I've been watching closely for really 30 years now, going back to Gingrich and Limbaugh in particular, and the rise of the internet. I remember political events prior to that, and I thought of things as Democrat vs. Republican. But then at 22, I was figuring things out for myself, moving past my dad’s politics as a Union Democrat and socially conservative Lutheran. I could not understand, fundamentally, how Americans could be drawn to people who were obviously mean, callous, and certainly not Christian. In time, I would come to understand them as sociopaths, authoritarians, and con men.
I've been watching closely for really 30 years now, going back to Gingrich and Limbaugh in particular, and the rise of the internet. I remember political events prior to that, and I thought of things as Democrat vs. Republican. But then at 22, I was figuring things out for myself, moving past my dad’s politics as a Union Democrat and socially conservative Lutheran. I could not understand, fundamentally, how Americans could be drawn to people who were obviously mean, callous, and certainly not Christian. In time, I would come to understand them as sociopaths, authoritarians, and con men.