What kind of country produces "leaders" like Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and Joni Ernst? What kind of person abandons every principle they ostensibly had to support a rapist and a seditionist?
What kind of country produces "leaders" like Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and Joni Ernst? What kind of person abandons every principle they ostensibly had to support a rapist and a seditionist?
Rubio, Cruz, and Hawley were each born 1970/71. Although they may have been introduced to conservativism in their teens during Reagan, their young-adulthood occurred at the same time as the beginning of the Republican crack-up, when people like Limbaugh (nat'l syndication started 1988) and Gingrich (named Minority Whip 1989) were gaining influence. I assume people like these were never truly 'conservative' in the Buckley sense of the word, but had already become the "anti-Democratic Party" conservative. Policies were cudgels, not really goals
I think this is right. I also think that each of those guys have enormous self regard and feel entitled to being prominent figures. And I also think what binds them is a complete lack of appreciation for how good they have had it in the US. We're far from a perfect country, but we've more-or-less had stable political leadership during their lives up until Trump. And instead of working on making sure future generations have the same opportunities they've had, they're enabling Trump's efforts on a radical reordering of American society. They each think, I've got mine, so fuck everyone else. In a better world, each of these guys would face enormous consequences for their malevolence.
Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and Joni Ernst? They are second tier when it comes to horrible GOP senators. How about Josh Hawley, Marcia Blackburn and Tommy Tuberville? That's just three of the worst off the top of my head.
Hawley's the same class as Cruz, in my opinion. Both are highly educated men who don't appreciate what they have and the opportunities they've been given and feel entitled to burn the country down in service of their ambition. Blackburn and Tuberville are dumber than a pile of dogshit. But your point's taken.
Tim, as an old friend of mine used to say, "highly educated doesn't mean well educated". I think those asshats fully appreciate what they have been given and also feel they are entitled to it. What they don't want is for "other" people to start believing that they are equally "entitled".
They're book smart and went to elite institutions. But that elite education didn't make them better people. Instead, it instilled a sense of entitlement that they could do whatever they want, and as long as they aligned themselves with Christianity, all was permissible within the tribe. Scott Galloway recently commented to Tim Miller that the most blessed in this country are often the least patriotic. That certainly applies to Cruz and Hawley.
Someone exposed to lots of propaganda. It's the propaganda; it's always the propaganda. The Germans of the 1930s weren't exceptional, they were typical.
Germans in the '30s (and '20s) started from a bad place, too, so they were ripe for the BS. For us it may be the SBC and it's wannabes, with a big "Thank you!" to the UDC for keeping the Lost Cause warm and toasty.
Propaganda only really works if the audience is receptive to it. In our current case, it is long past time to conclude that those who believe Trump and his lies WANT to.
My personal, extremely minority opinion is that the mass population is ALWAYS susceptible to repetition of any simple idea that can be reduced to a short phrase, because the majority of people don't want to prolong every brief interaction we have with all the people we meet each day by focusing on the other person's use of it in a casual small-talk setting. We let it pass, and they'll continue to repeat it to others who subconsciously assume that if so many people are saying this phrase that there must be something to it. Propaganda works subconsciously via repetition. Very few people dare jeapordize their casual social interactions at work or with neighbors, etc., by having those people think of them as argumentative and as someone to avoid in future. So it spreads until it reaches 'critical mass' levels in the public, at which point disagreeing with it could mark someone, in certain social circles, as 'not one of us', because in that group, at least, "everyone knows it's true, they're all saying it!".
I think communication technology matters, too. The rise of fascism accompanied the rise of broadcast media (radio). People and society hadn't developed mental barriers to the propaganda. After the War, the dangers of this sort of thing were apparent, and broadcast media became less powerful. Television is just radio with images, so that didn't change the balance. Social media is completely new and society hasn't developed mental antibodies yet. I think the rise of a new type of media is playing a role, too.
This is also what I've observed. There is a lot of peer pressure involved. Even people who aren't interested and want nothing to do with politics pick things up, just like I could name a few Kardashians despite doing my best to avoid such knowledge.
Ha-Ha about the Kardashians. Repetition! That's the only reason many of the worst songs ever recorded became hits on the old Top-40 radio - you just kept hearing them and the kids who didn't really care much about music would just buy the "45" for whenever their friends dropped over, assuming they must like it since it was being played on the radio every 10 minutes.(note to younger readers - this comment refers to life in the pre-digital dark ages)
What kind of country produces "leaders" like Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and Joni Ernst? What kind of person abandons every principle they ostensibly had to support a rapist and a seditionist?
Rubio, Cruz, and Hawley were each born 1970/71. Although they may have been introduced to conservativism in their teens during Reagan, their young-adulthood occurred at the same time as the beginning of the Republican crack-up, when people like Limbaugh (nat'l syndication started 1988) and Gingrich (named Minority Whip 1989) were gaining influence. I assume people like these were never truly 'conservative' in the Buckley sense of the word, but had already become the "anti-Democratic Party" conservative. Policies were cudgels, not really goals
I think this is right. I also think that each of those guys have enormous self regard and feel entitled to being prominent figures. And I also think what binds them is a complete lack of appreciation for how good they have had it in the US. We're far from a perfect country, but we've more-or-less had stable political leadership during their lives up until Trump. And instead of working on making sure future generations have the same opportunities they've had, they're enabling Trump's efforts on a radical reordering of American society. They each think, I've got mine, so fuck everyone else. In a better world, each of these guys would face enormous consequences for their malevolence.
Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and Joni Ernst? They are second tier when it comes to horrible GOP senators. How about Josh Hawley, Marcia Blackburn and Tommy Tuberville? That's just three of the worst off the top of my head.
Hawley's the same class as Cruz, in my opinion. Both are highly educated men who don't appreciate what they have and the opportunities they've been given and feel entitled to burn the country down in service of their ambition. Blackburn and Tuberville are dumber than a pile of dogshit. But your point's taken.
Tim, as an old friend of mine used to say, "highly educated doesn't mean well educated". I think those asshats fully appreciate what they have been given and also feel they are entitled to it. What they don't want is for "other" people to start believing that they are equally "entitled".
They're book smart and went to elite institutions. But that elite education didn't make them better people. Instead, it instilled a sense of entitlement that they could do whatever they want, and as long as they aligned themselves with Christianity, all was permissible within the tribe. Scott Galloway recently commented to Tim Miller that the most blessed in this country are often the least patriotic. That certainly applies to Cruz and Hawley.
I forgot Cruz. He definitely should have been on my list.
Surprised no one mentioned good ol' Wisconsin RonJon.
You mean Putin Ronjon? The Russians' favorite tool?
And the thing about all these people is that theyтАЩre not even fit to be politicians!
You are right, but be nice. They never had a real occupation.
It's the voters; always the voters.
What kind of person would vote for someone like Rubio, Lee and Ernst.
Someone exposed to lots of propaganda. It's the propaganda; it's always the propaganda. The Germans of the 1930s weren't exceptional, they were typical.
Germans in the '30s (and '20s) started from a bad place, too, so they were ripe for the BS. For us it may be the SBC and it's wannabes, with a big "Thank you!" to the UDC for keeping the Lost Cause warm and toasty.
Propaganda only really works if the audience is receptive to it. In our current case, it is long past time to conclude that those who believe Trump and his lies WANT to.
My personal, extremely minority opinion is that the mass population is ALWAYS susceptible to repetition of any simple idea that can be reduced to a short phrase, because the majority of people don't want to prolong every brief interaction we have with all the people we meet each day by focusing on the other person's use of it in a casual small-talk setting. We let it pass, and they'll continue to repeat it to others who subconsciously assume that if so many people are saying this phrase that there must be something to it. Propaganda works subconsciously via repetition. Very few people dare jeapordize their casual social interactions at work or with neighbors, etc., by having those people think of them as argumentative and as someone to avoid in future. So it spreads until it reaches 'critical mass' levels in the public, at which point disagreeing with it could mark someone, in certain social circles, as 'not one of us', because in that group, at least, "everyone knows it's true, they're all saying it!".
I think communication technology matters, too. The rise of fascism accompanied the rise of broadcast media (radio). People and society hadn't developed mental barriers to the propaganda. After the War, the dangers of this sort of thing were apparent, and broadcast media became less powerful. Television is just radio with images, so that didn't change the balance. Social media is completely new and society hasn't developed mental antibodies yet. I think the rise of a new type of media is playing a role, too.
This is also what I've observed. There is a lot of peer pressure involved. Even people who aren't interested and want nothing to do with politics pick things up, just like I could name a few Kardashians despite doing my best to avoid such knowledge.
Ha-Ha about the Kardashians. Repetition! That's the only reason many of the worst songs ever recorded became hits on the old Top-40 radio - you just kept hearing them and the kids who didn't really care much about music would just buy the "45" for whenever their friends dropped over, assuming they must like it since it was being played on the radio every 10 minutes.(note to younger readers - this comment refers to life in the pre-digital dark ages)