In a thread yesterday, I noted that after WWII, many Americans asked how it was possible that large numbers of Germans could hear Hitler's dangerous, crazy ranting targeting minority communities and lusting after blood and still support him.
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In a thread yesterday, I noted that after WWII, many Americans asked how it was possible that large numbers of Germans could hear Hitler's dangerous, crazy ranting targeting minority communities and lusting after blood and still support him.
Yet now we see many Americans doing exactly the same as Donald Trump rants.
Why? A key here: a sizable number of Americans lean strongly authoritarian.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) has just released results of a new survey of 5,000+ Americans. The survey finds that four in ten Americans are susceptible to authoritarian appeals, and that number rises to two-thirds of Republicans, white evangelical Protestants, and weekly churchgoers.
Why can many of us listen to Trump's unhinged, dangerous, bloody rants and applaud?
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by [email protected]
"Trump’s base will continue to be a significant force in America. They have remained remarkably loyal and resilient for eight years — consistently 42 to 44 percent of American voters.
If Trump loses, some proportion of them may turn to violence. Even a relatively small portion could threaten social stability."
~ Robert Reich
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
"Apart from the immediate aftereffects of a Trump loss, many of his followers will remain wedded to the isolationism, xenophobia, racism, and misogyny he has stirred up."
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
"In many ways, Trump’s rise is more a manifestation and the result rather than the cause of the Right’s increasingly open and aggressive embrace of authoritarian minority rule. Modern conservatism as a political project arose in the middle decades of the twentieth century as an alliance between different factions who agreed that a fully realized democracy was the enemy."
~ Thomas Zimmer
#Trump #Republicans #authoritarianism #racism #misogyny
/5Liz Cheney and the Problem of the Anti-Trump Republican
Republicans who hold the line against Trump deserve respect. But champions of egalitarian, pluralistic democracy they are not - and that also matters
(thomaszimmer.substack.com)
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
"They staunchly opposed any attempt to level entrenched hierarchies of race, gender, religion, and wealth, which they saw as the 'natural' and/or divinely ordained order."
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
"If it feels like half the electorate has gone mad, that’s in part because the press continues to fail to present Trump as he truly is. The average voter probably doesn’t spend much time watching clips of Trump’s rants or reading his unhinged screeds on social media. But they might consume reporting that consistently “sanewashes” his derangement.
~ Stephen Robinson
#Trump #Republicans #authoritarianism #media #sanewashing
/7Sanewashing and the damage done
The press is helping Trump hide in plain sight.
(www.publicnotice.co)
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
"Sanewashing doesn’t just sanitize Trump’s public statements. It actively protects him and promotes the illusion he’s a sensible candidate and reasonable choice for voters. ...
Trump’s competitive position in the presidential race is perhaps proof that something is deeply wrong with American society, but the media refuses to even acknowledge the ailment. They’re anesthetizing voters to the true threat while the nation sleepwalks into fascism."
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
"Twenty-four hours from now, you will be hearing many commentators sanewashing much of what Donald Trump has to say tomorrow night. In that sense, Kamala Harris won't be debating just Donald Trump tomorrow night. She will also be debating the media reviewers of the debate, many of whom do not comprehend the fundamental facts of government."
~ Lawrence O'Donnell
#Trump #Republicans #media #sanewashing
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Hugs4friends ♾🇺🇦 🇵🇸😷replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy They're not hearing his words. They're listening to his voice.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by [email protected]
"While Harris focused on policy, as critics have demanded, MAGA Republicans today spread slurs about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, claiming they are eating other people’s pets and local wildlife."
~ Heather Cox Richardson
#Trump #Republicans #immigrants #Haitians #Ohio #JDVance #TedCruz #ElonMusk #BernieMoreno #lies #disinformation
/10September 9, 2024
Last night, Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launched a new section of its website detailing her policy positions.
(heathercoxrichardson.substack.com)
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by [email protected]
"The story was debunked almost immediately by the Springfield police, but Republican politicians ran with it. The X account for Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee ran it; so did Texas senator Ted Cruz, who shared an image with two kittens saying: 'PLEASE VOTE FOR TRUMP SO IMMIGRANTS DON’T EAT US.'"
#Trump #Republicans #immigrants #Haitians #Ohio #JDVance #TedCruz #ElonMusk #BernieMoreno #lies #disinformation
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
"And the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio senator J.D. Vance, posted: 'Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country.' (The Haitians in Springfield are in the U.S. legally.)
Perhaps most significantly, Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who is challenging Democratic Ohio senator Sherrod Brown, pushed the story."
#Trump #Republicans #immigrants #Haitians #JDVance #TedCruz #ElonMusk #BernieMoreno #lies
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
"CNN's Tom Foreman noted in this segment last night that the 'wild claim' would have been easy for Vance to check, if the VP nominee had bothered to do so. But it will continue to spread – in part because Springfield, Ohio, has seen an influx of Haitian migrants in recent years and the increase in immigration has caused real strains in the community."
~ Brian Stelter
#Trump #Republicans #immigrants #Haitians #JDVance #TedCruz #ElonMusk #BernieMoreno #lies
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
"The false stories of pets being eaten, of animals being killed in parks, and of general chaos in the streets of Springfield all serve a purpose. They allow Vance, Trump, and other Republicans to dehumanize immigrants. To 'other' them. To present them as violent, primitive, and threatening.
It’s all a lie. But don’t expect them to admit this."
~ Mark Sumner
#Trump #Republicans #immigrants #Haitians #JDVance #TedCruz #ElonMusk #BernieMoreno #lies #disinformation
/14JD Vance hits new low by amplifying racist lie about Haitian migrants
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance attacked a different kind of “cat lady” on Monday, falsely claiming in a social media post that immigrants were eating pets in a small Ohio city. “
Daily Kos (www.dailykos.com)
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Matthias Krämerreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy I like Reich's views. But I think of one thing he didn't get when he thinks that JD Vance, Donald Jr. and Eric could somehow continue Trumps political ways: The authoritarian psyche needs a charismatic leader, and all three don't have any charisma. Even Musk or MTG are more likely by chance of unforseeable developments to step in Trumps footsteps.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Matthias Krämer last edited by
@Kraemer_HB Perhaps, however, what well-intentioned people find charismatic is not what ill-intentioned ones find charismatic.
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William Lindsey :toad:replied to Hugs4friends ♾🇺🇦 🇵🇸😷 last edited by
@Tooden If by that you mean that anything he says is fine with them because of the "voice" in which it's said, then yes, that makes sense to me.
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Matthias Krämerreplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy Sure. It may be that I only have not seen yet a speech where one of those three created visible rapport to the audience. I only see how weird they are towards their own fans.
That could change if Trump leaves a hole in the hearts of his followers that they want to fill by any means.
But we see dictators and strongmen all over the world struggle with the organisation of their succession. There's nothing like the original strongman. -
Phil Aisthorpereplied to William Lindsey :toad: last edited by
@wdlindsy I have always thought it a great mistake when the US changed its motto in 1954 from the secular 'e pluribus unum' to the religious 'In God we Trust'. A betrayal of the Republic.