As the United States descends willynilly down the road to fascism, it seems right to ask how we have gotten to this point. The easy answer is today's republican party has decided to dismantle democratic norms in its effort to remain in power despite the demographic juggernaut threatening a generational advantage to the democratic party. However, if you talk to individual members of the party they will hotly deny any such thing.
You can pretty much trace the trajectory which has led us to our current situation. In 1964, the GOP was crushed by LBJ and the democrats. This victory led to medicare, landmark civil rights legislation and the war on poverty. Not since the heyday of the New Deal were so many people affected by government in a positive way.
While this was happening, conservatives were organizing. Prominent rich republicans began to bankroll what later came to be known as "wingnut welfare". They subsidized employment of ideologues through advocacy groups they funded. The pinnacle of this system was the establishment of Fox News by Rupert Murdoch. This was the syringe which injected rabid racism and misogyny into our discourse. Once the GOP found its natural audience, disaffected white men, it sowed the hateful mix of authoritarianism which has resulted in the election of Donald J Trump.
We are now at a critical juncture. Another 4 years of tRump will put us firmly on the road to an authoritarianism not seen in this country since the Jim Crow south of the early 20th century. We need to stand up and be counted in 2020.
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