The American Discourse (Nazi Symbol)

#trumpswindle | #WhatTheyVotedFor

Jonathan Chait observes—

There is no better symbol for the Republican Party elite in the Trump era than Gary Cohn weighing the morality of opposing Nazism against corporate-tax-rate cuts and choosing the latter. But it is also a reminder that Nazism, which several generations of Americans have grown accustomed to thinking of as an exotic symbol of pure, abstract evil, in reality represents a political faction. Trump is not a Nazi. Nor, even, is Steve Bannon. They are, however, Nazi-adjacent, and actual neo-Nazis are excited about Trump, who has emboldened and empowered white nationalists in a way nobody could have fathomed until recently. They are just another part of the party coalition now.

—and it just seems worth noting this is what has become of the American discourse.

The important parallels here are not between Hitler and Trump. While Trump, like Hitler, is racist and authoritarian, his racism is not genocidal, his contempt for democracy is instinctive rather than ideological, and he crucially lacks any plan for massive territorial conquest. What makes the history pertinent, rather, are the eerie similarities in the behavior of the right-wing politicians who facilitated both men’s rise to power.

Your Tweet of the Day: Good Christians (NYT Softnazi Remix)

#trumpswindle | #WhatTheyVotedFor

This is not actually a punch line—

are we all waiting for a N Y Times soft-Nazi interview w/ ICE officers & guards at children’s detention centers? just guys next-door looking to make a living. also, good Christians.

―Joyce Carol Oates

—but, yes, there is always the New York Times to play that part.

The Supremacist’s Lament

“Public officials are ministers of God assigned the duty of punishing the wicked and protecting the righteous.”

―Win Johnson

The disgraceful derby scrambling in the wake of Obergefell has yet to settle out; with presidential candidates struggling to find ways to evade the U.S. Constitution, or taking up the notion of just calling the whole marriage thing off, an Alabama attorney named Win Johnson has appealed to Gov. Robert Bentley (R) to opt out of the U.S. Constitution. Mr. Johnson, for his part, is a state official, a director at the Administrative Office of Courts, which in turn oversees the courts for state Chief Justice Roy Moore.

It seems a striking letter; Charles J. Dean reported, for AL.com:

In harsh words and a lecturing tone, a lawyer who works for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has written a letter seemingly directed at Gov. Robert Bentley rebuking him for saying Alabama will obey the U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring same-sex marriage legal.

More appropriately, it really is a striking letter, so wild-eyed and seemingly irresponsible that the Souther Poverty Law Center has called for Johnson’s resignation.

And let us be clear; part of the problem with excerpting the letter is that the whole thing really is a show and a half. Christian supremacism, abdication of duty, rejection of the Constitution, and hey, even a Godwin violation just to hit for the cycle. Again, let us be clear: All for hatred in Jesus’ name, amen.

Obamacare, or, a Reflection on the PPACA

“If you’d told me five years ago that on March 23, 2015, the Affordable Care Act would exceed expectations on every possible metric, including reducing the nation’s uninsured rate by a third, I’d say ‘Obamacare’ would look like a great success. And fortunately for the country, that’s exactly what’s happened.”

―Steve Benen

Perhaps it is the sort of detail that doesn’t get passed around enough, or maybe it just doesn’t seem important: Obamacare was a conservative idea.

It is a true fact that often gets overlooked amid the bluster and fury that seems pretty much all the GOP is worth anymore; the whole idea of forcing people to buy private insurance was a conservative scheme intended to fend off single payer. And, yes, it is fun sometimes to remind a conservative of this fact and then sit back to enjoy the spectacle of how many stupid excuses one will try.

Such entertainment brings no real benefit, though. As interesting as the idea might seem from afar, sitting through conservative excuses for what Republicans have done to themselves is something of an exercise in futility. That is, it might seem fun to sit by, egging Republicans on as they desperately rattle off fake fact after fake fact―did you know that Mitt Romney has always been a liberal? that Ronald Reagan never raised taxes? that Obamacare is a socialist plot?―but it is actually a tragic outcome we witness. Consider that the conservative argument against the PPACA includes calling Bob Dole―yes, that Bob Dole―a Nazi. There really is nothing about the conservative response to Obamacare that makes sense except in hindsight, when we pause to consider just how popular the alternate reality has become. Despite everything else, though, Republicans continue to hold the line; it was less than two weeks ago that Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) complained, “It’s time for the White House to stop celebrating and start thinking about the people”.

After everything else, they’re down to telling people there is nothing to see here, except, of course, for what they say is there and never mind the objective evidence speaking quite clearly otherwise.

Or, as Benen suggests:

Anniversaries are a good time to pause, reflect, and take stock, and when it comes to health care reform, objective observers are going to find it easy on the ACA’s fifth anniversary to appreciate the law’s triumphs. But it’s also a good time to take a moment to acknowledge those who told Americans exactly what to expect from the Affordable Care Act – and who got the story backwards.

We need not wonder why Republicans would prefer skip such a review.

____________________

Benen, Steve. “5 years later, ‘Obamacare’ critics can’t believe their lying eyes”. msnbc. 23 March 2015.

Ferris, Sarah. “Top GOP senator tells White House to ‘stop celebrating’ on ObamaCare figures”. The Hill. 11 March 2015.