The MAGA Culture of Menace Is No Surprise By Joe Conason

[justaprogressive]

When Republicans claim to be shocked by threats of violence that have repeatedly marred their party's contest for speaker of the House, it is hard to suppress a bitter laugh. The malignant direction of their party over the past several years is no secret — and although many of them are too cowardly to identify the poison's source, everyone knows his name.

That would be former President Donald J. Trump.

Everyone knows because Trump has hardly tried to conceal his increasingly sinister conduct and has tried not at all to pacify the legions of goons who menace his perceived enemies. What once might have been described as an undercurrent of brutality and bullying in the MAGA movement has long since become its dominant theme. Not "patriotism" and not "conservatism," but much closer to fascism and sadism, which have always slithered along together.

Nobody should have been surprised, least of all Republican elected officials, when supporters of Rep. Jim Jordan, Trump's selection for speaker, began a sickening campaign to terrorize his opponents. Wholly unqualified for that constitutional post by temperament or achievement — he has never authored a successful bill in 16 years on Capitol Hill — Jordan deserved no consideration, and it is hard to say how many of the votes he received were somehow coerced. But the campaign that culminated in his humiliating rejection by the GOP conference began with a familiar pattern: an escalating pattern of threats that the MAGA gang dismissed, excused and encouraged, before cynically pretending to urge a return to decent behavior.

We have seen and heard all this before, too many times, ever since Trump first excreted his racist imprecations and calls for violence during the 2016 presidential campaign. The tape of a Jordan supporter uttering obscene threats to "molest" the wife of a dissident Republican congressman is the soundtrack of Trumpism.

[link:https://www.creators.com/read/joe-conason/10/23/the-maga-culture-of-menace-is-no-surprise|

[EYESORE 9001]

1. Some day, historians may unravel a mystery - at least it is to me

How do the most worthless MFers on the face of the earth rise to the pinnacle of power? I’m tempted to go with blackmail. Rump and poot both like their kompromat. Hell, I believe poot has pee pee tapes on rump himself. Plus god knows what else.

My stance has evolved over time to deal with domestic terrorism with the same resolve as radical Islamic terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11. This time, however, the enemy is ‘dug in’, as they are citizens with families and income and, in some cases, real wealth. The billionaires who are actively seeking chaos must be neutered first. Their dreams of coming out on top after global upheaval make me believe they are mad dogs.

[justaprogressive]

2. The sludge always rises

to the top...

[EYESORE 9001]

3. Indeed it does

The mechanisms by which this process occurs are the mysterious parts to me.

[tinrobot]

5. Being a crook/abuser/cheat/predator is probably a feature for them

I think the GOP actively chooses people who have closets full of secrets because it gives them more control.

"Vote for this bill, Lindsey, or we'll release those photos we took"

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Violence has always been Reich Wing way since Slavery and Genocide of Indigenous people

Violence continued on in the racist segregationist South.

Tulsa Massacre 1921

Lynchings

Union busting

Church Bombing

Assassination of MLK Jr and others

Matthew Shepard

Mass shootings at gay night clubs

Stockpiling guns and ammunition

Bombing Federal building in Oklahoma City

There are many more examples.