this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2023
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How far up your ass does your head have to be to not see that your party is practically driven by conspiracy theories and falsehoods after the last decade??
XMark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them."
Barry Goldwater
Said in November 1994, as quoted in John Dean, Conservatives Without Conscience (2006).
Source: https://quotepark.com/quotes/1775665-barry-goldwater-mark-my-word-if-and-when-these-preachers-get-cont/
Goldwater himself was considered a dangerous right-wing extremist nut by the standards of the 1960s. He was a rabid anti-Communist in the style of the John Birch Society, he was anti-Civil-rights, beloved by the Klan. He lost to LBJ partly cause the Democrats painted him as someone ready to start a nuclear war and the voters bought it. Basically on every issue but religion, today's right-wing nuts would probably love him.
I have been trying to wrap my head around why some Republicans seem genuinely surprised at what is happening. I have come to the conclusion that some thought it was a game. They honestly thought that when you had people calling Obama a secret Muslim, that it was "just politics", a bit of fun name-calling and that's all. They thought they were playing games, throwing fake red meat at the base to get them to have a fake angry response. Even after some of their constituents were goaded into attacking the government, they were still in denial about the reality of the situation they helped create. The monster is real, and they have spent multiple decades feeding it, and it was all fun and games when the monster was chained up, but Trump broke the chains, and now they are worried about what the monster will do to the village.
Perhaps. I mean, I was naïve enough to thing there was no possible way the Orange One could win in 2016, so I suppose I could see having a blind spot for this monster they've crated. Still, you'd almost have to be going out of your way as an actual politician to not see the results of all their "games".
True, but it's the last several decades.