The GOP: An unending display of toxic masculinity

[Nevilledog]

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Jennifer 'I stand with Ukraine' Rubin 🇺🇦🇺🇦
@JRubinBlogger
In their head-spinning transition from apologists for Russian President Vladimir Putin to proponents of World War III, Republicans reveal not only their utter lack of principle but also their obsession with toxic masculinity.

washingtonpost.com
Opinion | The GOP: An unending display of toxic masculinity
Have we ever seen a national party make such naked appeals to masculine insecurity?
11:11 AM · Mar 7, 2022

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/07/republicans-trump-toxic-masculinity/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/1ubnF

In their head-spinning transition from apologists for Russian President Vladimir Putin to proponents of World War III, Republicans reveal not only their utter lack of principle but also their obsession with toxic masculinity. Winston Churchill’s favored saying “The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet” neatly sums up the Republicans’ abrupt shift. Both expressions of wish fulfillment — admiring Russian ruthlessness and going to war — are features of a party in constant need of masculine affirmation.

So Putin has become an utterly reviled character, even in GOP circles? Donald Trump and his followers have simply switched to a more politically acceptable side from which to assert their masculine bona fides. The Post reports that at a recent GOP gathering, Trump mused that “the United States should label its F-22 planes with the Chinese flag and ‘bomb the s--- out of Russia.’ … ‘And then we say, China did it, we didn’t do it, China did it, and then they start fighting with each other and we sit back and watch.’ ”

Aside from its juvenile inanity and the lame defense — he was only joking! — these over-the-top military fantasies are not unique to Trump.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), always eager to find a tough guy to attach himself to (first John McCain; then Trump), announced Putin should be assassinated. Other elected Republicans trying to claim they were tougher than President Biden advocated a no-fly zone, which would escalate the chances of direct conflict between the United States and Russia. Like little boys playing at war, these Republicans don’t bother to think through the real-world consequences (war with an unhinged dictator with nuclear weapons).

This is not a new phenomenon. As the saying went during Trump’s administration, cruelty — or the raw assertion of power over the powerless — was the point. It still is. Whether they are separating children from parents, spying on and infringing on women who do not want to be compelled to complete their pregnancy, or threatening to take away transgender children whose parents seek appropriate medical care, manliness manifesting as bullying has been the Republicans’ defining feature of late.

*snip*

[SheltieLover]

1. This dynamic appears fo be (refreshingly!) Missing in Ukraine!

Pres. Z seems to not suffer with it, which is, no doubt, making putrid putin squirm.

🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

[Walleye]

2. All these tough talk guys are free to go join up, Ukraine is taking volunteer soldiers.

Put your money where your mouth’s at, we used to say

[Nevilledog]

3. You assume they'd fight for Ukraine.

[Walleye]

4. Damn! You are way ahead of me,that is a very good point