When Sadism is All the Rage

[Nevilledog]

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Steven Beschloss
@StevenBeschloss
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Reveling in the pain of others and concocting sadistic stunts is not a vision for America or a path to victory--no matter how much DeSantis and other Republicans think feeding an angry base with cruelty and hate will lead to the WH. Here's my thread. 1/21

america.substack.com
When Sadism is All the Rage
Reveling in the pain of others is not just a terrible look, it’s giving up on the promise of America
6:57 PM · Sep 26, 2022

https://america.substack.com/p/when-sadism-is-all-the-rage

It’s not like sadism never existed in American political life. In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant formed the Department of Justice, prioritizing a response to the terrorizing violence of the Ku Klux Klan that was on a murderous rampage to undermine Reconstruction and deny the rights of formerly enslaved people. Between 1882 and 1968, 4,743 lynchings were recorded in the United States, committed not only by those who relished the doing but also those who enjoyed the watching.

The latest political stunt of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flying scared and uncertain asylum seekers to predominately liberal Martha’s Vineyard obviously is not as depraved as lynchings, but the impulse is not far from it. He and his followers don’t want these migrants dirtying up their world, so he transported them like human chattel in hopes of capturing outraged reactions from hypocritical liberal Democrats who don’t live along a border. (It didn’t work: Locals helped with food and shelter.) Like lynchings, it’s not just the act, it’s also the display, an opportunity to frighten and intimidate the people they want gone and to communicate to other immigrants what they’re up to.

This is a long way from the mindset etched on the pedestal of Lady Liberty in New York Harbor, words crafted by poet Emma Lazarus: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Laying waste to the idea of linear human progress yielding greater humanity, these words from 1883 are now mocked by practices and policies making it abundantly clear what too many Republicans think of poor and huddled masses, the “wretched refuse of your teeming shore” arriving at America’s borders. I don’t know about you, but I’m not over the sadistic policy that stripped babies and small children from migrant families to make a cruel show of what they think of these humans who entered America in search of a better life.

American immigration policy remains badly broken. It’s one of the central problems facing the country that president after president and Congress after Congress has refused or failed to fix, including President Biden (thus far). The climate crisis will only increase the number of refugees, fellow humans whose lives have been disrupted, who can no longer live where they did and are compelled to seek asylum elsewhere. Current numbers exceed 21 million globally, just an iota of the hundreds of millions that will be displaced in the decades ahead, including many millions that will see America as their desired destination.

*snip*

[Irish_Dem]

1. The world seems ill equipped to prevent ruthless psychopaths from taking control.

Traditional rules, norms, laws don't work when dealing with Putin, Xi, Trump, McConnell, DeSantis, etc.

[raccoon]

2. And not to mention shithead Gianforte, who enough idiots voted for

To elect him in Montana.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Cunning psychopaths are good at manipulating people.

Using hatred, revenge, victimhood tactics seems to go over very well with the American voter.