Republicans have taken up the politics of bigotry, putting US democracy at risk

[Nevilledog]

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Robert Reich
@RBReich
The party that once championed lower taxes, smaller government, states’ rights and a strong national defense now has more in common with anti-democratic, racist-nationalist regimes around that world than American ideals of democracy.

Republicans have taken up the politics of bigotry, putting US democracy at risk
There is no ‘surge’ of migrants at the border and there is no huge voter fraud problem – there is only hard-right attack
theguardian.com
12:18 PM · Mar 28, 2021

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/28/republicans-politics-bigotry-democracy-risk-border-voter-fraud-trump-biden

Republicans are outraged – outraged! – at the surge of migrants at the southern border. The House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, declares it a “crisis … created by the presidential policies of this new administration”. The Arizona congressman Andy Biggs claims, “we go through some periods where we have these surges, but right now is probably the most dramatic that I’ve seen at the border in my lifetime.”

Donald Trump demands the Biden administration “immediately complete the wall, which can be done in a matter of weeks – they should never have stopped it. They are causing death and human tragedy.”

“Our country is being destroyed!” he adds.

In fact, there’s no surge of migrants at the border.

US Customs and Border Protection apprehended 28% more migrants from January to February this year than in previous months. But this was largely seasonal. Two years ago, apprehensions increased 31% during the same period. Three years ago, it was about 25% from February to March. Migrants start coming when winter ends and the weather gets a bit warmer, then stop coming in the hotter summer months when the desert is deadly.

To be sure, there is a humanitarian crisis of children detained in overcrowded border facilities. And an even worse humanitarian tragedy in the violence and political oppression in Central America, worsened by US policies over the years, that drives migration in the first place.

But the “surge” has been fabricated by Republicans in order to stoke fear – and, not incidentally, to justify changes in laws they say are necessary to prevent non-citizens from voting.

*snip*

[onecaliberal]

1. We're either going to go the way of 1930 Germany or we're going to drive out the Nazis.