trump almost more than I can bear. You probably feel the same fatigue. We are all just exhausted with this worthless man: “The worst human being ever to enter the presidency,” I tweeted on inauguration day 2017, “and I include all the slaveholders.” Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson were at least physically brave; James Buchanan, polite and well-informed; John Tyler, an affectionate father; Warren Harding, fun to be around; Richard Nixon, astute and worldly.
We want things to return to normal, back to a world in which we do not have to waste time rebutting demented conspiracy theories and fact-checking farcical lies every single day. We want a government that operates competently and honestly, headed by a president who behaves with dignity and integrity. If we were at risk of under appreciating the quiet grace of decency, Trump has cured us of that. But after we evict the squatter, we must repair the house he trashed.
Trump became president because millions of fellow Americans felt that a self-satisfied elite had created a pleasant society only for themselves. Millions of other Americans felt disregarded and discarded. They determined to crash their way in, and they wielded Trump as their crowbar to pry open the barriers against them. Trump is a criminal and deserves the penalties of law. Trump’s enablers in politics and media are contemptible and deserve the scorn of honest patriots. But Trump’s voters are our compatriots. Their fate will determine ours.
You do not beat Trump until you have restored an America that has room for all its people. The resentments that produced Trump will not be assuaged by contempt for the resentful. Reverse prejudice, reverse stereotyping: never mind whether they are right or wrong (they are wrong)—just be aware that they are acids poured upon the connections that bind a democratic society. The social media conversation that taunts men for being men or whites for being white is radicalizing its targets, strengthening the fascoid authoritarianism that the taunters supposedly oppose. Build a world that does not have room for millions of your fellow citizens, and they will burn it down rather than let you enjoy it without them. Maybe you cannot bring everybody along with you—but you still must try, for your own sake as well as theirs.
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Take out the pin.
The very first question should not be what do we do about it. The first question should be, “Do we WANT to do anything about it?”
And, tragically enough, I don’t believe we do.
I cannot think of a single act or organization sufficient to cause people to take to the streets on a NATIONWIDE basis in favor of unity. Other countries have them, but not us.
I cannot think of a single friend or acquaintance willing to take even the tiniest first step towards unity. And I mean that quite literally.
And don’t for a second think I’m indulging in hyperbole. I’m not.
Oh, yes. People can get behind blame, and vengeance, and hatred, and wrath. Those emotions are very accessible to demagogues and authoritarians. (And they very consciously use them.) They are accessible because they are easy. Sadly we practice them on a regular basis. They are skin deep.
But patience, humility, flexibility, tolerance, bravery and empathy are much harder to access. Because we don’t practice them as much. They come from deep inside.
They come from the heart.
And these are the qualities needed for the establishment of unity.
So now I’ll have to add David Frum to the list of journalists for whom I have no respect.
This is rather rich, Noman. You accuse people of not being willing to take “even the tiniest step” towards unity, and yet you post outrageous stuff like this?
How is that even the teeniest step towards unity?
Remember that when you point a finger, three fingers are pointed back at you.
OK.
What would you like me to say or do?
How about saying that Frum was wrong to call Trump a “worthless man”?
OK. Consider it said.
And what do I get in return?
What do you want?
I would like an admission that the “Proud Boys” and the “Boogaloo Boys” are a modern day realization of the 1930s German S.A. (a.k.a. Brownshirts, Braunhemden, Sturmabteilung). I’m using the description provided in Wikipedia.
Alternatively, I’d like an admission that Trump failed to deliver on his goal of having a vaccine by Election Day.
Well that’s easy. Obviously he didn’t. He also didn’t deliver on opening the country by Easter.
Wow. So I ask for something simple and obvious and you ask me to research two groups I know almost nothing about.
How about this. I’ll admit that there are despicable groups on the right that need to be watched carefully by law enforcement.
No need for you to research.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/510853-trump-covid-19-vaccine-may-be-ready-right-around-election-day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung
Specifically…
“… the Nazi Party’s original paramilitary wing. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi rallies and assemblies; disrupting the meetings of opposing parties; fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties…”
Paramilitary …
“A paramilitary organization is a semi-militarized force whose organizational structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not formally part of a country’s armed forces.”
Threading only goes so deep on this site.
The research I mentioned had to do with the boogaloos and the proud boys, not the fact that Trump promised an early vaccine, which I have already admitted was a mistake.
Perhaps I was unfair. What research would you like me to perform for you?
Oh, I don’t expect you to do any research for me. I can look up the boogaloos and the proud boys myself. I just thought it was unfair for you to expect me to do that in this context.
IOW, I asked you to say it was wrong for Frum to say “Trump is worthless,” which is right here in front of us in this thread. Your ask was quite a bit bigger.
A more appropriate ask might be for me to condemn right-wing terror groups, which I’m happy to do. (I simply don’t know whether the boogaloos and the proud boys qualify. If they do, I condemn them, as I did here.)
Here’s a post about the Boogaloos and Proud Boys.
And what we have been doing; right here? Is the answer to your question. Your initial question.
How do we do it?
Like this.
Are you saying that discussions like this one are what cause our partisanship?
And what we have been doing; right here? Is the answer to your question. Your initial question.
How do we rebuild America?
Like this.
I am saying that conversations like this or watt will Unitas if anything can.
I am saying that conversations like this are what will unite us if anything can.
Ah. That’s good.