The last Republican President to enter the White House with the popular vote did so in 1989.
Yet, when they win, they behave as though they have the mandate that comes with a landslide.
I'd like to speak the obvious necessary things about the Republican Party, the most central of which is that this is not an organization that is participating in democracy.
Rather, they are cynically utilizing our democracy's vulnerabilities.
The last Republican President to enter the White House with the popular vote did so in 1989.
Yet, when they win, they behave as though they have the mandate that comes with a landslide.
They give out trillions in corporate welfare.
They start torture programs.
They start surveillance programs.
They lie us into wars.
They are not interested in democracy. They are not participating in a democracy.
They stall. They filibuster. They delay. They engage in deliberate sabotage to gain political advantage.
They are not participating in our democracy.
Russia didn't capture the Republican Party. Russia just wants to upend Western Democracy, which happens to be exactly what Republicans also want.
So they were happy for the help, but they didn't need it.
Russia's basically just somebody paid to make a distraction while the heist team hits the bank.
It just so happens they both have pretty much the same mission with the same method: Destroy American democracy by exploiting its weaknesses.
So, what are those weaknesses?
The electoral college is one of these. The way the Senate is allocated is another.
But there are other weaknesses we can do something about now.
These are 'weaknesses' that in healthier times are strengths, that have been leveraged against us.
* An appetite for compromise
* A mutual trust in the opposition's good intentions
* A desire to be fair
* An interest in keeping an open mind to other perspectives
* A desire to find common ground
These are all good things.
They prove that contempt by constantly and cynically using our desire for them to make us play by rules they have no intention of playing by.
They don't care about finding common ground.
They don't care about what the people want.
They don't care about standards.
To name only the most glaringly obvious of all available tells, I'll refer you to the president they elected.
We HAVE to recognize that they are not playing by those rules.
And, since they are in power, that means those aren't the rules.
More from Julius Ghost👻 (Read Pinned Tweet!)
The reality is very simple: The Republican Party is no longer participating in democracy. They're running a series of ops against every election cycle, predicated on the notion that only their power is legitimate.
This isn't a failed coup. This is a *continuous* coup that stretches back years. It includes Gingrich's scorched earth methods, Bush v Gore, the politicizing of the Bush DoJ, the judicial obstructionism and nullification of the McConnell Senate, and the entire Trump presidency.
It includes decades of tortured racist gerrymandering and disenfranchisement, Citizens United, the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, PACs, and deliberately colluding with foreign powers.
This isn't a failed coup. This is a *continuous* coup that stretches back years.
The Republican Party is not participating in democracy. They are quite obviously an organization dedicated to the destruction and overthrow of the government of the U.S. as we know it, and should be treated as such.
There are no legitimate Republican office-holders.
I think there's a distinction to be made. Democrats are often weak/ineffective, and many are complicit because they're those things by choice—but institutionally they aren't authoritarian, and they aren't fascist. They're a corporatist conservative party.
As many as 140 House Republicans and at least one GOP Senator will object to Biden's electors.
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 1, 2021
As @ChrisMurphyCT told me, it's only a matter of time until Rs steal an election.
\u201cThis party has a whole bunch of enemies of democracy inside its top ranks."https://t.co/FlhH0F1SXH
This isn't a failed coup. This is a *continuous* coup that stretches back years. It includes Gingrich's scorched earth methods, Bush v Gore, the politicizing of the Bush DoJ, the judicial obstructionism and nullification of the McConnell Senate, and the entire Trump presidency.
It includes decades of tortured racist gerrymandering and disenfranchisement, Citizens United, the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, PACs, and deliberately colluding with foreign powers.
This isn't a failed coup. This is a *continuous* coup that stretches back years.
The Republican Party is not participating in democracy. They are quite obviously an organization dedicated to the destruction and overthrow of the government of the U.S. as we know it, and should be treated as such.
There are no legitimate Republican office-holders.
I think there's a distinction to be made. Democrats are often weak/ineffective, and many are complicit because they're those things by choice—but institutionally they aren't authoritarian, and they aren't fascist. They're a corporatist conservative party.
To what extent is the legitimacy of Democratic leadership also questionable? If I have a friend who tells me he\u2019ll help protect me from a bully we both identify, and then steps out of the way of every punch headed for me, don\u2019t I just have two bullies with extra steps?
— Duke \u201cthiiirdperson\u201d Greene (@DukeGreene) January 1, 2021
If you ever want to consider how committed our society is to the foundational lie that life must be earned, and those who fail to earn it must die, consider that the proposition “giving everyone money to spend would be bad for the economy” is widely accepted as truth.
“Giving money to people in poverty solves poverty” is an obvious truth, which needs (another) study for proof, for the same reason that this finding will be ignored (again).
We don’t want to fix poverty, even if doing so helps everyone—not if it means life for the “undeserving.”
It’s not about saving money.
There's a great fear in this country that a single dollar might go to someone who might not deserve it; or that a single given dollar might be spent on something we deem unworthy.
We'll spend five dollars to prevent the waste of that one dollar.
The manifestations are everywhere. From the overt, gleefully cruel hostility of conservatism toward people in poverty, of course. But also hidden in almost everyone's assumptions.
Our use of charity as a way of controlling who gets helped, for example.
Even the reversal—a desire to prevent aid from going to "undeserving" wealthy who don't need it (true)—leads us to create obstacles to aid people in poverty often can't overcome, but wealthy people can.
Which is why wealthy people like means
A new study found that giving low-income workers money upfront in their work period helped alleviate the mental burden of their financial problems and allowed them to be more productive \u2014 echoing other findings on the psychological impacts of poverty.https://t.co/zdxItTLDLZ
— NPR (@NPR) February 3, 2021
“Giving money to people in poverty solves poverty” is an obvious truth, which needs (another) study for proof, for the same reason that this finding will be ignored (again).
We don’t want to fix poverty, even if doing so helps everyone—not if it means life for the “undeserving.”
It’s not about saving money.
There's a great fear in this country that a single dollar might go to someone who might not deserve it; or that a single given dollar might be spent on something we deem unworthy.
We'll spend five dollars to prevent the waste of that one dollar.
The manifestations are everywhere. From the overt, gleefully cruel hostility of conservatism toward people in poverty, of course. But also hidden in almost everyone's assumptions.
Our use of charity as a way of controlling who gets helped, for example.
Charity isn't primarily an act.
— A.R. Moxon (@JuliusGoat) November 10, 2019
Before the act comes an alignment.
Charity is the natural fruit of a deep alignment with the virtue of generosity.
It sure shouldn't be a delivery mechanism for one's own beliefs about worthiness.
Even the reversal—a desire to prevent aid from going to "undeserving" wealthy who don't need it (true)—leads us to create obstacles to aid people in poverty often can't overcome, but wealthy people can.
Which is why wealthy people like means
Whenever someone proposes a means-testing solution, it's an indication they've internalized the lie, foundational to the United States, that some people deserve life and others don't.
— A.R. Moxon (@JuliusGoat) December 18, 2020
It's an expensive lie.
Bullshit.
I have family members all the way up the Fox News Facebook misinformation hole, and they didn’t get vaccinated because they felt respected; they got vaccinated because their children told them they wouldn’t get to see their grandchildren until they got vaccinated.
3 observations:
People don't tend to change their worldviews from a place of comfort.
When selfish assholes decide to behave like selfish assholes, the problem isn't that others aren't coddling their feelings enough.
Selfish assholes aren't everyone else's job to fix.
Selfish assholes would love for you to *think* they are everybody else's job to fix.
It puts them at the center and in control.
That means when they act like a selfish asshole, it's *your* fault. You should have been more persuasive. Daddy hits you because you made him angry.
Truth is, vaccine resistors are behaving this way because their feelings ARE being respected.
Malicious media entities created self-feeding networks that reassure selfish assholes they can be selfish assholes and still be respected.
Antvax, racist, sexist, all are welcome.
The way you make a selfish asshole stop being a selfish asshole is well known.
You draw a clear boundary and then you enforce that boundary. You tell them that their bullshit won't be tolerated, and then you don't tolerate their bullshit.
I think we all know that, actually.
I have family members all the way up the Fox News Facebook misinformation hole, and they didn’t get vaccinated because they felt respected; they got vaccinated because their children told them they wouldn’t get to see their grandchildren until they got vaccinated.
Vaccine resisters can\u2019t be persuaded if they feel disrespected | Opinion by @michaelbd https://t.co/nwszm47IOf
— National Review (@NRO) July 16, 2021
3 observations:
People don't tend to change their worldviews from a place of comfort.
When selfish assholes decide to behave like selfish assholes, the problem isn't that others aren't coddling their feelings enough.
Selfish assholes aren't everyone else's job to fix.
Selfish assholes would love for you to *think* they are everybody else's job to fix.
It puts them at the center and in control.
That means when they act like a selfish asshole, it's *your* fault. You should have been more persuasive. Daddy hits you because you made him angry.
Truth is, vaccine resistors are behaving this way because their feelings ARE being respected.
Malicious media entities created self-feeding networks that reassure selfish assholes they can be selfish assholes and still be respected.
Antvax, racist, sexist, all are welcome.
The way you make a selfish asshole stop being a selfish asshole is well known.
You draw a clear boundary and then you enforce that boundary. You tell them that their bullshit won't be tolerated, and then you don't tolerate their bullshit.
I think we all know that, actually.
More from All
The best morning routine?
Starts the night before.
9 evening habits that make all the difference:
1. Write down tomorrow's 3:3:3 plan
• 3 hours on your most important project
• 3 shorter tasks
• 3 maintenance activities
Defining a "productive day" is crucial.
Or else you'll never be at peace (even with excellent output).
Learn more
2. End the workday with a shutdown ritual
Create a short shutdown ritual (hat-tip to Cal Newport). Close your laptop, plug in the charger, spend 2 minutes tidying your desk. Then say, "shutdown."
Separating your life and work is key.
3. Journal 1 beautiful life moment
Delicious tacos, presentation you crushed, a moment of inner peace. Write it down.
Gratitude programs a mindset of abundance.
4. Lay out clothes
Get exercise clothes ready for tomorrow. Upon waking up, jump rope for 2 mins. It will activate your mind + body.
Starts the night before.
9 evening habits that make all the difference:
1. Write down tomorrow's 3:3:3 plan
• 3 hours on your most important project
• 3 shorter tasks
• 3 maintenance activities
Defining a "productive day" is crucial.
Or else you'll never be at peace (even with excellent output).
Learn more
How to be 5x more productive.
— Ben Meer (@SystemSunday) August 1, 2022
A best-selling author\u2019s 3-3-3 Method:
2. End the workday with a shutdown ritual
Create a short shutdown ritual (hat-tip to Cal Newport). Close your laptop, plug in the charger, spend 2 minutes tidying your desk. Then say, "shutdown."
Separating your life and work is key.
3. Journal 1 beautiful life moment
Delicious tacos, presentation you crushed, a moment of inner peace. Write it down.
Gratitude programs a mindset of abundance.
4. Lay out clothes
Get exercise clothes ready for tomorrow. Upon waking up, jump rope for 2 mins. It will activate your mind + body.
