As the partisan hate and distrust publicly boil over in the Senate impeachment trial, it is worth considering some recent history to get a feel for why and how we got here. Where we are now is a place where inconvenient facts, truths and logic are lies for probably most conservatives and populists. Worse, that is where essentially all elected GOP politicians now stand.
The right and conservatism believed it face an existential threat with the election of Obama. Obama crystallized the hate, fear, and anger that had been building among many Americans for decades.
The left is divided and fragmented, but at least most of them, most of the time will still grudgingly accept inconvenient facts, truths and logic to some non-trivial extent. Those days may be coming to an end. Social partisan anger is rising and I feel it myself sometimes even though I don't have a left or right 'side' in this war. If full-blown reason and reality detachment happens on the left, it is easy to imagine the American experiment ending in some form of corrupt, bigoted authoritarian Christian theocracy, probably preceded by a period of social violence.
The basis for civil, rational discourse is basically gone. Essentially all cross-party trust is gone. The two Frontline documentaries are well worth the four hours. They remind us of why and how we got into this sad, dangerous mess.
For myself, I see a longer timeline than Frontline covers. Mine dates back to at least the 2nd Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1955. In essence, that decision said to the states, desegregate public schools as soon as you can. The nationwide conservative backlash against that has never fully gone away, but it has morphed and additional complaints are swept in, e.g., illegal immigration, rising secularism, etc.
So, if you have some time, these two are well worth it.
My thanks to Susan, the primal one, for bringing these outstanding documentaries to my attention. 😊
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