CONTEXT
This post has been on my mind for months. Exactly what horrors of oppression, immorality, tyranny and/or evil is it that has turned tens of millions of Americans into supporters of an openly anti-democratic, Christofascist Republican Party? For context, these comments from an article in the Hill seem to exemplify the mindset of terror, moral outrage and hate of Democrats and liberals that the American radical right generally seems to hold:
Fox News host Tucker Carlson said in an interview released Monday that his “hatred” of liberals led to his inaccurate predictions of a red wave in November’s midterm elections.
“That loathing clouded my judgment,” Carlson told Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, in an interview released on Monday. “I was like, ‘I dislike these people so much. What they’re doing is so wrong. It is helping so few people and hurting so many. It’s so immoral on every level that I just want it to be repudiated.’”
“And I wanted that so much, not because I like the Republicans — I really dislike them more than I ever have — but I dislike the other side more,” he added, saying, “I did learn that, like, I have no freaking idea what goes on in American politics.”
I very much doubt that Carlson is being even a little honest here. For example, he probably loves Republicans because they make him rich and powerful. What’s not to love about that?
Instead, he is a clever grifter, liar and slanderer who knows how to spin a false narrative that is loaded with virtue signaling to his audience. The lies and slanders are soothing and reassuring to his fleeced, deceived, radicalized flock. But at the same time he excuses a false narrative he sold to them to keep them fleeced, deceived and radicalized. That is first rate propaganda. Kudos to Tucker the fascist for sliming his audience so professionally.
One thing to note, Tucker like most professional Republican slanderers, doesn’t specify any complaints. Instead he relies on the tried and true propaganda tactic of slandering the left in in generalities, e.g., liberals are immoral on every level, and they hurt many and help so few. There is no specific complaint is leveled here. Just generalized slanders. The drivel that Tucker delivers to his flock is misinformation (intended to deceive) and malinformation (intended to harm). Little to nothing of substance is in it.
What are the complaints?
So, exactly what is it the fascist right complains of? Exactly what oppression, moral turpitude, evil, tyranny, etc., have those tens of millions of fascism-supporting rank and file radicals personally experienced? Maybe if the list of main complaints was made explicit, that would at least clarify what the fascists are constantly bitching and howling about.
Searching the web suggests these are among the top horrors and/or persecutions that Christofascist elites and its propaganda Leviathan, e.g., Tucker and Faux News, have firmly convinced the rank and file they constantly suffer under at the hands of the evil liberals. Some poll data indicates that (i) both sides do not understand each other’s motivations, and (ii) both sides are deeply cynical about each other, with Republicans somewhat more cynical than Democrats. People are baffled. One woman commented about the Democrats:
The divide in the United States is wide, and one indication of that is how difficult our question proved for many thoughtful citizens. A 77-year-old Republican woman from Pennsylvania was typical of the voters who struggled with this question, telling us, “This is really hard for me to even try to think like a devilcrat!, I am sorry but I in all honesty cannot answer this question. I cannot even wrap my mind around any reason they would be good for this country.”[1]
COVID vaccines slaughter tens of millions: A recent Rasmussen poll comments:
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that (49%) of American Adults believe it is likely that side effects of COVID-19 vaccines have caused a significant number of unexplained deaths, including 28% who think it’s Very Likely. Thirty-seven percent (37%) don’t say a significant number of deaths have been caused by vaccine side effects, including 17% who believe it’s Not At All Likely. Another 14% are not sure.
Just like there is no evidence that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump or anyone else via massive vote fraud, there is no reality of massive human deaths from COVID vaccines. COVID vaccines are safe. Period.
This horror is an illusion, not a reality. Maybe this is the faux liberal harm to so many that Tucker the liar had in mind when he slandered the left alleging that liberal policy harms lots of people.
Liberal regulation of businesses is socialist-communist tyranny: Businesses and brass knuckles capitalists constantly howl that businesses are taxed and regulated to death. Republicans in congress, federal courts and the White House and their main financial donors loudly pound the table and gridlock the government to cut regulations and taxes in the name of the debunked horse and sparrow economic theory. For example, congressional Republicans want to extend tax cuts in their 2017 tax cutting and debt increasing law that are set to expire.
The elite Republican propaganda Leviathan consistently refuses to mention two major inconvenient truths that contradict this alleged liberal-socialist/communist horror. First, Republican business deregulations shift power and liberty to businesses, taking it from government and the people. For an obvious reason, that is something the elites never mention. What liberals want is not socialist or communist tyranny. They want reasonably regulated capitalism. What republicans want is capitalist tyranny with consumers and labor neutered as much as possible.
Second, deregulated businesses use their new found liberty to enhance profits without much or any regard for the public interest. The brass knuckles capitalist myth is that deregulated businesses will lift all boats and people and America will benefit from the horse and sparrow economic myth. That businesses seek profit with essentially no social conscience or concern for the environment or human harm is something else the elites never mention. They deny it when they are forced to comment, or just keep quiet when they can.
In fact, rock solid evidence says that the GOP and big businesses have successfully opposed and blocked nearly all environmental and gun regulations for decades. In the last two years, the Democrats have passed pro-environmental regulations over the objections of nearly all Republicans in congress and many or most of their big donors. And only recently has public opinion shifted to the point that some gun regulations are now being passed with some reluctant Republican support.
In other words, GOP capitalism policy is pro-business power and liberty, and anti-consumer-labor power and liberty. This complaint is almost as much a myth as the COVID vaccine myth.
Liberals persecute Christians, and intend to make Christianity illegal and impose tyrannical atheism on all Americans: These slanderous myths are straight out of the Christian nationalist (CN), Christofascist dogma book. I’ve posted multiple times here, e.g., this, on the openly bigoted, anti-civil liberties and anti-secularist theocratic nature of the CN power and wealth movement. The falsity of these complaints are on a par with the two above. Once again, a major Republican Party complaint is mostly lies and slanders.
Some rank and file Christians complain that they suffer severe persecution, but exactly what that persecution is almost always fades into insignificance when the issue is pressed. Christians dominate federal, state and local governments, including the military, law enforcement, the courts and basically everything else. They howl about a business owner being forced to bake a cake for a gay couple or design a website for a gay couple as evidence of the severe persecution and dire threats they suffer. What a load of nonsense. They just want freedom to make money in commerce and at the same time the liberty to discriminate against anyone their Christian Sharia dogma says needs to be discriminated against and oppressed.
Of course there are complaints about teaching about CRT or non-heterosexuality being evil atheist indoctrination or anti-Christian. Despite sometimes being badly handled by the left, there is no serious element of atheist indoctrination or anti-Christian dogma in those things. They are topics that apparently make many conservatives very uncomfortable. But that is not atheist indoctrination. When done properly it is history.
I could go on like this, but this post is already WTL/DR (waaay too long/didn’t read). The point I want to make circles back to what Tucker Carlson was quoted as saying at the top of the post. The main thing that is tearing America apart and driving millions of people to support anti-democratic Christofascism is not mostly a matter of voter sincerity. In my opinion, it’s mostly a matter of voter ignorance and deceit, which is non-trivially present on both sides. But of the two sides, the problem is significantly worse on the radical right. IMO, there’s not major equivalence on this point.
Footnote:
1. Now that is some real cynicism. In my opinion, (i) most rank and file Dems and Repubs (about 85% ?), vote in sincere belief in what is best for the country, but (ii) significantly more Repubs are significantly more misinformed and malinformed than Dems. IMO, the issue isn’t mostly voter sincerity, it’s mostly voter ignorance and deceit (think Tucker Carlson and Faux News). The data in the two graphs is some evidence that supports that opinion.
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