It ain’t the 60’s, folks
JV Last at the Bulwark takes a look today at the way the Republicans now see institutions since they realized that they have lost the educated, financially successful American cohorts. Their first order of business was to create alternative institutions which they’ve done successfully with the media which has made it very easy to control politicians by propagandizing their constituents. A case in point:
As a result of losing the popular culture, they now believe that they can only control it by using the power of the state, thus authoritarianism.
-Republicans can no longer create popular majorities, but they can take control of the apparatus of government.
-The institutions of civil society have historically been a mediating layer between citizens and government. But Republicans have also lost the argument with educated and financially successful voters, leading to their loss of support within many American institutions.
-In response, Republicans have decided that the existing institutions of civil society are illegitimate and that all power should be centrally located with the state.
-But if Republicans are also a persistent minority who can only take control of the state intermittently, then they must seek electoral advantage wherever they can: Voting laws to shape the electorate. Post-election lawsuits to change outcomes. Insurrections. Coups.
-Because their only hope of holding off both the popular majorities they see as evil and the institutions they see as illegitimate is to win some final victory in which state power is concentrated within the party and then used to overcome the party’s small-d democratic weakness.
-This is either authoritarianism or, if you prefer, illiberal democracy.
As he says, if you think this is an exaggeration, think again:
He writes that we are in the process of finding out if they will prevail:
The party’s current weaknesses in popularity and institutional footholds mean that it will shift away from the traditional field of political conflicts—elections and institution-building—toward asymmetric conflicts where it has advantages.
Instead of trying to regain a place in mainstream media, it has propaganda outlets. Instead of civil society institutions, it has the Proud Boys. Instead of lobbying efforts, it has direct action. Instead of electoral victories, it has post-election maneuvering. Instead of constitutional governing, it has a . . . more expansive view of executive power.
Meanwhile, there are the “Christians.” I’m sure you’ve been reading about the GOP’s Christian nationalist agenda the last couple of days. It’s been all over the internet although we’ve been talking about it here for quite some time. Alabama this week pretty much voided the ability of people to obtain fertility treatments and IVF because their high court declared that frozen embryos have full human rights. (Pregnant women do not, however.) So, it’s happening.
Here’s just a taste of what the cultists backing their twice divorced, porn star bedding, adjudicated rapist Dear Leader have in mind:
The vast majority of Americans are not on board with any of that. But by the time they figure out that Donald Trump is a liar and a tool (or that yes you should vote for the lesser of two evils) it may be too late.