Trumpism is alive and well, so relaxing after this particular rally went *phhhhhbbbbt* feels premature. For one, there weren't any particular big names associated with it as a draw, but the big reason turnout was low was that on right wing message boards and such there was widespread agreement (and in some cases, directives) to not attend, describing it as a "trap".
My own prediction is that there will be some fairly sizable right wing terror action before this particular wave of disaffected white guy shit dies down. Not sure if it will be on the order of Oklahoma City, but as a group they're in the middle of that ecstatic build up that won't be satisfied until they have their singular moment of violence and death.
For my friends in the UK - love her or hate or BOTH, do you think Thatcher was the beginning of the nasty strain of "Brexity" British nationalism that has taken hold in the UK?
I ask this because, again, love him or hate him or BOTH, I truly believe that Reagan with his grandfatherly brand of far right conservatism, moral majority pandering, allegiance to the religious right and anti-government rhetoric, was the beginning of that here in the United States.
Marc
Edited by Marc Baptiste on 20 September 2021 at 8:02am
Well, if we're bringing Reagan into the picture then you have to take it back at least to Goldwater. Reagan was seen as Goldwater 2.0, with an image consultant for the times.
Agreed - I was actually torn between Goldwater who birthed it, Nixon who worked hard on it with his "Southern Strategy" and Reagan who successfully brought it home into the mainstream. For me, Reagan won out.
I can see why Thatcher got in, almost had to what with the power cuts and work week shrinkages and strikes, and had she not stayed so bloody long might have even been something of a positive and not done so much damage. She killed ITV's regional system and deliberately wanted one of them utterly destroyed because of a news report on military action overseas she didn't approve of being known, and she got it. British companies became the domain of accountants and their so-called bottom lines... short term mini-booms for a select few via 'wealth creation', sometimes even knighthoods, followed by fewer hollowed out shells left to continue with temp and subcontracted generations filing through.
If voters were lied to about the effects of 'Brexit', and many have since said they were and even launched petitions, why couldn't there have been an exemption for Scotland and possibly even London where the vote was definitely to not leave? As it's stood I've expected to see Scotland entirely separate.
Quebec had a referendum that could have effected Canada, and I hope they never feel the need for that again, but I can certainly see many solid reasons behind the desire; I didn't see the solid reasons behind 'Brexit'.
Trump ought to have been charged with a number of things he wasn't before he ever ran for president, and definitely for multiple violations while in that office. That he, and Republican party enablers, hasn't marks the biggest warning alarm among so many! Giuliani should've just slunk off in disgrace not to hold high office again, as he would have had election day in NYC not been on that September 11th. The person who named the time and place for the January 6th event which even Fox news originally labelled a riot, the source of the total fabrications that fueled that mob he invited, who pointed to the building and told them to fight like hell (then ran away to hide)... that man still has not faced any justice.
Edited by Rebecca Jansen on 20 September 2021 at 12:52pm
Brexit happened and Johnson came to power through a number of things. The main ones I see are:
David Cameron was too arrogant. He never thought he'd lose the Brexit vote, and underestimated it.
Cameron never realised that a lot of people would just be motivated by racism, xenophobia and the lies of the Brexit campaign just to feather their own nest. I truly don't believe that the majority of the MPs that campaigned for Brexit believe in it. They had a power grab by exploiting demographics in the UK.
Secondly, and I've said this on my Facebook page and Twitter feeds many times, and, it sounds harsh, and fascist, but there are certain elements of society that should not have a vote. They are there to get people like Trump and Johnson in power nothing more. They lack critical and analytical thinking skills to work out what they are voting for. In their minds a Pakistani or a Mexican has a toilet cleaning job that a white American or Brit should have (despite these idiots thinking that kind of work id beneath them) and that all people of a different colour are the ruin of their societies.
Now the rest of us are left with their backlash. F@ck me! What a world.
I don’t think Reagan would know what to make of Trumpism.
+++++++
Sure he would, he had the template for their emergence working for him in his administration, most were post- or wanna-be Nixon flunkies.
He saw their usefulness, just like the Bushes did, but the strategy was always to keep their ilk under wraps doing dirty work (Lee Atwater) while assuming an air of respectability above the fray,
Trump, who knew his path to power would never involve any level of respectability, was always free from the shackles of having to conform to it. He makes his own Joker-like rules, and so where McCain (say what else you want about him) tried to reign in that agent. Trump's naked opportunism sought to court them.
And Marc, talk about your unholy linethru's Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan, and Trump. Conservatism has some 'splainin' to do!
I doubt Trump thinks for one second this letter would carry any weight with Brad Raffensperger. It's all for the gallery. The timing of it, and the sharing of it to Twitter, is designed to stir the pot and agitate his true believers.
Why?
For one thing, Trump wants to be talked about.
For another, he has to keep those donations coming in.