How did the Limited Govt party become the Authoritarian party?

[Anonymous]

It really does boggle the mind. How did the party that strived for limited government for decades suddenly swing so far to being an authoritarian party that strives to impose its morale and political opinions onto everyone, across a spectrum of issues? And the blatant hypocrisy of demanding government stay out of their decisions and away from their bodies when it comes to their own personal beliefs, such as with vaccines, but demanding government interfere with people’s decisions and bodies when it comes to what they believe is right?

I used to be a moderate swing voter, and voted for Republicans just as much as Democrats over the years. But I just can’t vote Republican now, even though I may want their conservancy on some issues. I don’t trust them anymore not to suddenly take away rights just because that’s their own opinion, the hell with what anyone else thinks or what is democratic.

[Anonymous]

Russians compromised the party along with the Evangelicals, who are sympathetic to a white christian world order taking it over since the 1960's.

The timelines on this are very interesting and I feel bad for traditional conservatives, but at this point, if they truly love this country, they will wholly support democrats until a new counterparty can form.

[Anonymous]

Remind me which political party wants every institution up to and including the federal government to have offices devoted to promoting a political ideology (DEI), along with all kinds of incoherent regulations and policies regarding same?

And which political party wants everyone to pretend that boys can turn into girls and vice versa? And will try to drum out of office or otherwise publicly shame anyone with who argues otherwise?

What’s that you were saying about authoritarians?

[Anonymous]

Imposing their morale and opinions on everyone?

[Anonymous]

Gee. Is that what happened? I don't think so. I think back to the two years of Covid and remember that it was Republican governors who refused to keep schools and businesses closed.

OTOH - How did the party of free speech become the party that now pushes censorship and silences its opposition?

[Anonymous]

OP in fairness your line is fairly common on the left these days, so it’s not just you who’s delusional.

Quick flashback to the bad old days: remember when Steve Bannon said his goal was to “the deconstruction of the administrative state”?

I’m a little rusty on my history… but isn’t authoritarianism the opposite of this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP in fairness your line is fairly common on the left these days, so it’s not just you who’s delusional.

Quick flashback to the bad old days: remember when Steve Bannon said his goal was to “the deconstruction of the administrative state”?

I’m a little rusty on my history… but isn’t authoritarianism the opposite of this?

Nope, they love cops and troops, the more the better. They just hate every other government official trying to keep the country running.

[Anonymous]

I used to thank god that we weren’t like other countries, that we wouldn’t have a group of jackboots show up and close our stores or universities, or ransack our homes, because of our democracy. But the governor of Florida just replaced everyone on staff and the curriculum with what he wanted. Came in and took it over, wiped everything out, replaced it all, because of his own political agenda.

Decades from now, students are going to be studying this era as a time when our country truly did hang on the precipice of losing our democracy. It really is frightening that so many people are rejoicing in this just because it matches their own personal views. But it doesn’t match half or more of the country’s views, which is why we have free speech in the constitution. This is supposed to be protected. I would feel the same way if it were in reverse and a liberal governor fired all of a college’s staff and completely took over because it was too conservative. It really is frightening what’s happening in parts of our country.

[Anonymous]

There are many people on the liberal side who also disagree with how far the trans activism has gone, and disagree with some of the laws that have been enacted. So yes, there are many examples on the liberal side too. But the Democrats never declared themselves the limited government party. The Republicans did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remind me which political party wants every institution up to and including the federal government to have offices devoted to promoting a political ideology (DEI), along with all kinds of incoherent regulations and policies regarding same?

And which political party wants everyone to pretend that boys can turn into girls and vice versa? And will try to drum out of office or otherwise publicly shame anyone with who argues otherwise?

What’s that you were saying about authoritarians?

Offering eduction on diversity is not authoritarian. It is…education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many people on the liberal side who also disagree with how far the trans activism has gone, and disagree with some of the laws that have been enacted. So yes, there are many examples on the liberal side too. But the Democrats never declared themselves the limited government party. The Republicans did.

PP here. And there are many people on the moderate or liberal side who think some DEI policies went too far, some Covid restrictions went too far, etc. and agree some need to be rolled back.

But again, the Democrats never declared themselves the limited government party. That has always been the banner the Republicans flew, that has drastically changed.

[Anonymous]

It all comes down to who benefits from the use of government force. If the government is reinforcing the power of white Christian men with at least some money, it's all good. If it's eroding the authority and/or wealth of these people, it's bad.

[Anonymous]

I think Jessica Linden said it best:

https://www.theonion.com/u-s-out-of-my-uterus-vs-we-must-deploy-troops-to-jess-1819594277

[Anonymous]

On some level, I give the opening/closing/masks a slight pass. Covid threw everyone for a loop, worldwide we were scrambling not to die, and there were differing opinions on how not to do that. For that, I truly believe reasonable minds can differ, and that we learned as we went along. But science and vaccines? Give me a break with all the google MDs out there.

But then the Rs took it too far and turned it into an ideology all its own. The whole "my body, my choice" was a deliberate slap in the face to pro-choice folks, but instead of really believing it, it became a battle cry and "we want both sides to be true." My body my choice, but not your body, your choice, You really can't reconcile those two things. Republicans are the biggest bunch of hypocrites.

I saw a posting that really rung true too - Imagine having a history so scary no one wants you to learn about it. Take that. a step further - imagine having a history so scary that you and generations of your family are only just now starting to get a foothold in this country. That's a real thing, but no one wants to confront that. When you see the actual wrath that the Rs are going after the Black, Jewish, Asian, LGBTQ, etc. community, maybe you'd understand DEI a little better.

Agree with PP. Money and power. That's all it is, because there is nothing else reasonable to explain it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remind me which political party wants every institution up to and including the federal government to have offices devoted to promoting a political ideology (DEI), along with all kinds of incoherent regulations and policies regarding same?

And which political party wants everyone to pretend that boys can turn into girls and vice versa? And will try to drum out of office or otherwise publicly shame anyone with who argues otherwise?

What’s that you were saying about authoritarians?

Neither of what you are describing is authoritarianism. It is a shame you don't understand what compassion and understanding are.