Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The same reason Nazi's were the only real Germans. It's easier to make an insular us vs them group if the rest of us are also "real Americans". It's radicalization talk that prevents them from thinking for themselves on any topic and possibly disagreeing with far right ideology on any topics.
+1
They want to ignore the whole libertarian and free from persecution strands of our society and want to jam their ethno white christian nationalism on the rest of us.
Exactly!
Real Americans support lower taxes, fewer business regulations, fewer brown immigrants, a boarder wall, and forcing LGBTQ people back into the closet. The implication here that liberals aren't "real Americans" and that any conservative that may disagree with any of these positions (and many others) or even have nuanced views of them are also not "real Americans". It forces more moderate conservatives into more extremist views. I mean, you don't want to tell your conservative friends that you think gay marriage is okay and that you attended your gay cousins wedding do you? That would make you a fake American.
All of which supports my thesis that the defining characteristic of modern Republicans is to be a bully. Bullying is the grease that lubricates the gears of the conservative hate machine.
Professor Frank Wilhot said it best:
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
I can see many, many examples of this at work.
For the in-group, this statement makes clear why there were such vehement protests against lockdowns and vaccine mandates by conservatives during the pandemic or against any form of restrictions on gun rights - each would be a case of actually binding conservatives.
You can see how there are
"rules for thee, but not for me" hypocrisy by Republican politicians. Just look at the GOP broken beyond repair thread.
Same with paying taxes. Isn't that just for losers according to the former President? Same with not being held to account (at least to date) across a wide range of alleged crimes. Crime is only for the poor, amirite?
On the other hand, for outgroups, you can see the issues with mandatory sentencing, the war on drugs (e.g., drug arrests for marijuana versus crack cocaine or the opioid epidemic), and police brutality against out minorities as ways to bind them but not protect them. Same with Florida's new anti-LGBTQ law and similar ones. Same with the anti-abortion laws in Texas and elsewhere. None of these protect minorities or women, but they certainly bind them.