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Stop Electing People Who Hate Government [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-10-02  

Less than half of America continues to vote for people who hate government. The most boisterous voices in the Republican party run campaigns based on their hate for government. Former President Ronald Reagan set the modern-day precedent of dislike for institutions and governmental order when he said the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help,” Reagan stated. After years of cultivating the idea of faux- libertarianism, the GOP found what they thought was their anti-government monster in Donald Trump. They tried the more traditional Republican politicians like George W. Bush, who took the first steps toward the imperial presidency by engaging in an unsanctioned war and introducing torture and rendition as public policy.

Mr. Trump brought in William Barr as his Attorney General, on whom he has since soured. Barr wrote essentially an application [in the form of a 20-page memo]promising to be his legal mouthpiece, critiquing special investigator Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation instead of promising to advocate for the United States. Of course, Mr. Trump hired Barr, treating the AG’s office as his personal attorney. The long and winding road to autocracy begins with hatred for one’s own government. Also, Barr’s long-held views on the imperial presidency and controversy as a disputed member of opus dei preceded him, although the strict Catholic sect denies his membership.

With the now revamped GOP and their constituents in tow, the former President set about destroying faith in media, law enforcement, and now the courts. With the backing of GOP Reps. Andy Ogles, Andy Biggs, Nancy Mace, and Tim Burchett—to name a few— the GOP was willing to halt government with a shutdown and continue pushing a trembling democracy to the cliff’s edge. Siding with murderous autocratic leaders from Russia and Saudi Arabia, Trump, who encouraged a shutdown, condoned the actions of Turkish President Erdoğan, whose security forces beat American protesters in the literal shadow of the Turkish Embassy. Mr. Trump’s reaction was silence, making it clear in previous statements—human rights won’t play a role in his foreign policy, according to a January 2019 story in the Atlantic.

One of the first advisers Mr. Trump brought into his White House staff of advisers was Steve Bannon, whose anti-government bent is talked about daily on his podcast. On more than one occasion, Bannon has said he wants to bring the government down. Bannon has called for “4,000 shock troops” to come forward to dismantle the United States federal government “brick by brick.” Calls from Republicans to defund the FBI along with the DOJ writ large have permeated the Republican culture. Ostensibly, they fear the so-called “deep state,” but more and more, it is obviously about amassing power. Not satisfied with consolidating power in the Supreme Court, one GOP-led state government is ignoring even a stacked Court’s decision when it ordered the Alabama legislature to establish a second minority voting district. The idea of the unitary executive, also called a king, has been promoted and circulated widely among Trump’s followers and himself. Now that the monster is loose, one had better dampen the forest before the fascist fire rages out of control.

Vote Against Guns

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/2/2196880/-Stop-Electing-People-Who-Hate-Government

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