The GOP Is a Grave Threat to American Democracy

[douglas9]

The hope of many conservative critics of Donald Trump was that soon after his defeat, and especially in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection, the Republican Party would snap back into its former shape. The Trump presidency would end up being no more than an ugly parenthesis. The GOP would distance itself from Trump and Trumpism, and become a normal party once again.

But that dream soon died. The Trump presidency might have been the first act in a longer and even darker political drama, in which the Republican Party is becoming more radicalized. How long this will last is an open question; whether it is happening is not.

The radicalization manifests in myriad ways, most notably in Trump’s enduring popularity among Republicans. Trump’s loyalists have launched ferocious attacks against Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach him for his role in the insurrection, even as national Republicans eagerly position themselves as his heir. Right-wing media display growing fanaticism, while public-opinion polls show GOP voters embracing Trump’s lie that the election was stolen from him. The Republican Party’s illiberalism, its barely disguised nativism, and its white identity politics are resonating with extremist groups. Slate’s Will Saletan, in an article cataloging recent developments, summarized things this way: “The Republican base is thoroughly infected with sympathies for the insurrection.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/gop-grave-threat-american-democracy/618693/

[gordianot]

1. Every single Republican office holder is a threat.

[Firestorm49]

2. One can only hope that his base is still shrinking.

From what I’ve read in DU, his base following is down approximately 25%. Granted they are very vocal, but many Republicans who retain any semblance of common sense and reason, have come to the conclusion of what a lug nut Trump is. The future question might become, how many who have left Trumpism, still favor the radical philosophy that their party espouses?

[Harker]

3. One egotistical sociopath is all it takes.

They've taken on a lot of water, and the bulkheads aren't going to hold.

[Aussie105]

4. Understand that this form of fascism will be close under the surface forever.

Be it KKK marches in full dress, Nazi salutes and flags, or in it's modern form, Trumpism.

The rationale behind fascism in all it's forms is simple (too simple) - the world around me is not as I think it should be, so it has to be reshaped. Through violence, if necessary.
The roots of the MAGA war cry, really.

Think not of them as fellow Americans, but as dangerous and potentially, as individuals or as a group, capable of carrying out domestic terrorism in all its forms.

Eternal vigilance recommended.

FBI, you listening?