Kansas Crimson

People might be confused about how a Republican Party that once worried about government overreach now seeks to control medical care for transgender children and retaliate against a corporation for objecting to a bill targeting LGBTQ students. And why is it that the most ambitious Republicans are spending more time battling nonexistent critical race theory in schools than on health care or inflation?

To explain this, one must acknowledge that the GOP is not a political party anymore. It is a movement dedicated to imposing White Christian nationalism.

The media blandly describes the GOP’s obsessions as “culture wars,” but that suggests there is another side seeking to impose its views on others. In reality, only one side is repudiating pluralistic democracy — White, Christian and mainly rural Americans who are becoming a minority group and want to maintain their political power.

The result is an alarming pattern: Any moment of social progress is soon followed by reactionary panic and claims of victimhood. It’s no mere coincidence that Donald Trump, the leader of the birther movement, succeeded the first African American president. Nor should the anti-critical-race-theory movement surprise anyone given the mass protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. Understanding his phenomenon is crucial to preserving pluralistic democracy.

[...]

Today, those who argue that America is a White, Christian nation simultaneously insist they are devoid of bigotry. The MAGA crowd is offended by any attempt to identify the ongoing reality of systemic racism (evident, for example, in the criminal justice system, maternal health care, housing discrimination and gerrymandering to reduce minority voting power). The notion that institutions they refuse to reform perpetuate racism is a sort of moral challenge to their claim to be “colorblind.” Perhaps it is simply self-interested blindness.

No one should be surprised that the “big lie” has become gospel in White evangelical churches. The New York Times reports: “In the 17 months since the presidential election, pastors at these churches have preached about fraudulent votes and vague claims of election meddling. … For these church leaders, Mr. Trump’s narrative of the 2020 election has become a prominent strain in an apocalyptic vision of the left running amok.”

If anti-critical-race-theory crusades are the response to racial empathy, then laws designed to make voting harder or to subvert elections are the answer to the GOP’s defeat in 2020, which the right still refuses to concede. The election has been transformed into a plot against right-wingers that must be rectified by further marginalizing those outside their movement.

Our political problems are significant, but they are minor compared with the moral confusion that is afflicting the millions of White Christian Americans who consider themselves victims. Left unaddressed, this will smother calls for empathy, tolerance and justice.

KUTradition wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 2:48 pm heard someone say on the radio this morning that Republicans have become the party of rule or ruin

MICHHAWK wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 8:01 am the democrats have certainly done a bang up job here in 2022.

MICHHAWK wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 8:01 am the democrats have certainly done a bang up job here in 2022.

MICHHAWK wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 9:40 am does my above offering qualify as misinformation.

MICHHAWK wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 9:40 am does my above offering qualify as misinformation.

KUTradition wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 9:32 am

MICHHAWK wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 8:01 am the democrats have certainly done a bang up job here in 2022.

this administration’s accomplishments have already surpassed those of the previous, and in less than half the time too

TDub wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:17 am

KUTradition wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 9:32 am

MICHHAWK wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 8:01 am the democrats have certainly done a bang up job here in 2022.

this administration’s accomplishments have already surpassed those of the previous, and in less than half the time too

that all depends on your metrics.


Thats not an attaboy for 16-20 by any stretch...

simply a sad statements on the ride since 16 (or really about 14).

KUTradition wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:32 am what are your metrics?

KUTradition wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:32 am

TDub wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:17 am

KUTradition wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 9:32 am
this administration’s accomplishments have already surpassed those of the previous, and in less than half the time too

that all depends on your metrics.


Thats not an attaboy for 16-20 by any stretch...

simply a sad statements on the ride since 16 (or really about 14).

what are your metrics?

edit: to be clear, i don’t think Biden has done a good job across the board

Cascadia wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 11:37 am It always amazes me that people the president of the United States is responsible for the things in MICH’s blame category.

PhDhawk wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 11:26 am Isn't worker shortage the same thing as low unemployment?

BasketballJayhawk wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 11:50 am

PhDhawk wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 11:26 am Isn't worker shortage the same thing as low unemployment?

Not always, but yes, sometimes.