The Republicans are not a serious party

[marmar]

The Republicans are not a serious party
By Jeffrey C. Billman




(Detroit Metro Times) There's a harsh truth underlying this political moment, one we do immense harm to continue pretending doesn't exist. Unfortunately, it's not the kind of thing our institutions — in particular our media — are designed to reckon with, conditioned as they've been by the fetishization of bipartisanship as a virtue unto itself.

But the reality is what it is: With few exceptions, Republicans are not a serious party.

That's not meant to be glib, nor does it mean the GOP should be ignored. The party's hard turn toward authoritarianism — accelerated by Trump-era gaslighting and attacks on voting rights — are dangerous, especially given the party's structural electoral advantages. So, too, is its propaganda network, which has radicalized adherents and convinced them of their own oppression.

In a recent Pew survey, 26% of Republicans said whites faced "a lot" of discrimination, compared with just 17% who said the same of Black people — a result almost incomprehensibly detached from the real world. They also believe that men face more discrimination than women and evangelicals more than Jews, Muslims, and LGBTQ people.

These beliefs stem from the sense of grievance that has become Republicans' mother's milk. To their minds, the forces of liberalism — of socialism, of secularism, of Black Lives Matter, of Hollywood, of Silicon Valley, of academia, of the media — are wolves at the door, threatening traditional cultural hierarchies. ..............(more)

https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/republicans-are-not-a-serious-party/Content?oid=26730595