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Nevilledog

(51,083 posts)
Thu Jun 2, 2022, 04:34 PM Jun 2022

David Rothkopf: Republicans are literally weaponizing their political views.





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https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1532457200647651359.html


The Republicans are literally weaponizing their political views. At the core of their message is a call to arms. They are saying their ultimate answer to the Democratic agenda or a government that seeks to enforce laws with which they don't agree is gunfire.

We need to stop with the gun control rhetoric of decades past & recognize this sea-change in the nature of the our discussion about how we are to deal with the divisions in our society. We have already seen a violent insurrection supported by the leaders of the Republican Party.

We have Congresspeople brandishing guns and making heroes of shooters who have gunned down those they perceive as political opponents. We have disinformation being spread about the agenda of mythical radical groups like "Antifa."

We have a party that refuses to do anything to stop the tsunami of guns that has put weapons in the hands of extremists, of the mentally unbalanced, of criminals but also of political cultists who regularly use the language of warfare to describe their mission.

This is a cancer that is metastasizing throughout our body politic. It not only results in the deaths of tens of thousands of innocents annually, has not only resulted in more deaths in the past sixty years than the toll of all the wars in which Americans have fought...

but it threatens something even worse. It threatens that we soon become a society in which the divisions are marked by rivers of blood. This sounds over-the-top. It is not. It is what the daily headlines show. It is a thesis supported by mountains of evidence.

The debate is not about guns. It is about embracing the right's agenda or else, rejecting the rights of people of color or women or else, of accepting an extremist theocratic agenda or else, of denying progress, of rejecting the rule of law, of gutting democracy...or else.

See it for what it is. And recognize that there is but one way to fight this. Democrats must win substantially majorities in the Senate and the House. Their leaders must then take action to end the filibuster and end our gun pathology, fix our courts, restore our democracy.

They want to take to the streets. We must take to the ballot box...and then have the vision and courage to end this grotesque existential threat we face together, the threat of a return to a society where the rules are written at the end of the barrel of a gun.
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global1

(25,242 posts)
1. Helpless Is What I Feel....
Thu Jun 2, 2022, 04:53 PM
Jun 2022

We are watching what the Repugs are doing all around the country with respect to the 2022 election and all the shenanigans surrounding voter suppression; gerrymandering; voting; poll watchers, lawyers & judges in place; and their people out in force to intimidate the voters.

Their battle cry in 2020 was 'stop the steal' pointing fingers at the Dems that the Dems were stealing the election. TFG is still espousing the 'big lie'. All this is happening as we watch them setting things up to 'steal' the election of 2022.

Yes - as we watch in real time going about the motions to steal the election and we know what they are doing and we are helpless in stopping it.

Just like guns. We know what the problem is - but we are helpless in solving the problem of guns.

Everyday we watch as our Democracy is slipping away and it appears that we can't do anything about it. Our only hope is that there are more of us than there are of them and we vote our way to beat them.

Midnight Writer

(21,751 posts)
2. I'm just waiting for one of these Republicans doing a gun stunt to accidentally shoot themselves.
Thu Jun 2, 2022, 05:13 PM
Jun 2022

Waving guns around to prove you are tough is not a safe practice.

kimbutgar

(21,137 posts)
3. I feel like they are trying to collapse our country into chaos to take over
Thu Jun 2, 2022, 07:09 PM
Jun 2022

They are no longer a governing party but a bunch of thugs.

Initech

(100,065 posts)
6. That's what happens when you've been taken over by the literal MAFIA.
Thu Jun 2, 2022, 07:41 PM
Jun 2022

When conspiracy theorist kooks like Rudy Giuliani and Roger Stone are considered to be a big part of the party, you know there's some criminal forces working behind the scenes.

Pyryck

(99 posts)
4. Want to see what is in store for our future Republican-run America?
Thu Jun 2, 2022, 07:30 PM
Jun 2022

Do some Googling of Hungary and its current leader, Mr Orban, who looks up to that guy invading a democracy nearby.

Then consider the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) holding its annual meeting there in Hungary, instead of America, where it was safe from the prying eyes and questioning reporters of American media.

PufPuf23

(8,769 posts)
5. The GOP is literally a political arsonist fostering violence and chaos.
Thu Jun 2, 2022, 07:38 PM
Jun 2022

Many conservative Christian churches are in lockstep to promote violence.

Right-wing group posts 'woke hot spots' map that claims to identify schools that are 'grooming toddlers'

A far-right group in Missouri has put out a map that claims to identify “hot spots” of so-called “woke” activity in the state, HuffPost reports.

The map focuses on at least 12 specific schools or school districts that the group, Liberty Alliance, says is indoctrinating students with "woke" ideology -- a disturbing detail especially in light of the most recent mass shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas.

In a statement on its website, Liberty Alliance says it's “committed to fighting back against the woke agenda permeating all across Missouri."

“The first step in fighting back is uncovering their crazy ideas — from Critical Race Theory to grooming toddlers with sexually explicit books,” the statement added. “That is why we have officially launched the Woke Heat Map — an interactive tool designed to expose the insane actions of the radical Left. This map will alert Missourians of craziness happening in their own communities.”

more at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/right-wing-group-posts-woke-hot-spots-map-that-claims-to-identify-schools-that-are-grooming-toddlers/ar-AAXVP1S

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