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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYT - Krugman must read - "The G.O.P.'s Climate of Paranoia"
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/20/opinion/trump-republican-truth-climate-change.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-regionWar is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Truth isnt truth.
Rudy Giulianis latest bon mot is a reminder, if anyone needed it, that calling the Trump administration Orwellian isnt hyperbole, its just a statement of fact. Like the ruling party in 1984, Donald Trump operates on the principle that truth whether it involves inauguration crowd sizes, immigrant crime or economic performance is what he says it is. And that truth can change at a moments notice.
For example, not long ago, Republicans insisted that Russia was our greatest threat, and that Barack Obama was betraying America by not confronting Vladimir Putin more forcefully; now Putin is one of the good guys, and the base has gone along with the change. We have always been at war with Eastasia.
And if you thought you heard something different from the Trumpian version of reality, blame evil conspirators and saboteurs, whom you get to denounce in the Two Minutes Hate, chanting lock her up.
But how did this happen to the whole Republican Party? And it is effectively the whole party: There is no serious G.O.P. opposition to Trump or his vision. Why did the partys belief in objective reality collapse so suddenly and completely?
I dont claim to understand the whole story. But one thing is clear: The Orwellification of the G.O.P. didnt start with Trump. On the contrary, the party has been moving in that direction for years; the mind-set Trump is exploiting was already well in place before he burst on the scene.
snip
Theres also, I believe, an additional relevant lesson from the climate story: the special rage of those who knowingly act in bad faith.
Climate denial is a deeply cynical enterprise; the people misrepresenting evidence and sifting through emails for gotcha quotes have to know that theyre not being honest. Yet their rage against elitists who continue to point out inconvenient truths is very real because its a fact of life that many people feel special hatred for those theyve mistreated.
The same goes for Trump and company. Trump knows perfectly well that hes guilty of collusion. That doesnt mean hes faking his volcanic rage at those documenting his guilt: He hates his pursuers all the more because he knows theyre on the right track.
And as he lashes out, with no regard for law or the Constitution, will other Republicans try to hold him back? All the evidence suggests that they wont.
All the bolding is mine - sorry for the paywall - incredibly relevant, sad piece - Krugman gets it.
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NYT - Krugman must read - "The G.O.P.'s Climate of Paranoia" (Original Post)
NRaleighLiberal
Aug 2018
OP
Eko
(7,318 posts)1. K&R
brer cat
(24,576 posts)2. What a commentary of our time.
Yes, it is sad and also frightening. All the built in safeguards to protect our Constitution and laws are broken.