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thomhartmann

(3,979 posts)
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 10:08 AM Apr 2021

Fear of the "Great Replacement" is now the major driving force in the GOP

Last edited Fri Apr 9, 2021, 11:19 AM - Edit history (1)

How Will the White Supremacy Brand of Today’s Republican Party End?

So, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who does not much participate in the legislative process other than occasionally trying to stop it, and has lost all her committee assignments, raised over 3 million bucks in the last quarter.

A really good first-quarter haul for a freshman member of Congress who’s actually getting things done would be $250,000 to a half million dollars. Greene blew the doors out.

But why?

There was a time in America when “conservative” meant, “In favor of moving toward a better country, but doing it slowly and cautiously.”

We use the word “conservative,” in fact, to generically mean “cautiously.”

But the last five years have irrefutably shown that when American politicians use the word conservative these days, what they really mean is white supremacist.

White supremacy has become the central brand of today’s Republican Party, and, in retrospect, has been at the core of that Party’s explicit efforts ever since Richard Nixon’s 1968 Southern Strategy.

And for “movement conservatives” it really dates even farther back than that. Consider one of the top founders of today’s conservative movement (and of the National Review publication), William F. Buckley. In a 1957 editorial titled Why the South Must Prevail, he laid out explicitly what the foundation of conservatism must be.

“Again, let us speak frankly,” Buckley wrote. “The South does not want to deprive the Negro of a vote for the sake of depriving him of the vote.”

No, this wasn’t just malice or performance. It was all about power, enforced by the state. And about defining, once and for all, the core animating principle of the newly resurgent conservative movement.

“In some parts of the South,” Buckley wrote, “the White community merely intends to prevail — that is all. It means to prevail on any issue on which there is corporate disagreement between Negro and White. The White community will take whatever measures are necessary to make certain that it has its way.”

He asked, rhetorically, if the South is “entitled” to “prevail” even in rural areas of the country or large cities with majority Black populations?

“The sobering answer,” Buckley wrote, “is Yes — the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race.”

So here we are.

Americans would like to believe that the people who sent Marjorie Taylor Greene all that money were concerned about taxes or trade or America’s standing in the world, but it’s obvious now that they are not.

They want to support a white congresswoman from Georgia because she, like Buckley in his day, is waving all the flags associated with white supremacy.

After she jumped into the Republican primary in the state where I lived for 13 years, she pushed out a series of videos complaining about an “Islamic invasion” of elected office, presumably referencing Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, and conflated Black and Hispanic men with “gangs and dealing drugs.”

She started hustling the 2020 version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion saying that Jewish Billionaire George Soros had something to do with the Nazis and is supernaturally controlling world events. And let’s not forget the Jewish space lasers.

This was so offensive that House Minority whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who had previously described himself as “David Duke without the baggage,” endorsed her primary opponent, and Congressman Jody Hice of Georgia withdrew his endorsement of her. She nonetheless won both the primary and the general elections, using Trump as a symbol of and for white supremacy.

But Greene is not the problem; she’s merely one of many, and a symptom of how widespread and popular white supremacy and white nationalism are in today’s America. These ideologies have become the number one animating force in Republican politics.

The Chicago Project on Security and Threats did a deep dive into which counties had sent people to Washington DC on January 6 to try to overthrow our republic.

The Project’s Director, Robert A. Pape, wrote in The Washington Post, “[T]he people alleged by authorities to have taken the law into their hands on Jan. 6 typically hail from places were non-White populations are growing fastest.”

They also did two independent surveys early this year and found that, “One driver overwhelmingly stood out: fear of the ‘Great Replacement.’”

The Great Replacement is what animated the white mass murderer in Christchurch, New Zealand as well as the white man who slaughtered 20 people at a shopping center in El Paso, Texas. It’s why white nationalist Tim McVeigh blew up the Oklahoma City Federal Building.

It refers to the fear some white people have of being “replaced“ by people of color.

Using this hook, the Republican Party has explicitly rebranded itself in the last five years.

They’ve embraced statues of Confederate generals and oppose stripping their names from military bases. They are working as hard as they possibly can to stop Black people from voting, while demonizing cities like Pittsburgh, Detroit and Milwaukee with charges of “voter fraud” because, one must assume, they’re majority-Black cities.

“Make America Great Again” really means “Make America White Again.” And every white supremacist in America knows it, agrees with it, and will enthusiastically send money to any Republican politician who waves Trump’s white supremacist flag.

And it’s not just the GOP that has gone down this road. The White Evangelical movement is right there with them, with the emphasis on “White.”

This is extraordinarily dangerous stuff.

As Holocaust survivor Sidney Zoltak said, and was reported in yesterday’s New York Times, “The diabolic plan to annihilate the Jews in Europe was established in small increments. Way before the establishment of the concentration camps, the ghettos, the death camps, the mobile killing units, it started with words.”

Words that characterized Jews, gypsies, gay people and socialists as vermin, as invaders, as an infestation. Words like Donald Trump and his followers use regularly.

And the Nazis were in the streets, both in Germany in the 1930s and in America over the past five years, chanting things like, “Jews will not replace us.”

The first generation of majority non-white Americans is already born and entering school. There’s nothing white people can do to stop this trend.

Thus, white Americans in the GOP (the vast majority of the Party) are facing a stark choice.

They can go down yelling and screaming and take a lot of lives with them, tearing this country apart pursuing their “Lost Cause.”

Or, they can start working for a country that actually realizes the vision of America’s founding promise, that “All men are created equal.”

Original post with links to sources at: HartmannReport.com
46 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Fear of the "Great Replacement" is now the major driving force in the GOP (Original Post) thomhartmann Apr 2021 OP
THIS. k&r n/t OneGrassRoot Apr 2021 #1
And this is why it's futile to fight racism on the ground that soldierant Apr 2021 #36
I've finally come to the same conclusion... OneGrassRoot Apr 2021 #43
And there are always timid bystanders soldierant Apr 2021 #46
I always took "conservative" to mean regressive, negative, retardant underpants Apr 2021 #2
conserving their unearned privilege over others jmbar2 Apr 2021 #4
AND their ill-gotten gains. dchill Apr 2021 #8
You're not alone. They're the people walking with their faces turned backwards. rickyhall Apr 2021 #10
me too HUAJIAO Apr 2021 #12
I never did believe Buckley was anything but a racist arras PortTack Apr 2021 #3
And a pompous bloviator. wnylib Apr 2021 #26
Another parallel between Europe of the 1930's and the US now... Wounded Bear Apr 2021 #5
Fictional Senator Bulworth running for re-election interview. dugog55 Apr 2021 #6
Never seen this movie jmbar2 Apr 2021 #11
Ooh yeah IronLionZion Apr 2021 #13
I loved that movie! Haggard Celine Apr 2021 #24
It would seem the RePutinicans have a template - Germany in the 1930's. NoMoreRepugs Apr 2021 #7
I love Thom Hartmann Glaisne Apr 2021 #9
Always? TimeToGo Apr 2021 #16
I bailed on Thom Hartmann in 2016. calimary Apr 2021 #28
Yes. And now it's at a boiling point Roc2020 Apr 2021 #14
The conservatives that I know are referring to this as "The Great Reset". Initech Apr 2021 #15
Why are white Republicans are afraid of becoming a minority? CaptainTruth Apr 2021 #17
and to understand llashram Apr 2021 #18
The overarching issue here is appalling, and offers a pretty bleak alternate future. BobTheSubgenius Apr 2021 #19
Where are few flag-smashing, super soldiers when you need them? Aviation Pro Apr 2021 #20
Reagan embraced racism when he kicked off .. Botany Apr 2021 #21
Funny that I read this thread title just after seeing the headline Sogo Apr 2021 #22
I will never understand why being white makes one superior. Biophilic Apr 2021 #23
Kick dalton99a Apr 2021 #25
Thanks,Thom Mr. Scorpio Apr 2021 #27
Instead of Great Replacement. Its actually the next Great White Hope. LiberalLovinLug Apr 2021 #29
White conservative. The most chickenshit people out there. CrackityJones75 Apr 2021 #30
If people like MTG, Trump and Brian Kemp are models of whitness NEOBuckeye Apr 2021 #31
THIS. I've always said whites have used 'conservatism' as cover for their racist fear. It's why ancianita Apr 2021 #32
In my way of thinking "conservative" equals "libertarian" FakeNoose Apr 2021 #33
It's what's driving far-right politics in many countries with eroding white majorities. peppertree Apr 2021 #34
'The first generation of majority non-white Americans is already born and entering school. elleng Apr 2021 #35
They'll take civil war vercetti2021 Apr 2021 #37
I'm afraid you're right, vercetti2021. elleng Apr 2021 #39
I'm decent vercetti2021 Apr 2021 #40
Decent is pretty good, these days. elleng Apr 2021 #41
Lord knows I'm trying vercetti2021 Apr 2021 #42
This is so exhausting. Boomerproud Apr 2021 #38
There never was a conservative, virtuous Republican Party to go back to. Edwcraig Apr 2021 #44
Old news. I've been hearing Pat Buchanan harping on this white minority fear Submariner Apr 2021 #45

soldierant

(6,857 posts)
36. And this is why it's futile to fight racism on the ground that
Sat Apr 10, 2021, 01:02 AM
Apr 2021

people of different races are not less able or less competent than people with "white" skin. On some level they already know that. If it weren't so, why would they fear being replaced?

OneGrassRoot

(22,920 posts)
43. I've finally come to the same conclusion...
Sat Apr 10, 2021, 07:00 AM
Apr 2021

At this point, unless people have been living under a rock (which means they aren't on social media, aren't watching/reading news reports or anything else), trying to explain systemic racism and Othering is useless because THEY DON'T WANT TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS AND OPINIONS. They simply don't. It's some sort of warped game most of them play which only serves to exhaust the person explaining in good faith.

I should know. I've tried for 45 years, often privately, one on one. I was raised in a KKK environment and have been estranged from my family for a while now. Not one of them have changed.

Even if someone seems to shift their attitude a bit, as soon as something negative happens to them, they revert to the same racist, bigoted views because they need someone to blame and someone to feel superior to.

If one interacts on social media or in groups, the only reason I see to engage racist bigots is for the benefit of the more timid bystanders who not only could be swayed but may already share our views (the truth with facts) yet need ways to explain it.

Wounded Bear

(58,648 posts)
5. Another parallel between Europe of the 1930's and the US now...
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 10:19 AM
Apr 2021

is the depth and longevity of the problem. Europe had been cultivating anti-Semitism for centuries. Hitler and his NAZIs merely capitalized on and amplified the hatreds and prejudices that already existed in Germany and throughout Europe since Christianity attained supremacy.

In the US, disrespect and hatred of Blacks "only" has about 400 years of background, but it is ingrained and permeates society and much of religion.

Tough fights ahead.

dugog55

(296 posts)
6. Fictional Senator Bulworth running for re-election interview.
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 10:44 AM
Apr 2021

He has become fed up with Washington politics and rich people in general, he gets enlightened, then goes on a binge before this interview.

Glaisne

(515 posts)
9. I love Thom Hartmann
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 11:36 AM
Apr 2021

but
"There was a time in America when “conservative” meant, “In favor of moving toward a better country, but doing it slowly and cautiously.”

I think that is largely a myth. Yes maybe some regular folks did, but never the power brokers, the media and business leaders, politicians and party operatives where always fascist and white supremacist. Their goal has always been to make this country into a theocratic, white supremacist, fascist state, more so as time went on until it fully is so today including the majority of their base.

TimeToGo

(1,366 posts)
16. Always?
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 11:55 AM
Apr 2021

Conservative by definition means a slow move forward. Now, sometimes (often) the label is used to include people who want no change or even reactionary change. Often, in our past, that coincided with white supremacy, but not always as a primary tenet and sometimes it was authoritarian (or even fascistic in a modern sense) but not always. Eisenhower was conservative but he wasn't fascistic. I suspect he was culturally a white supremacist but not as an ideological force.

The current conservative movement (so called) is holding on to, and using, a term because it is comfortable for them and others, but it is now firmly reactionary (MAGA). It certainly has fascistic overtones and runs the risk of being overwhelmed by that. You can see that slide in American republican presidents -- Hoover, Eisenhower, Nixon, (Ford), Reagan, HW, (a bit of a blip in some ways), W, and then Trump. I believe they are believers, but I also think some of this is grift.

Now, why regular Americans are drawn to it -- that's another issue.

calimary

(81,238 posts)
28. I bailed on Thom Hartmann in 2016.
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 01:28 PM
Apr 2021

Still staunch Hillary supporter here and I did NOT enjoy having a-certain-other-candidate-who-wasn’t-Hillary jammed down my throat as relentlessly as I felt Thom Hartmann was trying to do. So I stopped listening to him.

But reading his essays and analysis now is good, and thought-provoking. He makes some very valid points here about the GOP and its dreams of white supremacy.

But then again, that’s really about all they have left. The societal mixing, merging, moving and relocation, intermarriage, and everything else that happens in a living, breathing, NON-static environment - all of those dynamics are horrifying to the white community that basically got used to unchallenged dominance and doesn’t want to have to share power.

Well, shit! There’s this thing called evolution. Things EVOLVE! NOTHING stays the same. Things CHANGE! And with changing times, you have to be able to adapt. And you have to be WILLING to acknowledge that changing reality. And adapt. And as the dinosaurs found out long ago, it’s “Adapt, or Die.”

And seems to me, the problem for the GOP is - they want EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY ELSE to adapt - to THEIR wishes and THEIR idea of the social construct while they stay static and don’t have to change or adapt. And they don’t seem interested in even acknowledging a need to evolve and adapt.

But they’re on the wrong side of evolution dynamics. And that will inevitably align their future with that of the dinosaurs.

Nature is a hard task-master. And it’s always in motion, evolving and changing. But the GOP
likes it like they think they remember it. And they don’t want to have to change, much less relinquish their perception of their “divine right to be dominant.” “WE like it this way. This is the way it SHOULD be. We don’t want to change. And we shouldn’t have to. YOU change to suit how WE want it to be.”

And that ain’t the way it works! Nature doesn’t follow mankind’s dictates. Sorry, GOP. It’s the OTHER WAY AROUND.

Adapt or die.

Roc2020

(1,615 posts)
14. Yes. And now it's at a boiling point
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 11:47 AM
Apr 2021

Most whites do not want to give up their position. And most blacks and people of color will not bow anymore. This dilemma is what is destroying America,

Initech

(100,068 posts)
15. The conservatives that I know are referring to this as "The Great Reset".
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 11:53 AM
Apr 2021

Which has an almost Nazi-esque tone to it. Scary to think about how this could end.

CaptainTruth

(6,589 posts)
17. Why are white Republicans are afraid of becoming a minority?
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 11:56 AM
Apr 2021

Do they think minorities are treated badly or something?

llashram

(6,265 posts)
18. and to understand
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 12:11 PM
Apr 2021

this "replacement fear" of white American 21st-century republiKKKans and others. I see a manifest surge in the killing of POC and liberal/progressive allies of all stripes by all manner of authority used by state agents. IF the power of the reichwing is again achieved in our governmental structure at the national level this solution will become their raison d'etre'. Kill as many POC for whatever reason. Whether Trayvon Martin/Zimmerman, wrong place, wrong time, wrong colour. Michael Brown, jaywalking. 17-year-old Kenosha kid with a deadly weapon(large mag rifle). Sandra Bland, failure to use turn signal and being too uppity with white cops, and the latest in a very long line of executions, hangings and murder/killings of POC. Mr Floyd and Derek Chauvin. The victim and the police executioner/murderer on trial now.

Trump unleashed the very primal tribal/racial animosity that has always bubbled right under the cultural patchwork that is Americans and America. The racist rightwing and their allies will always have their Slavery Era mentality. Always fighting the Civil War of 1860-65.

All patriotic Americans I see have one choice, counter racism as to what it is, undemocratic, unequal and viciously lethal and deadly with any tool available.

BobTheSubgenius

(11,563 posts)
19. The overarching issue here is appalling, and offers a pretty bleak alternate future.
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 12:12 PM
Apr 2021

That MTG looks like she'll cruise to re-election is nothing short of berserk. The best hope, ATM, is that she views that ridiculous treasure chest of contributions as her personal property, diverts some of it to whatever bizarre use she sees as important, and gets caught.

Given enough years in Congress, I'd bet my bottom dollar she'll do that eventually.

Aviation Pro

(12,165 posts)
20. Where are few flag-smashing, super soldiers when you need them?
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 12:19 PM
Apr 2021

Meet the new supremacy, same as the old supremacy.

Botany

(70,501 posts)
21. Reagan embraced racism when he kicked off ..
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 12:31 PM
Apr 2021

... his Presidential campaign in Nashoba County Mississippi by talking about "state's rights."

Sogo

(4,986 posts)
22. Funny that I read this thread title just after seeing the headline
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 12:38 PM
Apr 2021

that GOP-led states are secretly spending huge sums on execution drugs....

Think about it....Who is it that is more likely than not to be the ones on death row....POC. Who is it the GOP fears being replaced by....POC.

Biophilic

(3,651 posts)
23. I will never understand why being white makes one superior.
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 12:39 PM
Apr 2021

My DNA is so lily white that it's kind of depressing. Nothing but Northern European and British Isle. Sad. I always though wanted to have more pizazz in my heritage. More color, more music, more diversity of thinking. For me, the bottom line is that each of us individuals, whatever our color, will eventually die. But our thoughts, our philosophies, our impact on others and our earth will continue on in some form. Those are the things we should be fighting for; the importance of community and caring, the belief that each of us is created equal and deserve to be treated equally, the knowledge that life is sacred and worth supporting in all forms. Who cares what color the individual is, it's the thoughts that matter. Sigh. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I just don't get it.

 

CrackityJones75

(2,403 posts)
30. White conservative. The most chickenshit people out there.
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 01:34 PM
Apr 2021

These people are afraid of EVERYTHING that isn’t exaclty like them and fear that they will be diminished if anyone else is treated with dignity and respect.

NEOBuckeye

(2,781 posts)
31. If people like MTG, Trump and Brian Kemp are models of whitness
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 03:14 PM
Apr 2021

White supremacists have bigger worries than being replaced by black, brown and yellow people. Their own genetic inbreeding is making them stupider with each generation.

ancianita

(36,053 posts)
32. THIS. I've always said whites have used 'conservatism' as cover for their racist fear. It's why
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 09:38 PM
Apr 2021

today I donated $250 to Sgt. Marcus Flowers. I'll be donating more in the next year.

No doubt Greene's district has die-hards with fears of being replaced.
But Flowers needs a real shot at convincing those people that equality is not zero-sum.

I hope Daryl Davis works with Flowers to allay their fears.
If he can do it for 200 KKK members, perhaps he can do it for enough voters in Greene's district to give Flowers a shot.

https://www.npr.org/2017/08/20/544861933/how-one-man-convinced-200-ku-klux-klan-members-to-give-up-their-robes



FakeNoose

(32,637 posts)
33. In my way of thinking "conservative" equals "libertarian"
Fri Apr 9, 2021, 09:50 PM
Apr 2021

Not necessarily a white supremacist, but could very well be that also.

I've learned to never give them the benefit of the doubt. I always assume the worst and let them prove to me that they are better than that. When I do that I'm never disappointed. When it comes to Repukes my low opinion is almost always correct.

peppertree

(21,627 posts)
34. It's what's driving far-right politics in many countries with eroding white majorities.
Sat Apr 10, 2021, 12:42 AM
Apr 2021

We've seen it in Argentina (Macri), France (Le Pen), Hungary (Orban), Poland (Duda), Spain (Abascal), the U.K. (Farage), and in the U.S. (His Orangeness).

And no matter how clownish, sooner or later they do usually succeed in coming to power - such that they should always be taken seriously.

elleng

(130,895 posts)
35. 'The first generation of majority non-white Americans is already born and entering school.
Sat Apr 10, 2021, 01:01 AM
Apr 2021

There’s nothing white people can do to stop this trend.

Thus, white Americans in the GOP (the vast majority of the Party) are facing a stark choice.

They can go down yelling and screaming and take a lot of lives with them, tearing this country apart pursuing their “Lost Cause.”

Or, they can start working for a country that actually realizes the vision of America’s founding promise, that “All men are created equal.”'

vercetti2021

(10,156 posts)
37. They'll take civil war
Sat Apr 10, 2021, 01:18 AM
Apr 2021

They'll die trying to kill everyone that doesn't think like them before before accepting reality.

Boomerproud

(7,952 posts)
38. This is so exhausting.
Sat Apr 10, 2021, 01:32 AM
Apr 2021
1) Don't we ever learn from history? No. 2) Everyone just live your life and leave others alone to live theirs.

Edwcraig

(290 posts)
44. There never was a conservative, virtuous Republican Party to go back to.
Sat Apr 10, 2021, 08:42 AM
Apr 2021

The three pillars of the Republican Party, in order of adoption, are greed, racism and abortion. The word conservative has always been just a mask to deceive.

Submariner

(12,504 posts)
45. Old news. I've been hearing Pat Buchanan harping on this white minority fear
Sat Apr 10, 2021, 10:01 AM
Apr 2021

since his Nixon days. He would speak of it frequently on the now defunct The McLaughlin report.

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