Conservatives have one remaining redoubt of power. And they're going to use it.

[Nevilledog]

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Paul Waldman
@paulwaldman1
Conservatives look up and see Democrats controlling Washington. They look down and see Dems controlling cities. They look out and see liberals controlling culture.

Their last redoubt of power is state govt. And by god they're going to use it.

My latest:

Opinion | Conservatives have one remaining redoubt of power. And they’re going to use it.
Democrats control the federal government, most cities, and popular culture. But Republicans still own the states.
washingtonpost.com
10:07 AM · May 5, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/05/conservatives-have-one-remaining-redoubt-power-theyre-going-use-it/

Whenever a Democrat becomes president, Republicans react by shouting that every policy decision he makes constitutes “tyranny." But this time it has extra urgency, created by the fact that they increasingly feel themselves the victims of cultural authoritarianism as well. Turn on Fox News and conservative talk radio and you’ll be inundated with appalling tales of how “wokeness” is making every conservative’s life a living hell.

So they’re fighting back by using their last redoubt of power to perform their own version of authoritarianism. If they feel unable to assert cultural power or federal power, then they’ll lash out with the power of state governments — the one place they have undeniable control.

Few things feel worse than having power and then losing it, which is where Republicans are right now. They lost the House in 2018, then lost the White House in 2020, then lost the Senate in January. America’s endless culture war feels to them like little more than an endless string of defeats.

Their responses have ranged from the comical to the terrifying, but they’re focused at the state level, where legislative guns are being turned on matters practical and cultural alike:

*Republican legislators in multiple states have passed bans on the teaching of “critical race theory,” which I promise you almost none of them could define if their lives depended on it.

*They have passed harsh laws targeting protesters, including measures offering civil immunity to those who mow down protesters with their cars.

*They have passed laws barring trans girls from playing school sports.

*They have passed a wave of laws making it harder to vote and specifically taking power over elections from local officials and giving it to the legislature.

*snip*

[ananda]

1. Will anyone or anything stop this nonsense?

So that our lives will actually be liveable
and sustainable instead of a constant
fucking nightmare?

[PortTack]

3. I believe we will... it may take a decade or more. In the meantime we cannot let up

[wnylib]

6. Or less than a decade if they regroup

and take a physical route to power, as they tried to do on Jan 6. I am not convinced that they won't try it again, more prepared and more organized.

[TheRealNorth]

8. Yes

If stacking the deck against us politically fails, some of them will resort to insurrection again. And they will be better prepared and probably have more adherents next time.

[lagomorph777]

2. The first 3 bullet points are why they have to rely on the 4th bullet point (voter suppression).

They take a whole slew of extremely unpopular positions, and then are surprised when they become unpopular.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

4. And they become more shocked when Major businesses respond NEGATIVELY...

STOP contributing to Republican campaign coffers. Shut off the money.

[FBaggins]

5. Just one?

The courts don't count any longer?

[Amishman]

9. yup, state government, the courts, and I'd argue no one really controls congress now

The House and especially the Senate are kind of a no man's land where we do not actually control but just hold an advantage.

The right might be divided right now, but they are still numerous and dangerous

[maxsolomon]

7. I'm sorry if you live in a Red-governed State.

I'm glad I fled one 30 years ago. One more source of Agita I don't need.

[SergeStorms]

10. You'd think republicans would.....

huddle together and come to the consensus that, "maybe we should come up with some ideas the American people like", or something of that nature. Being the guardians of the wealthy, the bane of the poor, and racist shitwads doesn't seem to be working for them anymore.

Just a thought. I guess it's just a lot easier for them this way.

[certainot]

11. their power at the state level runs through the talk radio stations - unlike fox and a lot of

social media radio can be very localized. but with limbaugh croaked they no longer have the national level control of spin and attack so a lot of it's gone to the state level blowhards and most of them are idiots who relied on limbaugh' show for the script on major issues. state gop think tanks can control the local stations and maybe get them to follow the line but they're going to keep shooting themselves iin the foot and without that national tone and the dittohead army to keep them on the same page local hosts are going to start wandering.

also a lot of station owners are going to lose revenue now without limbaugh and doing limbaugh reruns. dem boycott action now can convince them to start changing programming.

without limbaugh's national control the state GOPs are going to start going nuts and that's good for dems, especially if they can take advantage of it and stop ignoring talk radio. for example the 87 universities that broadcast sports on 260 limbaugh stations should be getting totally shamed for the global warming, voter suppression, racism, COVID denial etc, and all the trump lies. it's total bullshit and they have no excuse.

[PufPuf23]

12. Counties, cities, school boards are also bastions of entrenched

conservatives where the GOP and their ilk will do anything to retain power.

The problem to solve runs deep alas.

The coordinated State level move to reduce democratic rights is a front we Democrats should maintain a high priority fight.

[Ford_Prefect]

13. Some have called it Secession...