Only 7 out of 50 among them are patriots — the rest, cowards and knaves who continue to seek destruction of this republic out of self-interest and an authoritarian’s need to dominate others. Today’s impeachment vote of acquittal for Trump’s role in the January 6 insurrection was brutal but of course, not surprising. It highlighted… Continue reading The Republican Party is a criminal organization
As members of the white male oligarchy fall all over themselves to mock the Green New Deal in their prostrate subservience to special interest lobbyists and Wall Street, there’s an opportunity hanging out in the wind (…but mostly in the sun) for Main Street. People who claim that solar power isn’t scalable are living like… Continue reading Turn Republican short-sightedness into financial upside: invest in solar
Regardless of whether or not you agree that slashing spending, fiscal austerity, balanced budgets, and a low federal deficit are good ideas, the fact remains that the Republican Party does not generally live up to its aims of expense reduction and small government. As hard as it is to believe, there are still some people… Continue reading Republicans do not live up to their ideals of small government (and also, we need Keynesianism right now)
Gaslighting describes the act of professing skepticism, disbelief, or denial of another person’s lived experience, feelings, or perceptions of reality. It’s one thing to disagree respectfully with someone; it’s another thing altogether to deny the validity of their point of view to the point of aggression, and attack them with hostility. Gaslighters are engaging in… Continue reading Gaslighting
DARVO is an acronym that stands for “Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender.” It refers to the reaction often exhibited by perpetrators of criminal or unethical behavior, especially sexual offenders. One common frame is to allege that the perpetrator is actually the victim in the scenario, because of the other party’s false accusations. The… Continue reading What is DARVO?
The Council for National Policy is a conservative organization founded in 1981 by far-right Republican activists in the U.S. including Paul Weyrich, Richard Viguerie, Phyllis Schlafly, and Tim LaHaye to advance a Christian Right agenda in American politics. Today, the CNP is enormously influential on the right and almost unknown on the left. Its secretive… Continue reading What is the CNP?
Cultural Marxism is a conspiracy theory originally promoted by ultraconservative American political operatives William S. Lind and Paul Weyrich, claiming the existence of an organized conspiracy against the “traditional Christian values of America.” It’s a modern derivative of the Nazi propaganda term “Cultural Bolshevism,” which was used as a derogative slur against anything progressive, modernist,… Continue reading What is “cultural Marxism”?
The Big Lie about the 2020 Election was hardly the first or even the Biggest of the Big Lies in American history — fomented in vast majority by the right wing. Call it a personality trait, an ideology, or perhaps a financial preference — but Republicans seem to lean towards the disingenuous end of the… Continue reading GOP Big Lies
Loser Politics is the psychology of the right wing — the mentality of Confederates through the ages. It is the also rans, the disaffected former military or government personnel, the failed actors and artists, closet gays, and all those jealous jerks who are butthurt over their own assorted failures. It is the mindset of the… Continue reading Loser Politics
One of two major parties in our American first-past-the-post voting system of dual-party reality, the Republican Party, has evolved into a full-throated authoritarian movement seeking to overthrow our democracy, The Constitution, and the rule of law in order to establish a fascist regime in the United States. It’s been a not-so-secret fever dream on the… Continue reading The GOP is 3 Cults in a Trenchcoat
The Republican National Committee, in perhaps the most stunningly stupid self-own in the history of modern politics certainly in my lifetime, finally said the quietest part out loud: that in their official pronouncement, the events at the Capitol on January 6 constituted “legitimate political discourse.” Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were censured by the… Continue reading Legitimate political discourse? 🤔
Below is a list of the covert gang of folks trying to take down the US government — the anti-government oligarchs who think they run the place. By 2016 the Koch network of private political groups had a paid staff of 1600 people in 35 states — a payroll larger than that of the RNC… Continue reading Koch Wealth Cult
This is more of a scratch pad of ideas at the moment I’m afraid, but I’m aiming to come back and curate this as we get further into 2022. Cliff’s Note version: Broken Record messages for 2022 About Democrats We have a terrible habit of being Debbie Downers about our own party. No matter how… Continue reading Democratic Messaging
A dictionary of Christian nationalism terms, to be curated and added to over time: 10 Commandments acolytes affirmative action American exceptionalism apostles apostates baptism biblical values biblical worldview born-again Calvinism cheap grace “Christian journalism” Christian Reconstructionism City Upon a Hill clergy communion Conservative Resurgence — historical period in the late 1970s and early 80s that… Continue reading Christian Nationalism
Motivated reasoning is a common daily phenomenon for all of us, assuming we’re human and/or interact with other humans. It’s a cognitive science term that refers to a type of emotional bias in which we have a tendency to prefer decisions or justifications based on their personal desirability vs. an unbiased examination of the facts.… Continue reading Motivated Reasoning