Krugman: "... conservatism is like bigotry whack-a-mole. The quantity of hatred remains the same."

[pampango]

... nobody should be surprised to find that there are a lot of Republicans who are mad as hell and won’t take it any more:

This is important: conservatism is like bigotry whack-a-mole. The quantity of hatred, best I can tell from 17 years of close study of 60 years of right-wing history, remains the same. Removing the flag of the Confederacy, raising the flag of immigrant hating: the former doesn’t spell some new Jerusalem of tolerance; the latter doesn’t mean that conservatism’s racism has finally been revealed for all to see.

And crucially, it’s a key part of conservative mythology that the silent majority shares this hatred, that it’s only the liberal elite with its political correctness keeping Americans from saying what they know to be true. (It’s like the constant trope from the likes of Bill O’Relly that anyone who disagrees with him is a “far-left” type, no matter how mainstream their ideas.)

So why shouldn’t they rally around The Donald? The elite considers him ridiculous, but the base has been told again and again that the elite is corrupt and anti-American. The base has also been told again and again that it represents the true views of everyone except Those People. So why shouldn’t they go with someone who is their kind of guy, in style as well as substance?

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/17/trumpism/

[lindysalsagal]

1. K&R. Wish there was more.

I feel the same way about having a woman on our money: It won't change a thing. Limited, inexperienced parochial people assign roles to everyone else that serve their personal psychological purposes.

Hating a particular race or religion gives a small person a sense of being higher up on the pecking order. They'll always assign that role to someone, and what's easier than the dog whistles your own party spews 24-7?

The GOP provides emotional cover for ignorant, fearful, resentful people.