Yes. This is the problem.

Irrational anger & outrage which is easily manipulated, as we see being done, into tribal affiliation. Predicated not on some devotion to core ideals & principles of the country, but something else.

Notice what ea side appeals how they express it.

One side largely is moved by wanting a system, a society, a government that is responsive to the situation and needs of the public. This has a number of aspects, from infrastructure, taking care of the environment, BLM, taking care of the 'least among us' &etc.

These folks...
These folks on "the other side"... Not sure what to call this other side. It is a collection of right wing people, some who are simply "members" by affiliation, by tradition, by location in the country...others by reasoned choice.
However they get there, a large % are like this.
Lets call this the Trumpian side, Trumper Cohort, since that is the current center around which these "73M" are organized.
Within this cohort, there are many who are simply "Republicans" by inertia. Their family has been so forever, and so they are too. In actual fact they
do not like what is being done in their name, wonder what happened to the party, but cannot imagine voting for a "Democrat", no more than the feud over Ford vs Chevy would resolve in welcoming in the other 'team'.
These don't really know or und what a "Democrat" is these days,
but they are damn sure they don't want to be one, or affiliated with one. Some of these people, actually reflecting on what the GOP has become under Trump find themselves in a spot where they do not associate w Trump/GOP so find themselves estranged.
Others not thinking about it
nor caring to try and work it all out, simply retain their old alligences and set thoughts/opinions.

These are not people who will get worked up like this fellow.
They are the ones who will line up for a Trump rally and go with the flow.
They are also the ones who are
interviewed, to comic effect, and really don't have any reason or thinking through what they are chanting about, just w some vague sense of "we/our team is right and those guys need to be locked up"

These are easily manipulated, but are not the ones who will carry guns into a
fight.

Assuming this is about 50% of the Trump cohort (who knows what the actual number is?) that leaves 35+M people who carry some level of this rage & outrage.
Back to my essential point:
Look at the behavior and how these people manifest their feelings and affiliations. They carry guns,and are sometimes ready to use them. As we have seen. Always ready to intimidate.
And when you try to assay what they are angry at, what it is that
they want to "save", it tends to be around fuzzy notions of the "2nd Amendment". Rarely do you hear 1stA. Rarer still any sort of appeal to unity, trying to find a common set of values/principles from which the sides both exist.

It is more about complete domination of the
conversation. The emotional tone is like this video clip, one of extreme frustration and anger. It is a state easily turned into a mob. It is not generated by reflection, consideration, a vision. It is fueled by grievance, a sense of us v. them, a sense of isolation.
Ultimately it is a sense of power consolidated by the authorities. It is the sense that "We" need to be protected from "Them".

This is the deep agitation that is used to justify the guns and the violence. And is the hook by which forces like Trump are able to provoke them into
a base. This is not new. This is the pattern of the rise and ascendency of authoritarian states. Esp as they erode any democratic footings that would counter these impulses.
This argument deserves a better treatment. It needs to be an essay, not a twitter thread. It is far more complex than this simple distinction, even though I think the distinction essential and fundamental.
Look at the rage & outrage as manifested by each side.

More from Michael Beaton

When (if) the full story of Jan6 ever comes out I predict it will have multiple levels of intention and complicity.
Broadly
1/The "base" level of the mob reacting out of what they believe & has been taught & insinuated into them for years.
I think this chaos is the cover for


other levels that seem to have a much more clear, "calm" mission.
These are the people who are now utterly confused that what they were told turns out to not be true.
These people being disbarred from flying, or taken into custody, thinking they were just returning home, are

bearing the brunt of the response by the law enforcement system. They are the easiest to see, find, and catch.
They are the pawns. They are the Orcs in the Trumpian system...expendable. Useful. Necessary. But Expendable as the strategy & tactics require.

Who knows if these

people, so adamant in their emotional pumped up outrage will figure this out. For now, the fact that they are the ones being hauled in, the first ones facing the consequences of their actions, seems to be solidifying their martyr frame of mind. I suspect they feel a kinship

with Trump, who does nothing but proclaim himself a victim and a martyr. In this they get to feel even moreso that they are part of the righteous army, gods army, doing gods work.
And they will be used again and again as necessary for the other levels.
It is not just wrong
& it is not just the epitome of historical ignorance,
& a comprehensive misunderstanding of the relationship of religious and civil society,
This is the declaration of a much deeper intention of instantiating an "American Fundamentalism".
Think "Gilead".


This is the low information ranting of fundamentalists who lay out the emotional, fact & history free, case for what is essentially an American Taliban.
There is no "compromise" or a sense of comity between differences. When you have "the truth" it is a violation to "compromise".

Others, like "The Grand Inquisitor" use the froth and confusion--and subsequent absolutist certainty of their "righteousness" generated by such as this. (and thus justification for killing/harming anyone who disagrees..In the name of God, of course)

It is useful demagoguery.

This battle has been raging for years. Perhaps forever.

One distinctive characteristic of America, has been keeping this level of fundamentalism out of secular power. Individuals, yes, but not the entire system.

One of the consequences of Trumpism is to equate patriotism w religion in a way that births what becomes a passionately ignorant fundamentalism, unmoored from fact or truth,wedded only to its own self as the measure & guide of truth.
It creates a condition of deep tribal devotion
Interesting how the shift in the 'pubs message is now "hey, lets get unified". And do that by trying, yet again, to elude consequences...and investigation, into what happened.
We have tried that path multiple times already.
It does not work.

Rep. Jordan does not see!..
(thread)


Of course not. It is imperative that he not see.

Here is how it works...The way you and your team always put up a concrete wall when it comes to the relatively petty crimes some people do. They need to learn the lesson by suffering the consequences of their choices.

Consequences you absolve those who actually do deep and structural damage to the country from. At least until it cannot be ignored any longer, and you need a "sacrificial lamb".

Looking forward to seeing which 'lambs' will be offered up for this monumental moment.

Eventually

Eventually when the lesser 'lambs' are insufficient to the crime, sometimes, the responsibility finally lands on the leader, the head perp, the mob boss goes to prison after all. Or like Spiro Agnew, allowed to resign quietly... (one of the lucky ones).

Trump has the option to

Trump has the option to resign. The quick (and cowardly) way out. It won't heal the nation as well as a deep investigation would.
However, regardless of how these next few days play out, that investigation that has been called for before Jan6 still needs to happen.
So there

More from Society

I've seen many news articles cite that "the UK variant could be the dominant strain by March". This is emphasized by @CDCDirector.

While this will likely to be the case, this should not be an automatic cause for concern. Cases could still remain contained.

Here's how: 🧵

One of @CDCgov's own models has tracked the true decline in cases quite accurately thus far.

Their projection shows that the B.1.1.7 variant will become the dominant variant in March. But interestingly... there's no fourth wave. Cases simply level out:

https://t.co/tDce0MwO61


Just because a variant becomes the dominant strain does not automatically mean we will see a repeat of Fall 2020.

Let's look at UK and South Africa, where cases have been falling for the past month, in unison with the US (albeit with tougher restrictions):


Furthermore, the claim that the "variant is doubling every 10 days" is false. It's the *proportion of the variant* that is doubling every 10 days.

If overall prevalence drops during the studied time period, the true doubling time of the variant is actually much longer 10 days.

Simple example:

Day 0: 10 variant / 100 cases -> 10% variant
Day 10: 15 variant / 75 cases -> 20% variant
Day 20: 20 variant / 50 cases -> 40% variant

1) Proportion of variant doubles every 10 days
2) Doubling time of variant is actually 20 days
3) Total cases still drop by 50%

You May Also Like

My top 10 tweets of the year

A thread 👇

https://t.co/xj4js6shhy


https://t.co/b81zoW6u1d


https://t.co/1147it02zs


https://t.co/A7XCU5fC2m