Good post.
This really accelerated under Gingrich. He taught fellow Republicans how to obstruct and demonize political opponents. Bush exploited racial, social, and cultural fissures within American society with his campaigns against McCain in South Carolina, Kerry in 2004, and various cultural issues (like gay marriage). I remember being called anti American on the campus of UVSC for asking where the WMDs were in Iraq.
The 2008 campaign once Palin entered the arena became a nasty contest. The GOP invited the kooks and crazies that Palin attracted into the pool. She brought it energy that older Republicans (like mccain) lacked. This was a mistake as It’s been eating their establishment faces off ever since. Even today a large segment of the GOP believes Obama isn’t an American citizen. When simple facts aren’t recognized and stupidity and emotional are values more than expertise and evidence, then compromise and governing become impossible.
After 2012’s loss, the GOP conducted an autopsy that has obviously been ignored. It essentially stated that the party needed to become less mean, less rigid ideologically, and more welcoming to women and minorities. Ignoring this sound advice has only increased the right’s extremism.
In 2016, they won not by appealing to the majority of the electorate, but by juicing the base and winning the EC. Trump combined with other factors like Fox News and social media, has led to a continued denigration of norms. Which brings us to today where Republicans can’t even elect a speaker of the House. Folks like Boebert and Gaetz are fighting with MTG.
The problem therein lies in the GOP’s base that has become radicalized. They then demand radicalized bomb throwers to “own their enemies.” Once they elect bomb throwers, Fox News radicalizes the base further and the base demands even more radicalized bomb throwers.
The radicalization of one of the major political parties in this country comes at a time where local news is dying. People become less connected to their communities as they don’t follow local news. Everything becomes a win/lose mentality because all news and politics becomes nationalized. People find their echo chambers on social media which keeps them ignorant of topics, believing the worst of their neighbors, and unable to crucially think. All this contributes to a more divided country. Social media really makes things worse as people seek to have their views confirmed and seek connection with others. Often, the connection they find is fool’s gold and it leads to further radicalization.
www.theatlantic.com
www.nbcnews.com
abcnews.go.com
www.wbur.org
