Has anybody else noticed that the RW has already declared war on us?

[world wide wally]

Make wise decisions in the coming days and weeks and who knows how long.

[Trust Buster]

1. Are you being serious ? Have you been residing in a cave the last 8 years ?

[Solly Mack]

2. Yeah. About 40 some odd years ago.

[NewJeffCT]

18. Yes

it was in the early 70s when a bunch of wealthy right wingers got together and started planning out a long term strategy for pushing the country back into a conservative direction.

The results have been Reagan, Bush, a Republican House for the first time in decades in 1994, Bush Jr, a Republican House & Senate - and now Donald Trump and a Republican House & Senate.

People seem to forget that the Koch brothers were preceded by Richard Mellon Scaife and family, and that the Walton Family has donated billions to RW causes.

[CrispyQ]

27. Don't forget all the GOP state legislatures

that control voter registration laws & congressional districting. This is the ongoing election fraud that the media never talks about.

[NewJeffCT]

28. True - gerrymandering is a huge issue

I did a calculation a few weeks ago and if all of the gerrymandered states were balanced at a level around the state's vote in the presidential election, Democrats would likely have somewhere in the 215-220 seat range instead of 193. A razor thin margin either way instead of a 45 seat advantage.

[Rincewind]

3. They declared war on us in 1964,

when Goldwater got his ass kicked by LBJ. That's when they started buying up the media, and trying to convince the middle and working classes that they were Conservative, and to vote against their interests.

[Sherman A1]

7. Precisely and really long before that

think back to FDR.

[JHB]

10. The current incarnation can probably be dated back to 1952...

...and the Republican convention. The conservative Republicans who hated Roosevelt were arrays behind Taft, while northeastern liberals backed Eisenhower. And boy, were the conservatives pissed when their maneuvering to get the nomination was out-maneuvered by the Eisenhower people.

Ike's nomination cut off the conservative wet dream of rolling back the New Deal for as long as he was in office, and worse, put the Republican stamp of approval on its basic concepts.

The reason I think current conservatism can be dated to this period is because it's when their young firebrands like Bill Buckley and Brent Bozell became convinced that the only way to get a conservative resurgence was to destroy their opposition: the northeastern liberals who by the 60s became known as Rockefeller Republicans.

Once they broke the Rockefeller Republican wing of the party, they applied the same destructive tactics to us. And that was before Limbaugh, Gingrich et al. ramped up the bile a good 5 notches.

[gordianot]

4. How to know Republicans know you hate them?

When Republicans stop trying to get you to give them money. No longer do I ever get solicitation in person, electronic for Republican candidates. Telling them to get the f..k off my porch tends to do that.

Another example I participate in shooting as a hobby. I spend quite a bit of money and have won several competitions. After several conversations NRA types avoid me and never try to get me to join. I just show up for meets and hear them say god damn. They think because you are a liberal Democrat you should not have an interest in firearms.
Yes they are at war with non Republicans in my case I would not have it any other way. There is no need to be paranoid that is the Republican response, if there actually is a list somewhere I am proud to be on it. When I find out someone is a Republican I know what to expect and am never disappointed.

[Ilsa]

8. Excellent post. Thanks. NT

[Skittles]

5. SCHEDULING WORLD WIDE WALLY FOR ASS KICKING

MISSING THE OBVIOUS FOR 40 YEARS; *EGREGIOUS*

[world wide wally]

16. Oh, I haven't missed a beat.

I simply mean they have now taken it to a new level. Sure, it's been bad, but never have they had such total control and a fanatical leader.. They are hunting down people to deport, incarcerating people. Blocking people from entering the country. Soon, they will be denying them health care and probably even food. I cannot imagine it being long before the shooting starts.
That is a whole "new" level. All this as they reignite racism as an alternative way of life. This is by far the ugliest America in have seen in my life.

[Skittles]

25. certainly this is where it has all been leading

repukes have been dog-whistling their racism and fascism as long as I can remember

[malaise]

6. There are way more of you than them

Fugg 'em!

[dalton99a]

19. +1

[Submariner]

9. Yeah, about 11/22/63

[Hortensis]

11. End of the Cold War was when those who always

have to identify that enemy they must defeat--or else--left off Russia, turned inward, and really ramped up their hostility toward the left. Their new existential threat.

Those old enough should remember the astonishing degree of aggression, the outpouring of lies, even widespread hate, that developed toward Bill Clinton, the new simplified nexus of all their problems and fears. Like nothing we'd seen before.

Of course, it was greatly assisted by the harnessing of new computer communications and latercreation of Fox to further divide and thus conquer the electorate. There is a giant right-wing conspiracy, but our neighbors are not in on it and their only reward is their moments of gratified hostility.

1987 Rise of right-wing talk radio made possible by repeal of Fairness Doctrine
1991 End of Cold War
1991 Governor Clinton announces run for president/1993-1997 president
1993ish The web has come into common use
Same for email--still the #1 disseminater of political propaganda and hate messages
1996 Fox News created

[Cosmocat]

12. This was my young adult years

I want to think, at least, that prior to about 1990 there was some balance.

But, my entire adult life has seen them go further and further unhinged, the media go from tacitly behind them to overtly and now gleefully behind them, and the general population get more and more stupid and mean spirited.

I saw this coming and got very politically active in the 2000s, but after 10 years (and the 2010 midterms) saw it was a losing battle.

[Hortensis]

13. Sad that this destructive era would be the

only experience millions now have of politics.

I remember when senators at least were expected to behave like gentlemen and usually at least appeared that way, and even congressmen. And most importantly, large blocs in both chambers really did work together enough to keep the old boat moving ahead AND to constrain potentially destabilizing/destructive urges from the extremes, especially the right of course. Both parties had hard-core conservative blocs as an eternal problem then, requiring them to cooperate to keep control, before the hard-cores mostly consolidated in the GOP.

Sigh.

As for the losing battle, the reaganism era swing to the right was to be followed by another big swing to the left, as we saw with Obama, but big money in politics coupled with poisonous use of mass communications seems to have interrupted that swing. That doesn't mean the same huge forces of reaction and counterreaction aren't still there, though.

[Cosmocat]

14. Just tracking the last 25 years it has been been a steady, but slow slide to fascism

that got amped up to an exponential level when 45 came down the escalator.

We got a brief reprieve in 2006 and 2008 for two reasons - Bush and the republicans screwed up so bad with Iraq AND because BHO was such a monumentally exceptional person and politician.

I felt were kind of facing a losing battle, and felt those gains were tentative, but even at that 2010 was a cold slap in the face. To give Rs that kind of massive mid term win for no reason after a 2 year time out was just beyond any reason. And, outside of BHO winning reelection, they kept piling on the gaines they made.

PRIOR to November 8 they had strong control in DC and the states.

The problem is that Rs have to be really, REALLY bad for this country to even start to hold them accountable.

AND, the democratic party really does not stand for anything, I mean STAND and FIGHT. We just rely on someone with an exceptional force of personality at the top - Bill and BHO.

That is "our" end of it - while the Rs are literally wrong about everything, they fight like their lives depend on it and the public responds to that, while our party just cowers meakly in a corner.

Bill said it in the 90s - better to be wrong and strong than weak and right.

[Hortensis]

15. All men are created equal and entitled to

Last edited Tue Mar 7, 2017, 10:29 AM - Edit history (3)

life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness isn't standing for anything? A government of, by and for the people, designed specifically to protect their individual rights and create a stable structure for them to live their lives as they wish isn't standing for anything?

Cosmocat, your political lifetime has been saturated with anti-Democratic, anti-liberalism messages from both the right and far left. Inevitably, many have become unexamined cultural beliefs, as we see. These are pernicious lies meant to cause people to turn away from Democrats, at very least not to bother voting because what's the use?

Just imagine if it wasn't true that Democrats were really just as bad as Republicans, if it wasn't true that the Democratic Party offered no real solutions to the problems worrying and burdening people?

Money, power, perks are corrupting, and everyone in DC seems to like his job way too much, but most Democrats are liberals who still take office wanting to do good for people as a whole. They are the ones who believe in that stuff at the top.

Conservatives, by personality, are very different, the stronger the more so, and you should learn what studies reveal about them too. They have a significantly darker view of humanity than liberals and beleive people will trend bad when not encouraged, even forced to be good. They do not, in their gut, believe in the principle of equality. This is a huge difference that underlies most of the political battles of our time. They don't believe government should protect "equality" or provide safety nets and believe those are foolishly destructive ideas. They do not believe, in their guts, in government of, by and for the people but rather that people need to be ruled. And we see this every time conservatives get power in government.

People who have no idea who all those groups on the battlefield are and what they're fighting for aren't a whole lot of use to democracy, and frequently inadvertently support its enemies. After all, if none are fighting for democracy or worthy of support, why support? Why not try to destroy and "rebuild" a brave new world?

[Cosmocat]

20. I am not saying "believe" I am saying STAND

literally, stand. To stake the high ground and refuse to budge.

First - I absolutely agree and have said/posted 1,000,000 times about how the right has effectively hate framed liberal, about how the right sees all things as being justified in the battle against the evil liberal boogyman, etc.

What I am saying is that the party, in equal proportion to how insanely republican elected officials have come out full force in screaming their nonsense, democratic elected officials have crawled in a corner quivering.

For every Bernie, Warren, or some of the folks in the black caucus who speak loud and proud, there are 10 other Ds hiding in corner/10 republicans who are fire breathing hate mongerers.

[Hortensis]

21. Yes, have to agree--somewhat. They do like their jobs

way too much. They're no more jobs that can be adequately handled by amateurs than any other profession, but any reform should definitely build in sacrifice of personal aggrandizement to public service.

But one of the best hidden secrets of the last quarter century is how much well meaning politicians--some even in the Republican Party--have managed to quietly achieve. Thick books have been written about this, and they're not all about cowering cowards in corners.

Again, much of this picture is part of a successful poisoning of the public's opinion, not reality.

Btw, I think we all welcome every combative but still principled Democrat who will step forward. BUT, they absolutely must target bad Republicans, not other Democrats. One of those people mentioned has spent his entire political career insisting that all Democrats who don't agree with him (i.e., virtually all Democrats, including the progressive caucus for decades) are corrupt. Now how likely is that? And what does it say about the judgement and character of someone who would actually feel that way?

It's not too much to say that if he had had the self discipline and wisdom to oppose the Republicans as strongly as he said he would, instead of falsely and repeatedly accusing our own candidate of corruption, we would now have a Democratic president and control of the Senate.

It's also not at all too much to say that, if we had a more realistic view of the value and values of the Democratic Party, outrageously dishonest statements about it from any direction would be recognized for what they are instead of just taken as confirmation of lies already absorbed.

[Cosmocat]

22. I take your point relative to BS

I like him a lot, but again, it points to how fracturous our team is vs their team ...

[Hortensis]

24. Nice "taking" of point, thanks.

We do agree on so much. I am totally serious in believing most of the bad rep of Democratic politicians results from 30 years of professional smear jobs. Any time anyone finds himself repeating the usual slurs of talking heads he should immediately stop and examine them for truth and origin.

There is and always will be plenty of room for improvement, of course, but an organized left is the great and only hope for rescuing our nation from fascism, Christian reconstructionism, kleptocracy, and whatever else the right would replace democracy with.

And, let's face it, the Democratic Party IS, as always, up front and center in this ongoing existential battle for democracy. Way past time to be proud as hell of what we are part of.

[Cosmocat]

29. I don't disagree

that they are the "good guys."

Again, I am just saying, our guys bring plastic sporks to fights with lunatics who have a chainsaw in one hand and a battle axe in the other.

[Hortensis]

30. That seems to be changing a bit among some voices,

thank goodness. And there is new interest is listening to them.

Problem regarding our legislators is, chain saws and battle axes work fine for those intent on destroying, not for those working to protect and build. Their natural tools are research reports and calculators.

Again, I think proper respect among us for the people fighting to protect our democratic institutions from the barbarians would go far to empower them. All power ultimately comes from the people. And to put it mildly, they do not deserve the contempt and distrust the right has so insidiously, and expensively, developed in the popular mind.

[BannonsLiver]

17. Pfft, I declared war on them 20 years ago

[FSogol]

23. Yeah, it started the day Reagan was elected.

[ck4829]

26. It's a multi-front effort

Structural - Attack the gains and protections associated with liberals. Even if that means convincing people they don't need a clean environment, calling social security a scam, and "worker protections? Bah"

Network - Attack, defund, and destroy the groups of the left. Like with ACORN, like with the IRD going after and trying to fracture left wing religious groups, and more.

Stochastic - Get people so whipped up over liberals, dehumanize them. Also make sure they have access to firearms, and they might just kill a couple. We saw this with Jim David Adkisson, Scott Roeder, and Robert Lewis Dear.