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Tug observer writes an editorial
HHusky
Member Posts: 20,358
in Tug Tavern
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-the-republican-party-is-much-worse-off-than-we-thought/ar-BB1b42um?ocid=msedgdhp
However, the election reveals that a far greater number of Republican elected officials, the right-wing media, a good number of previously respectable think tanks and millions of Americans are no longer willing to operate within the confines of democracy, which demands recognition of easily ascertained facts. They seem to think of politics as either cynical entertainment or group therapy, in which the leaders and their media consorts orchestrate rage, resentment and paranoia. Politics is about identity, mostly negative (not socialist, not multiracial, not secular), and hence about their followers’ survival.
In that mind-set, reality must be twisted, deformed or ignored to provide fodder for the symbiotic relationship between the rage machine and the enraged. The defining question for political self-promoters of this ilk — usually well-educated beneficiaries of the very liberal democracy and multiracial society they rail against — is not what ideas they can advance or what problems they can address, but how they can cultivate a codependent relationship with Americans willing (anxious, even) to be infuriated and enlisted into a tribe of the resentful.
Not unlike European far-right populist and authoritarian leaders, this genre of Republicans operates in the world of lies and conspiracies, fanning antagonism toward expertise and a free press. They will propound anything, no matter how objectively inane, if it serves their purpose of emotional manipulation. This cultlike operation requires a propaganda machine able to block out reality and produce material for familiar tropes (e.g., loss of “their” history, obliteration of traditional values, decline of Christianity, “replacement” by immigrants). The machine can be manned by dimwitted true believers or by moguls who found a lucrative niche in the media ecosphere.
However, the election reveals that a far greater number of Republican elected officials, the right-wing media, a good number of previously respectable think tanks and millions of Americans are no longer willing to operate within the confines of democracy, which demands recognition of easily ascertained facts. They seem to think of politics as either cynical entertainment or group therapy, in which the leaders and their media consorts orchestrate rage, resentment and paranoia. Politics is about identity, mostly negative (not socialist, not multiracial, not secular), and hence about their followers’ survival.
In that mind-set, reality must be twisted, deformed or ignored to provide fodder for the symbiotic relationship between the rage machine and the enraged. The defining question for political self-promoters of this ilk — usually well-educated beneficiaries of the very liberal democracy and multiracial society they rail against — is not what ideas they can advance or what problems they can address, but how they can cultivate a codependent relationship with Americans willing (anxious, even) to be infuriated and enlisted into a tribe of the resentful.
Not unlike European far-right populist and authoritarian leaders, this genre of Republicans operates in the world of lies and conspiracies, fanning antagonism toward expertise and a free press. They will propound anything, no matter how objectively inane, if it serves their purpose of emotional manipulation. This cultlike operation requires a propaganda machine able to block out reality and produce material for familiar tropes (e.g., loss of “their” history, obliteration of traditional values, decline of Christianity, “replacement” by immigrants). The machine can be manned by dimwitted true believers or by moguls who found a lucrative niche in the media ecosphere.
Comments
did you draw short straw or did you volunteer
Live video of @BearsWiin talking shit after the election.