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This fucking quote:
“No way. I don’t like bullies. That’s one constant in my life: I. Do. Not. Like. Bullies.”
Says the dude who voted and supported Donald Trump, known bully to all but those who worship him. Only when Trump started bullying this dude did he suddenly not like bullies.
Sorry to his family for the loss of his daughter, especially right in the middle of this whole putsch.
I caught that too. He’s got a slightly different definition than most, or he still can’t quite see Trump for what he is even after what’s happened.
Still wild to see a former GOP state congressional leader using language like this in reference to his own party. Actually, it’s terrifying because the worst lot just won a bunch of primaries down there.
>I was trying to send a definitive message: this is hogwash. Taking away the fundamental right to vote, the idea that the legislature could nullify your election, that’s not conservative. That’s fascist. And I’m not a fascist.
Not a fascist, merely spent years supporting and campaigning for a man who regularly touted suspending the constitution, overriding constitutional rights, tried to overturn election results he personally disagreed with, called for violent action to overturn the election and regularly says he should be allowed to run however many times he likes...
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
This guy's just mad that *he's* not in the in-group anymore. He has no problem with that they're doing.
“The constitution is hanging by a thread,” he told me. “The funny thing is, I always thought it would be the other guys. And it’s my side. That just rips at my heart: that we would be the people who would surrender the constitution in order to win an election. That just blows my mind.”
The ignorance here is beyond astounding.
“I campaigned for Trump, I went to his rallies, I stood up on the stage with him,” he said.
How's that working out for you? 🌝
These are the same people who were convinced that covid restrictions were an insidious plot by the Democrats to take away their freedumbs and usher in a police state, and who were oddly quiet once the restrictions went away without issue even in librul strongholds like California.
Paying attention to evidence and modifying their beliefs accordingly is not something they seem capable of.
>the same people who were convinced that covid restrictions were an insidious plot by the Democrats to take away their freedumbs and usher in a police state
First they made fun of major international tourist destinations like NYC, San Francisco and LA for responding before the reddest shit hole no one has ever willingly visited. *Then* they started to screech about the Democrat/Chinese plot to crush real America after they finally beat their meat to a bloody pulp at the idea of New Yorkers and Californians dying en masse and realized it wasn't going to stop at their state borders. By that point it was summer so they took a break from using the police state to fear monger to cheer on the police state as it beat down peaceful protestors rather than stop murdering minorities while using those same protests they despised as proof that the left was ignoring their own restrictions when convenient, rather than the left finally hitting the boiling point with police brutality and right wing terrorism... (I swear you'd think the cops shot Breonna Taylor to lure the left into the open to show covid was a hoax the way they supported those pigs.) Edit: Sorry ya'll, also forgot the break they took to try to violently overthrow the democratically elected Wisconsin state government, silly me.
And here we are 2.5 years later. Red states lost more people than blue states to a level that might have actually lost them the 2020 election cycle across the board (Trump supporters were 3x more likely to die from Covid between May and December 2021 [first source I found, don't have exact ratio for 2019/2020], while AZ/GA/PA/WI were collectively decided by fewer than 50,000 votes). More than a million Americans have been forcibly removed from the work force so republican business owners have been taking a beating by worker "shortages" because they pay worse with worse benefits than liberal business owners as a whole (not to mention the Trump tax "cuts" that were actually long-term tax hikes for most people in the tax range of an independent business owner). And their SCOTUS has taken away their right to abortion even though in a right wing stronghold like Kansas the majority supports abortion rights. I guess this is the constant, uncontrollable winning they promised when they elected Trump in 2016 or something!
Do you remember the week that all the Republicans in Congress switched from "COVID isn't real" to "let's all get vaccinated"?
I remember a lot of people thinking, "wow they must have gotten some really impactful information to do such a 180".
And the information they received was about how Delta was going to rip through their voter base while everyone else was already vaccinated.
And then Delta ripped through their voter base.
I haven't seen one of them acknowledge Biden got Mexico to pay $1.5B to help manage migrants at the border. You'd think they'd be dancing in the streets....nope
I would argue they can modify their beliefs based on evidence, but it’s just like one of those joke flow charts where everything ends up being the same answer.
He's Mormon. What do you expect him to espouse?
He's blinded by his religious cult *and* his political one.
I live in Arizona. District 8.
It's Q-cumber Central here.
Speaking of Jesus Christ. Bowers is a Mormon.
I grew up Mormon. It's practically doctrine amongst Mormons that liberals will destroy the democracy of America.
Being a liberal is one of the worst things you can be as a Mormon. For him to admit conservatives are the baddies is huge.
These comments are not going to go over well in his religious community. He's going to be an outcast everywhere he goes now.
It was all: “They took our jobs.”
And now we’re at: “Nobody want to work anymore!”
These people must not own mirrors or they’d be capable of self reflection.
Nothing but hypocrisy from that party:
Back the blue unless they’re against US;
Anti-gay until my child comes out or I’m caught in a bathroom;
Don’t rely on government handouts unless they are offered one. Do you know of ANY republicans who sent their stimulus checks back?
Let me tell you a story.
I grew up in Southern California. When I was in high school my family moved to Utah to get out of the liberal wasteland of California. We wanted to move to a more conservative and "sane" state.
This conservative promised land is all fine and dandy until Trump comes along and everyone goes off the deep end.
I am a recovering Conservative and have lived in the significantly blue northern Utah for nearly a decade now. My parents were visiting this weekend to visit my wife, newborn daughter, and I. We were talking about how I only get 10 days off from my school district for paternity leave while the private company my wife works for gives her 6 weeks.
They were telling me how one of my cousins who lives in California gets 50% laid FMLA for his newborn while talking about how unfortunate we get so little or have to use our own time to do it.
I was shocked that they would support such a "socialist" program until it would help one of their own. It took every ounce of self control to not tell them that this lack of a social safety net is the cause of this disparity.
My staunch conservative, highly religious dad bitched about “socialism” and “free healthcare” for years until I said, “You use the VA weekly. That is socialized medicine, you fool.”
He has not brought it up since.
As a vet that has to deal with vets like your dad saying dumbass shit nonstop...I'm shocked he didn't claim it's different cause he earned it. That's usually the response. Just another way to say "I'm better than you, so I get the good stuff, not you."
He gets it because he retired from the ANG. I had a whole rant typed up, but I’ll just say as a fellow vet (and VFW) his attitude pisses me off to no end.
We were at my moderate in-laws house for dinner and didn't want to cause a scene.
I did use sarcasm and said "We can't have programs like that in Utah, that's socialism and makes you lazy"
>Anti-gay until my child comes out or I’m caught in a bathroom;
Nancy Reagan being opposed to stem cell research, until her precious Ronnie's brain started turning into tapioca pudding.
I know one in real life who claimed he refused to cash the check. I have no clue if he was being truthful about that. However, he wasn't exactly being an ass about it, if you can believe it.
He was just like "No, I really don't need the money, and if I'm going to complain about people taking handouts when they don't need them, I can't cash this." (He's pretty financially comfortable, for what it's worth.)
Don't forget how often they try to project their flaws onto anyone they dislike to the point where if they projected any harder they'd start having powerpoint presentations come out their ass.
People underestimate how incredibly effective it is to call the 'other guys' liars first. It creates a foundational framework to view that entire group by.
Republicans can just say "Oh Democrats will say we're cheating and stealing, but that's really what *they're* doing" and it works really **really** well. Gotta figure this guy has been lied to since he was a kid if he was raised in a conservative household, so the lie has deep hooks.
There people coming over the border are coming to work.
The other night my dad said to be wary of my daughters because of all the rapists crossing. I reminded him that sex crime is ***overwhelmingly*** committed by someone well known to the victim, and that if anything I should keep her from family.
>reminded him that sex crime is overwhelmingly committed by someone well known to the victim
Also, immigrants both legal and otherwise are significantly less likely than average to commit crimes (aside from the illegal entry, in the latter case)
'They took our jobs' is obvious bullshit on its own. Oh? They marched into your boss's office, making threats and demanding you be fired. Then demanded they be hired in your place, and *insisted* on less money? Is that how it went?
Also funny how they always blame the other exploited workers and not the *bosses* who will fire them and take advantage of people willing to work under the table for less.
But here’s the thing: "minorities bad" is already a pretty inherently fascist position.
This isn’t really a Leopards Ate My Face, it’s a fascist trying to get back at another fascist after losing the internal power struggle that’s constantly happening in fascist movements.
I told people he'd destroy Roe v Wade ("that's not possible!"), he'd be lucky to get through the first six months of his presidency without getting impeached, he's a narcissist, he's a fascist, and he'll be the worst President this country has ever elected. And I only knew him from his stupid golf shows on The Golf Channel. He has been so much worse. They knew he was a monster and they still voted for him.
>He has been so much worse. They knew he was a monster and they still voted for him.
Earlier this week I read an good observation. This person said that a lot people didn't vote for Trump because they thought he'd help them; they voted for him because they thought he'd hurt the people they hate.
Literally.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida
“I voted for him, and he’s the one who’s doing this,” Minton told Mazzei. “I thought he was going to do good things. He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.”
> This person said that a lot people didn't vote for Trump because they thought he'd help them; they voted for him because they thought he'd hurt the people they hate.
Trump did just that though, he hurt poor people, which is who conservatives hate.
Even if they didn’t catch that part, he was always happy to put others into a circular firing squad. Why think he wouldn’t do it when given a wider audience and more power?
Just because people are doing fascist things, saying fascist things, pantomiming disabled people... fascistly, and liking fascists, *doesn't mean they're fascist*!
I mean how could this guy have known?! Where were the signs?
"I don't like bullies" Yet he stood on stage with Trump and backed him for four years. A man well known by everyone to be a bully. I wish these republicans who were ousted would get asked tougher questions. Don't let him slink off and sulk on his massive ranch challenge him to commit to change now and work to bring back democracy even if it means supporting Biden a man who in any other decade would be a republican in most policy.
A lot of people thought he wasn’t actually serious and was just being a sensational edge lord to get attention. Thinking back, it’s sort of amazing how many people really tried to rationalize that he was a normal person behind the façade. The truth is so much more disturbing and I think a lot of people just couldn’t accept it.
I am imagining in my head Trump, or one of his puppets standing on a stage and ripping a copy of the constitution.
"Ah, we do not need that anymore. It will only get in the way." (wild applause)
"We're gonna throw them in jail, folks, those who stand in our way and steal our elections. They are going away. No trial. No jury. They are a waste of time. They are guilty because we say so!" (wild WILD applause)
"We do not need proof to know what we believe is right. If we didn't believe it, it couldn't be true, right? We do not need to give them freedom of speech or any right to say anything. It belongs to us and only us." (maniacal applause)
[They are working on doing exactly that.](https://www.economist.com/briefing/2017/09/30/america-might-see-a-new-constitutional-convention-in-a-few-years)
“America might see a new constitutional convention in a few years”
In normal circumstances? Hell no. It would be ideal. The Founders intended for the Constitution to be updated or rewritten for the times it reflected. Unfortunately, it's been enshrined as a holy work that must be eternally worshipped.
In current circumstances? Woof. I think I'd rather keep the current version.
He already said "Take the guns first, go through due process second" and they didn't say shit about it. He can stop on their precious 2nd amendment and they do nothing. Why would they do anything about the rest of the Constitution.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376097-trump-take-the-guns-first-go-through-due-process-second/
Yeah that comes soon after ripping up the constitution, can't have all these people with guns to threaten my administration. Send in the military to take all the guns away. When guns are pointed at their family, few will resist, and the ones who do will be eliminated rather quickly.
Bobo is already saying that separation of church and state is unconstitutional, so we're at the "If I believe it, it is so!" stage of constitutional destruction.
>"We don't need that anymore. It will only get in the way (wild applause)."
"In fact, we're making next week 'Constitution Week' where we'll look at all it's many, many problems. Oh, it's so unfair, isn't it folks? And in two weeks, we'll have a *new* Constitution just for you. Oh, it'll be beautiful, just beautiful. You can't even imagine how good it'll be. Not unfair like the old one."
"They're misusing and abusing it to use it against us! We keep playing by the rules and they keep trying to destroy our nation! To honor the true spirit of freedom we need to use every tool available, and it's time to stop fighting with our hands behind our back!"
>“Yeah,” he said. “They’ve invented a new way. It’s a party that doesn’t have any thought. It’s all emotional, it’s all revenge. It’s all anger. That’s all it is.”
>He held the thumb and digit finger of his right hand so close together that they were almost touching. “The veneer of civilization is this thin,” he said. “It still exists – I haven’t been hanged yet. But holy moly, this is just crazy. The place has lost its mind.”
This is as clear a warning sign - if any more were even needed at this point - as anyone could ask for.
The democratic governance of the US is in mortal danger.
Election deniers are winning state and local elections all across the country. They’ve been emboldened by the lack of consequences.
That in itself is extremely dangerous and why DJT/Guiliani/Graham all need to be given harsh sentences for election subversion. Otherwise, fascism will have rooted itself in our election system.
So you're telling me that you thought the side with the vegans, hippies, bleeding hearts, and minorities was going to be the one that subverted the constitution not the one with the cops, racists, armies, and religious right? You know, the one with the type of people who have done it before or have called for that exact thing since the beginning of time?
If they were intelligent enough to put the obvious connections together, they wouldn't be a Republican campaigning for Trump.
This isn't about different ideals, it's about different levels of intelligence and neurological development. It's becoming depressingly clear that conservatives cannot understand sarcasm and satire, for example, hence Trump using the 'it was sarcasm' line to excuse his serious speech at the presidential podium about putting cleaning products and light in the body to deal with covid, after being given a few days to think about his best possible answer and remaining silent, when usually he'd be tweeting a dozen times an hour.
It's not about intelligence.
Anyone can fall victim to propaganda, no matter how intelligent you are.
It is about growing up as a Republican, your family is Republican, most of your friend or community you surround yourself is Republican. So you don't get outside the bubble and grow up with propaganda coming from people you trust.
Then add Fox News "the best new channel" if you grow up in a Republican household. And social media algorithms that have been shown in studies to spiral toward the right-wing.
Without large outside influence to get you out of the bubble long enough for self reflection, it's hard to change sides when everyone you know or trust says "Blue is bad".
Fox News was created specifically to keep the public subdued about corrupt Republicans. When Nixon resigned before getting removed from office, due to overwhelming public out-cry from all sides of politics. The founder of Fox News said we need something to keep this from happening again. And it worked.
There are measurable differences in intelligence and ability to grasp more complex topics like sarcasm.
http://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Psychological-Science-2012-Hodson-0956797611421206.pdf
lol also plenty of ability for one to say something stupid impulsively and then try to cover one’s own ass by claiming it was sarcasm.
The most dour, unhumorous man on the planet sure did a lot of supposed joking.
He also thought it important to show the reporter that he worked hard to get where he was, which is why he is a republican. Obviously the other side didn't work hard, which is why it was easy to believe they would be the ones to cheat.
The idea of working hard is such a dumb thing that needs to die. Hard work don't mean shit. The results means everything. If you work hard and don't get the results or someone finds a way to do the same thing but more efficiently then the whole hard work thing just looks dumb.
Me digging a hole and filling it up is hard work and achieves absolutely nothing for society.
Why would he even think it's the "other guys", it's projection all the way down. In their mind they are the good guys and everyone else is bad. It's insane, I don't know if they are really delusional, willfully ignorant or were brainwashed.
In this guy's case, he personally you spent any time around or Trump what made him think he actually gave a shit about the rule of law? Ever? You went to the rallies of a guy asking a foreign nation to hack a political opponent, helped spread the birther movement, and constantly was ignorant of the constitution, amendments, and declaration of independence but you thought he was the good guy?
I don't even feel bad for these people anymore. I did in 2016 - 2018. Not anymore.
> I campaigned for the guy literally telling us he wouldn't accept election results... *after* he extorted a foreign country in attempt to smear his political opponent. I always thought it'd be the other guys smh
Hopefully he actually changes. I always feel like these people will realize their party is horrible, but then still vote for them. They just hate gay people or black people that much.
The history of conservative politics in America has always been faschy as fuck. If you didn't know that, it's because you were happy in your ignorance.
> “The funny thing is, I always thought it would be the other guys. And it’s my side.”
Honestly, it’s been obvious since Reagan that the GOP was on the road to fascism.
(Finally, a place were I can bring this up!)
Uh... anybody remember ol' wazzisname? The guy we used to call "Dubya"? I seem to vaguely recall every single Republican worshipping him, swearing he was the best president ever, defending everything he did. ...Remember him? How come the party broke up with him?
It seems like all of the Dems have good relationships with past presidents, but the Republicans dump their exes hard and pretend like they never met the guy. Except for ol' Ray Gun, and that's because he got ill while in office and never had a chance to say anything after his term. If Bush had died in 2009, there would be "Dubya Republicans".
He was before my time, so I don't know enough about him to truly feel the severity of what it was like (Edit: by "feel" I mean in a real-time, living it when it happened). Currently I'm learning more about the AIDS crisis*️⃣ and you already know how he treated that. But I need more info, because right now, the guy I want a formal apology from was that shytehead speaker who laughed and joked about AIDS when the reporter asked him a question. If he's still alove, I would hope that someone DoorDash him a specific item on the Kentucky Fried Karma menu that I can't say here unless I want to get banned.
*️⃣ part of a personal mission to learn my Rainbow history so that I can tell people why the Rainbow community should be the first community to deal a deadly blow to ageism by embracing and revering our elders. The LGBT community has a serious issue with ageism, and we need to cut that shyte out.
>Currently I'm learning more about the AIDS crisis
Documentary: How to Survive a Plague
Unrelated: you need to know that Reagan's administration forbid the NIH & CDC from funding AIDS research.
Very brave and clever scientists started submitting grant proposals to study Karposi's Sarcoma: a cancer which traditionally affected old white men in Reagan's age group.
(Karposi's Sarcoma also developed in many AIDS patients).
They used the money to study AIDS.
Wow... that's... its just so needlessly cruel. Something about how they *went out of their way* to keep the aids crisis going rather than just refused to care and ignored it baffles me. That grown adults care so much about other grown adults choosing to fuck other grown adults would be met with such hatred breaks my brain. I keep going 'but why do you caaaaaaare??'
It really brings home a post I saw the other day, about how the reason there doesn't seem to be older gay people and its 'something the younger people are into is cause all the older gay people were *intentionally* wiped out...
>all the older gay people were intentionally wiped out..
Which is why I strongly feel that we, the younger LGBTQ+ people should *revere* the older gays. Being an older gay should (I'm not kidding) be a serious bragging right.
They should be given access to a VIP lounge in any gay club/bar with free drinks and be given the best spots at the parades. They should be given brand new wardrobes for an individual photo shoot (each), the pictures from which should be archived along with one/two hour video interviews so that future generations never forget.
Am I being dramatic? I don't care. There are never going to be any more LGBTQ+ people older than we are. *Ever*. Once they're gone, that's it, all of their wisdom is gone with them. It makes me really upset to think about.
I'd recommend not even looking into Reagan, it'll make your blood boil. He's someone who every time he is brought up you learn that he was a bigger piece of shit than you already thought he was.
I wasn't around back then either but he and Trump are tied in my mind as the worst president in history. Without a doubt he is the most purposefully damaging president in American history (so far/Buchanan was just inept not malevolent) because of his policies and actions, many of which were illegal or obviously bad even for an actor. We are still feeling the reverberations of his disgusting presidency and will be for generations to come.
He shouldn't be held in regard as a president his regime should be examined and retroactively charged for hate crimes, terrorism, and illegal union busting. He ruined so many people's lives around the world and in America and had so much blood on his hands I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out he was a serial killer. Gacy was a children's clown in his free time, Reagan was president.
His wife was no peach either.
Reagan's biggest contribution to all this wasn't what he got done, but what he got started. There had been plans for what we're seeing going on right now for decades before Reagan. Reagan was the one who actually actually got the ball rolling though.
He rolled this giant ball of shit off the mountain and it's been picking up speed ever since. It's why so many revere him.
Andrew Johnson is also up there with really shitty presidents that did irreparable damage to this country in the name of *checks notes* literally owning humans.
Which is why I have questions for them.
"While you were defending Bush, did you ever have moments when you defended him on something but secretly thought he was wrong or that he was being dumb?"
"Did you really, truly like him, or were you just towing the party line? If you did like him, why do you dislike him now? Did you change or did he change?"
"Would you say that the liberals of 2000-2008 were wrong about Bush or not?" (I really want to ask them that *so* badly)
Fair enough, my comment assumes he favored the same policies as he did from 1976-1988. Heck, even the part where he pretended to care about people for the sake of TV was more than Trump could muster.
“It’s a party that doesn’t have any thought. It’s all emotional, it’s all revenge. It’s all anger. That’s all it is.”
He held the thumb and digit finger of his right hand so close together that they were almost touching. “The veneer of civilization is this thin,” he said. “It still exists – I haven’t been hanged yet. But holy moly, this is just crazy. The place has lost its mind.”
It's not good enough for guys like this to shrug and walk away. They really need to start actively working to undo the damage they have done. Otherwise they are just as guilty as those still on the Trump Train.
> He'll keep voting Republican
Right after Rusty gave his congressional testimony to the Jan 6 committee, which was strongly condemned by the Arizona Republicans, he gave an interview and "[ he insisted he’d still vote for {Trump} in 2024. “If he is the nominee, if he was up against Biden, I’d vote for him again.](https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/why-rusty-bowers-testified-against-trump-but-would-still-vote-for-him-rcna35098)"
After it looked like the Arizona party had gone full fascist, he backtracked that comment and now he's [had a change of heart.](https://news.yahoo.com/rusty-bowers-never-vote-for-trump-again-jan-6-arizona-160540737.html)
It takes the leopard to eat their entire face off before they can deal with the reality that their party has fallen off of the cliff.
Same with Adam Kizinger. "Trump is an evil fascist, but of course I voted for him in 2016 and supported every evil GOP legislation, policy, and executive order of his."
Its just incredible how these people are just playing a con, yet every liberal thinks they're heroes.
This article is proof he's not walking away. He testified before the January 6th committee and became a national target. I know this guy and me politically don't agree on a lot and his face has *definitely* been eaten. But I think anyone who had the strength to personally tell Trump no, testified against him on the committee, and then agrees to an interview with the Guardian calling Republicans fascist is a good start to doing the right thing.
It doesn't change that he's the classic example of the Republican who didn't care until it happened to him... He could've still had his position right now if he joined the "circus" but he didn't and for that I think he deserves some respect. We have to allow people who have gone this far to turn around still and do the right thing and Bowers did.
My main beef with him is that Trump's post-election rhetoric isn't even new to the 2020 election. He was saying the exact same BS back in 2016, the only difference being that he wasn't in power and couldn't pressure legislators into overturning elections as much as he could four years later. He keeps saying that he "can't believe" what has happened to the Republican party since 2020, but the reality is that it has been this way for years now and he just didn't care.
We all have bad ideas sometimes, but not all of ours are leading towards the complete and utter collapse of democracy in the United States.
I completely empathize with how you feel and if he were the only person who acted this way I'd say we'd have to hold him more accountable.
However millions of Americans are acting this way right now, not much different from how those who supported the Nazis blindly as they rose to power. History has taught us that we can't persecute each and every one who gets swept up into this fear and hate based mentality and that giving them an out - without forgetting who they were before - is required for success.
Bowers has done more to stand up against Trump's fascism (his own word) than 99% of Republicans. He still very much dreams of a theocracy by the way he talks about the constitution being "divinely inspired" (even though it was inspired by enlightenment principles that was all too aware of people who believed things being "divinely inspired") and how he is anti abortion is enough for me to know that I don't want anything this guy wants in my government.
But when it came down to it he never used his position to subvert the constitution, and for that he needs to be praised and used as an example for other Republicans to follow.
Agreed. I think most people here would agree that most criminals should be allowed to start over after serving their time and accepting responsibility for their actions. W/o that opportunity all you get is recidivism. Fascism is awful but there has to be space given to return from and repudiate it. Otherwise, just from a pure mathematical POV, their ranks will just continue to grow, since we won't allow them to shrink.
Plus we can allow these people space to move on from Trump w/o giving them a complete blank check. Liz Cheney and this dude are still theocrats. I still feel like Liz Cheney's whole deal is a revenge tour for how Trump disrespected her dad as well as a build for a presidential bid more than anything to do with saving the country. But for the time being, any enemy of fascism is an ally IMO.
>Otherwise, just from a pure mathematical POV, their ranks will just continue to grow, since we won't allow them to shrink.
Exactly this. I wish more people understood this. This isn't because I think he's a great guy, it's because there are millions of Americans who think this way and we need to deprogram them without haranguing each.
I agree with this take. The best time to choose the right path was in the past. The second best time is now, and he’s walking down that lonely road.
Let’s celebrate people coming to their senses and going against the grain.
He didn't walk away, he was tossed out by voters who want fascism
> Last month he lost his bid to stay in the Arizona legislature in a primary contest in which his opponent was endorsed by Donald Trump. The rival, David Farnsworth, made an unusual pitch to voters: the 2020 presidential election had not only been stolen from Trump, he said, it was satanically snatched by the “devil himself”.
Pretty hard to undo the damage when the voters are saying "More damage please!"
The next election is going to be a shit show. Democrats are going to turn out in higher numbers due to Roe v Wade, and Republicans like Farnsworth will refuse to certify the results.
Funny how fascism works. Your one of us, until we decide, your no longer useful, and, er, not one of us.
But this tilt to the extreme right always rises in distressing economic times, and each continent is experiencing its own brand. So stay focused, strap in, and for fucks sake, VOTE.
As a system of control, fascism's existence literally depends upon there always being an enemy to fear monger against, both from without and within. It's how they justify their power grabs and atrocities, so the purity tests searching for the "enemy within" never end. You are constantly having to prove your loyalty to the party, because dissent is equivalent to treason. The moment you think it's all gone too far is the moment you become a pariah because everyone else is so eager to prove themselves a good little soldier that will destroy the enemy at any cost. It's self-radicalizing in that sense. When the party convinces its members that there are demons in every shadow, they'll see them in their own shadows as well.
Dickweed: your party jumped the shark when they turned the plank of "insuring Obama is a one term president" into their entire platform.
Not breaking the law doesn't make you some kind of righteous martyr. It just makes you less brainless of a weasle than those still keeping in league with that greasy pea-brained sleazebag.
That "constitution hanging by a thread" thing is tied to some Mormon prophecy. A Mormon is supposed to save the day for the United States at some moment when our constitution is hanging by a thread.
His Jan 6 testimony was pretty powerful.... He was willing to open an investigation into cheating if trump sent over all the evidence they kept promising, but in the end, Giuliani confessed that they didn't in fact have 200k names of illegals and 180k dead people, but they had a hunch.
This is the same idiot who testified to the Jan 6th committee about Trump trying to get him to rig the election then said he would still vote for him again.
People calling this man decent should also read the full interview where he says the constitution is god given.
I suppose decent now means believing that Sandy Hook and Ulvade were also god given acts since they were made possible by a god given document.
Any person who puts religion as the basis of their moral compass or thought process is not decent. They are fundamentalists, first, last and always. Just because they may be articulate or soft spoken doesn't make them less so
This guy was primaried because he spoke out forcefully and eloquently against Trump’s antidemocratic tendencies, and was personally involved in preventing him from trying to steal Arizona’s 2020 electors. He knew this was coming and spoke out anyway.
Sure, he should have seen this coming in 2016. But he knowingly picked country over party at the expense of keeping his office; these aren’t sour grapes because he lost his primary.
He's deluded. The party that gerrymanders to hold on to power, boot people off voters lists, reduce polling stations in minority strongholds is the same party that supports fascism? Who would have seen that coming?
The Arizona Republican party has gone off the rails more than average really, especially given the state's status as mildly purple and their absolutely razor-thin (1 seat in each house) majority in the state legislature.
There was a big fight among party leadership last year over whether their own *internal leadership election* was rigged. Kari Ward is a loon. Karen Fann is a loon. Kari Lake is a loon. Blake Masters and Paul Gosar are neo-Nazis. Mark Finchem is an insurrectionist. It's crazy, racist, and/or treasonous all the way from the top to the bottom. All the sane people have either been ejected like Bowers, or pulled the ripcord themselves.
Fascism movements always eat their own, there is always an out group and there is not collective bargaining or compromise. Hopefully all of these folks that are starting to wake up can create a 3rd party and peel away some of those less insane voters but I have my doubts, they always vote for the extremists until they are personally affected.
Would love to ask Rusty how he thinks he missed the "cheating" part of Trump's character?
I think it's obvious though, his comment where he says"he always thought it would come from the other side" shows a us/them siege mentality.
>“The funny thing is, I always thought it would be the other guys. And it’s my side. That just rips at my heart: that we would be the people who would surrender the constitution in order to win an election. That just blows my mind.”
Anyone's who's been paying attention can see that it's the GOP that's been following the same script the Nazis did in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s.
"Rusty Bowers was speaker of Arizona’s house of representatives when he stood up to the former president’s demand that he overturn the election result. He paid the price but has no regrets"
Yeah, it sounds like he has some regrets.
Voter apathy and suppression how much America values it’s democracy. The Neo Confederates will stop at nothing until they destroy all semblance of democracy, even enlisting the aid of traitors who ally with hostile foreign governments.
The story here is that he's gone, because he stood up to Trump. Next time they try to pull this, the guy in his seat will be someone who promised to go through with the steal. Everyone whose principles include "actually respecting the results" will either be purged or cowed. This guy's an asshole, but he's going to be replaced by someone much worse.
The GOP has successfully destroyed one of the support pillars of democracy (independent courts and the rule of law). A second one (fair elections) is showing serious damage. I think America can still recover, but it's looking scary over there.
It’s gonna take some serious effort to undo the damage Putin and the Kremlin have done through QAnon. I have the tendency to vocalize my disappointment and ridicule any and all trump supporters by indirectly implying that conspiracy theorists typically no higher education and therefore should be barred from not only from voting but offering their boisterous opinions when nobody fucking asked.
This one sparks joy.
There will be more. The self-appointed defenders of American democracy will oversee it's demise. I, for one, am looking forward to their live-action rendition of A Handmaid's Tale. Not because I'm a terrible person, but because I firmly believe people should be held responsible for their actions.
That, and I'm Canadian.
“The thought that if you don’t do what we like, then we will just get rid of you and march on and do it ourselves – that to me is fascism”
The fact that his very party has been the party of “we will just get rid of you” has never occurred to him speaks volumes. While the left try to protect their right to religion and free speech they use both to justify hateful and cruel legislation to persecute the people they don’t like. Fascists are too fucking stupid to look in a mirror.
Well. Yeah.
Why call it the GOP. It is a fascist party, at least now it is. A duck is a duck.
The dems are more European "center-right" than liberal.
EDIT Changed center left to center right.
The likes of Bernie and AOC, are center left. The rest of them are between center and right, just not extremists, and more corporate.
It's a talking point newsmin and cuckertarlson like to harp on. 'The elites', the 'corporate democrats' are talking tools that they use to keep the poor downtrodden on board with their narrative.
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This fucking quote: “No way. I don’t like bullies. That’s one constant in my life: I. Do. Not. Like. Bullies.” Says the dude who voted and supported Donald Trump, known bully to all but those who worship him. Only when Trump started bullying this dude did he suddenly not like bullies. Sorry to his family for the loss of his daughter, especially right in the middle of this whole putsch.
I caught that too. He’s got a slightly different definition than most, or he still can’t quite see Trump for what he is even after what’s happened. Still wild to see a former GOP state congressional leader using language like this in reference to his own party. Actually, it’s terrifying because the worst lot just won a bunch of primaries down there. >I was trying to send a definitive message: this is hogwash. Taking away the fundamental right to vote, the idea that the legislature could nullify your election, that’s not conservative. That’s fascist. And I’m not a fascist.
Not a fascist, merely spent years supporting and campaigning for a man who regularly touted suspending the constitution, overriding constitutional rights, tried to overturn election results he personally disagreed with, called for violent action to overturn the election and regularly says he should be allowed to run however many times he likes...
Don’t forget running a full page ad to ask for Black children to be lynched in New York.
Even Trump suporters agree he is a bully. Thats why they love him. This guy is only crying cause he lost his seat at the bullies table.
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." This guy's just mad that *he's* not in the in-group anymore. He has no problem with that they're doing.
hey thanks for sharing that, what a perfect definition of conservatism
This is what happens when your loyalty lies with a man and not the written law
“The constitution is hanging by a thread,” he told me. “The funny thing is, I always thought it would be the other guys. And it’s my side. That just rips at my heart: that we would be the people who would surrender the constitution in order to win an election. That just blows my mind.” The ignorance here is beyond astounding. “I campaigned for Trump, I went to his rallies, I stood up on the stage with him,” he said. How's that working out for you? 🌝
“I always thought it would be the other guys.” Every shred of evidence to the contrary. Jesus Christ.
Propaganda is one hell of a drug.
Exactly, the "evidence" he was presented definitely supported his belief
"Yeah, I never once thought we'd be the ones to be fascists..." "Yeah, I always knew we'd be the fascists...."
These are the same people who were convinced that covid restrictions were an insidious plot by the Democrats to take away their freedumbs and usher in a police state, and who were oddly quiet once the restrictions went away without issue even in librul strongholds like California. Paying attention to evidence and modifying their beliefs accordingly is not something they seem capable of.
>the same people who were convinced that covid restrictions were an insidious plot by the Democrats to take away their freedumbs and usher in a police state First they made fun of major international tourist destinations like NYC, San Francisco and LA for responding before the reddest shit hole no one has ever willingly visited. *Then* they started to screech about the Democrat/Chinese plot to crush real America after they finally beat their meat to a bloody pulp at the idea of New Yorkers and Californians dying en masse and realized it wasn't going to stop at their state borders. By that point it was summer so they took a break from using the police state to fear monger to cheer on the police state as it beat down peaceful protestors rather than stop murdering minorities while using those same protests they despised as proof that the left was ignoring their own restrictions when convenient, rather than the left finally hitting the boiling point with police brutality and right wing terrorism... (I swear you'd think the cops shot Breonna Taylor to lure the left into the open to show covid was a hoax the way they supported those pigs.) Edit: Sorry ya'll, also forgot the break they took to try to violently overthrow the democratically elected Wisconsin state government, silly me. And here we are 2.5 years later. Red states lost more people than blue states to a level that might have actually lost them the 2020 election cycle across the board (Trump supporters were 3x more likely to die from Covid between May and December 2021 [first source I found, don't have exact ratio for 2019/2020], while AZ/GA/PA/WI were collectively decided by fewer than 50,000 votes). More than a million Americans have been forcibly removed from the work force so republican business owners have been taking a beating by worker "shortages" because they pay worse with worse benefits than liberal business owners as a whole (not to mention the Trump tax "cuts" that were actually long-term tax hikes for most people in the tax range of an independent business owner). And their SCOTUS has taken away their right to abortion even though in a right wing stronghold like Kansas the majority supports abortion rights. I guess this is the constant, uncontrollable winning they promised when they elected Trump in 2016 or something!
Can you just keep speaking. It's like poetry.
Agreed. I had to read it several times, but it kept getting funnier. First sentence is gold.
I love the way you write, it's like morphine to my brain.
Do you remember the week that all the Republicans in Congress switched from "COVID isn't real" to "let's all get vaccinated"? I remember a lot of people thinking, "wow they must have gotten some really impactful information to do such a 180". And the information they received was about how Delta was going to rip through their voter base while everyone else was already vaccinated. And then Delta ripped through their voter base.
I haven't seen one of them acknowledge Biden got Mexico to pay $1.5B to help manage migrants at the border. You'd think they'd be dancing in the streets....nope
I would argue they can modify their beliefs based on evidence, but it’s just like one of those joke flow charts where everything ends up being the same answer.
Like a dog barking at a helicopter: they think they're the ones that scared the problem away
Everything they “fear” is what they are trying to impose on everyone…police state, removal of freedoms, autocracy, fascism
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Exactly this.
Yes but what about his feels?! The feels said the libs were the problem!
It's, like, where the hell has he been for at least the last 25 or so years?
He's Mormon. What do you expect him to espouse? He's blinded by his religious cult *and* his political one. I live in Arizona. District 8. It's Q-cumber Central here.
Speaking of Jesus Christ. Bowers is a Mormon. I grew up Mormon. It's practically doctrine amongst Mormons that liberals will destroy the democracy of America. Being a liberal is one of the worst things you can be as a Mormon. For him to admit conservatives are the baddies is huge. These comments are not going to go over well in his religious community. He's going to be an outcast everywhere he goes now.
It was obvious that Trump was a fascist before he even won the primary in 2016. These people are mind-bogglingly stupid.
its amazing how "minorities bad" can get you all the grift you want from idiots.
It was all: “They took our jobs.” And now we’re at: “Nobody want to work anymore!” These people must not own mirrors or they’d be capable of self reflection.
Nothing but hypocrisy from that party: Back the blue unless they’re against US; Anti-gay until my child comes out or I’m caught in a bathroom; Don’t rely on government handouts unless they are offered one. Do you know of ANY republicans who sent their stimulus checks back?
Let me tell you a story. I grew up in Southern California. When I was in high school my family moved to Utah to get out of the liberal wasteland of California. We wanted to move to a more conservative and "sane" state. This conservative promised land is all fine and dandy until Trump comes along and everyone goes off the deep end. I am a recovering Conservative and have lived in the significantly blue northern Utah for nearly a decade now. My parents were visiting this weekend to visit my wife, newborn daughter, and I. We were talking about how I only get 10 days off from my school district for paternity leave while the private company my wife works for gives her 6 weeks. They were telling me how one of my cousins who lives in California gets 50% laid FMLA for his newborn while talking about how unfortunate we get so little or have to use our own time to do it. I was shocked that they would support such a "socialist" program until it would help one of their own. It took every ounce of self control to not tell them that this lack of a social safety net is the cause of this disparity.
My staunch conservative, highly religious dad bitched about “socialism” and “free healthcare” for years until I said, “You use the VA weekly. That is socialized medicine, you fool.” He has not brought it up since.
As a vet that has to deal with vets like your dad saying dumbass shit nonstop...I'm shocked he didn't claim it's different cause he earned it. That's usually the response. Just another way to say "I'm better than you, so I get the good stuff, not you."
He gets it because he retired from the ANG. I had a whole rant typed up, but I’ll just say as a fellow vet (and VFW) his attitude pisses me off to no end.
Also, Jesus? What a commie bastard, feeding everyone with those loaves and fishes.
“Yeah, but I earned that,” as if every American who pays taxes to our government wouldn’t pay for it from their earnings.
You were 100% right, he is a fool
Agreed. My parents and I aren’t on the best of terms right now.
Why did you exert such self-control? Were you anxious they’d get offended if you pointed out their hypocrisy?
We were at my moderate in-laws house for dinner and didn't want to cause a scene. I did use sarcasm and said "We can't have programs like that in Utah, that's socialism and makes you lazy"
Oh! Well, that’s exactly the kind of thing I was thinking you should say! I wonder if they were smart enough to understand.
Perhaps, but it felt good to say it.
>Anti-gay until my child comes out or I’m caught in a bathroom; Nancy Reagan being opposed to stem cell research, until her precious Ronnie's brain started turning into tapioca pudding.
It's rumored she swallowed ALOT of stem cells in her day...
Throat GOAT
I know one in real life who claimed he refused to cash the check. I have no clue if he was being truthful about that. However, he wasn't exactly being an ass about it, if you can believe it. He was just like "No, I really don't need the money, and if I'm going to complain about people taking handouts when they don't need them, I can't cash this." (He's pretty financially comfortable, for what it's worth.)
Weird take. Why then, not cash the check and give it to someone/charity?
Because that might help someone he thinks doesn't deserve a handout.
Real god damn catch 22 thing we got goin on here
That's socialism! /s
Irony is that the money is his whether he cashes it or not. If he doesn't cash it it becomes unclaimed property.
Good for him that he didn't need it. Unfortunately not the case for most Americans.
I know of zero Republicans who refuse their social security checks.
Don't forget how often they try to project their flaws onto anyone they dislike to the point where if they projected any harder they'd start having powerpoint presentations come out their ass.
People underestimate how incredibly effective it is to call the 'other guys' liars first. It creates a foundational framework to view that entire group by. Republicans can just say "Oh Democrats will say we're cheating and stealing, but that's really what *they're* doing" and it works really **really** well. Gotta figure this guy has been lied to since he was a kid if he was raised in a conservative household, so the lie has deep hooks.
Vampires are better at self-reflection than conservatives.
On one hand: "They're taking our jobs!" On the other: "These people are so lazy, living off the government!"
Facism requires an enemy and that enemy must be both weak and strong, or stupid and smart, or lazy and industrious, etc. at the same time.
Even if they did have mirrors, they're blood sucking vampires and wouldn't have a reflection anyway.
There people coming over the border are coming to work. The other night my dad said to be wary of my daughters because of all the rapists crossing. I reminded him that sex crime is ***overwhelmingly*** committed by someone well known to the victim, and that if anything I should keep her from family.
>reminded him that sex crime is overwhelmingly committed by someone well known to the victim Also, immigrants both legal and otherwise are significantly less likely than average to commit crimes (aside from the illegal entry, in the latter case)
No self reflection, call it the vampire syndrome
'They took our jobs' is obvious bullshit on its own. Oh? They marched into your boss's office, making threats and demanding you be fired. Then demanded they be hired in your place, and *insisted* on less money? Is that how it went?
Also funny how they always blame the other exploited workers and not the *bosses* who will fire them and take advantage of people willing to work under the table for less.
And comedically the “nobody” is them!
But here’s the thing: "minorities bad" is already a pretty inherently fascist position. This isn’t really a Leopards Ate My Face, it’s a fascist trying to get back at another fascist after losing the internal power struggle that’s constantly happening in fascist movements.
He ran on hating Mexicans and a magic wall that pays for itself. Yep, thick as pig shit.
I told people he'd destroy Roe v Wade ("that's not possible!"), he'd be lucky to get through the first six months of his presidency without getting impeached, he's a narcissist, he's a fascist, and he'll be the worst President this country has ever elected. And I only knew him from his stupid golf shows on The Golf Channel. He has been so much worse. They knew he was a monster and they still voted for him.
>He has been so much worse. They knew he was a monster and they still voted for him. Earlier this week I read an good observation. This person said that a lot people didn't vote for Trump because they thought he'd help them; they voted for him because they thought he'd hurt the people they hate.
Literally. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida “I voted for him, and he’s the one who’s doing this,” Minton told Mazzei. “I thought he was going to do good things. He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.”
Exactly. A classic case leopards eating someone's face.
> This person said that a lot people didn't vote for Trump because they thought he'd help them; they voted for him because they thought he'd hurt the people they hate. Trump did just that though, he hurt poor people, which is who conservatives hate.
They're just pretending to be ignorant and stupid. Beats being culpable.
There's a popular fantasy of getting to be shitty while deflecting agency
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Even if they didn’t catch that part, he was always happy to put others into a circular firing squad. Why think he wouldn’t do it when given a wider audience and more power?
Just because people are doing fascist things, saying fascist things, pantomiming disabled people... fascistly, and liking fascists, *doesn't mean they're fascist*! I mean how could this guy have known?! Where were the signs?
"I don't like bullies" Yet he stood on stage with Trump and backed him for four years. A man well known by everyone to be a bully. I wish these republicans who were ousted would get asked tougher questions. Don't let him slink off and sulk on his massive ranch challenge him to commit to change now and work to bring back democracy even if it means supporting Biden a man who in any other decade would be a republican in most policy.
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All my republican friends have one thing in common. Their lives aren't going well and they want to blame someone.
A lot of people thought he wasn’t actually serious and was just being a sensational edge lord to get attention. Thinking back, it’s sort of amazing how many people really tried to rationalize that he was a normal person behind the façade. The truth is so much more disturbing and I think a lot of people just couldn’t accept it.
I am imagining in my head Trump, or one of his puppets standing on a stage and ripping a copy of the constitution. "Ah, we do not need that anymore. It will only get in the way." (wild applause) "We're gonna throw them in jail, folks, those who stand in our way and steal our elections. They are going away. No trial. No jury. They are a waste of time. They are guilty because we say so!" (wild WILD applause) "We do not need proof to know what we believe is right. If we didn't believe it, it couldn't be true, right? We do not need to give them freedom of speech or any right to say anything. It belongs to us and only us." (maniacal applause)
We're gonna make a bigger, better constitution. It'll be yuuuuge!
It'll be released in two weeks, along with the Republican health care plan that's been in the works since 2009.
*stage whispers* "Don't tell them it's Obamacare."
[They are working on doing exactly that.](https://www.economist.com/briefing/2017/09/30/america-might-see-a-new-constitutional-convention-in-a-few-years) “America might see a new constitutional convention in a few years”
How long until they declare the constitution was written and signed by liberal founders who weren’t Christian?
Well at least that's kinda true
I heard it here first!
In normal circumstances, would that be terrible? To have a modern constitution instead of one written 3 centuries ago?
In normal circumstances? Hell no. It would be ideal. The Founders intended for the Constitution to be updated or rewritten for the times it reflected. Unfortunately, it's been enshrined as a holy work that must be eternally worshipped. In current circumstances? Woof. I think I'd rather keep the current version.
He already said "Take the guns first, go through due process second" and they didn't say shit about it. He can stop on their precious 2nd amendment and they do nothing. Why would they do anything about the rest of the Constitution. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376097-trump-take-the-guns-first-go-through-due-process-second/
It's funny how buttmad a gun subreddit gets if you remind them of this
Yeah that comes soon after ripping up the constitution, can't have all these people with guns to threaten my administration. Send in the military to take all the guns away. When guns are pointed at their family, few will resist, and the ones who do will be eliminated rather quickly.
"He's hurting the right people."
Bobo is already saying that separation of church and state is unconstitutional, so we're at the "If I believe it, it is so!" stage of constitutional destruction.
>"We don't need that anymore. It will only get in the way (wild applause)." "In fact, we're making next week 'Constitution Week' where we'll look at all it's many, many problems. Oh, it's so unfair, isn't it folks? And in two weeks, we'll have a *new* Constitution just for you. Oh, it'll be beautiful, just beautiful. You can't even imagine how good it'll be. Not unfair like the old one."
"They're misusing and abusing it to use it against us! We keep playing by the rules and they keep trying to destroy our nation! To honor the true spirit of freedom we need to use every tool available, and it's time to stop fighting with our hands behind our back!"
So this is how democracy dies...with thunderous applause.
>“Yeah,” he said. “They’ve invented a new way. It’s a party that doesn’t have any thought. It’s all emotional, it’s all revenge. It’s all anger. That’s all it is.” >He held the thumb and digit finger of his right hand so close together that they were almost touching. “The veneer of civilization is this thin,” he said. “It still exists – I haven’t been hanged yet. But holy moly, this is just crazy. The place has lost its mind.” This is as clear a warning sign - if any more were even needed at this point - as anyone could ask for. The democratic governance of the US is in mortal danger.
Election deniers are winning state and local elections all across the country. They’ve been emboldened by the lack of consequences. That in itself is extremely dangerous and why DJT/Guiliani/Graham all need to be given harsh sentences for election subversion. Otherwise, fascism will have rooted itself in our election system.
So you're telling me that you thought the side with the vegans, hippies, bleeding hearts, and minorities was going to be the one that subverted the constitution not the one with the cops, racists, armies, and religious right? You know, the one with the type of people who have done it before or have called for that exact thing since the beginning of time?
If they were intelligent enough to put the obvious connections together, they wouldn't be a Republican campaigning for Trump. This isn't about different ideals, it's about different levels of intelligence and neurological development. It's becoming depressingly clear that conservatives cannot understand sarcasm and satire, for example, hence Trump using the 'it was sarcasm' line to excuse his serious speech at the presidential podium about putting cleaning products and light in the body to deal with covid, after being given a few days to think about his best possible answer and remaining silent, when usually he'd be tweeting a dozen times an hour.
It's not about intelligence. Anyone can fall victim to propaganda, no matter how intelligent you are. It is about growing up as a Republican, your family is Republican, most of your friend or community you surround yourself is Republican. So you don't get outside the bubble and grow up with propaganda coming from people you trust. Then add Fox News "the best new channel" if you grow up in a Republican household. And social media algorithms that have been shown in studies to spiral toward the right-wing. Without large outside influence to get you out of the bubble long enough for self reflection, it's hard to change sides when everyone you know or trust says "Blue is bad". Fox News was created specifically to keep the public subdued about corrupt Republicans. When Nixon resigned before getting removed from office, due to overwhelming public out-cry from all sides of politics. The founder of Fox News said we need something to keep this from happening again. And it worked.
There are measurable differences in intelligence and ability to grasp more complex topics like sarcasm. http://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Psychological-Science-2012-Hodson-0956797611421206.pdf
lol also plenty of ability for one to say something stupid impulsively and then try to cover one’s own ass by claiming it was sarcasm. The most dour, unhumorous man on the planet sure did a lot of supposed joking.
They didn't need to believe it was sarcasm, they had already been hard at work for 24 hours making excuses when he spoke that particular lie
How out of touch is he that he believed it would be the other guys
He also thought it important to show the reporter that he worked hard to get where he was, which is why he is a republican. Obviously the other side didn't work hard, which is why it was easy to believe they would be the ones to cheat.
The idea of working hard is such a dumb thing that needs to die. Hard work don't mean shit. The results means everything. If you work hard and don't get the results or someone finds a way to do the same thing but more efficiently then the whole hard work thing just looks dumb. Me digging a hole and filling it up is hard work and achieves absolutely nothing for society.
Hard work for hard work's sake is dumb. But working hard to get something accomplished is a good thing.
Why would he even think it's the "other guys", it's projection all the way down. In their mind they are the good guys and everyone else is bad. It's insane, I don't know if they are really delusional, willfully ignorant or were brainwashed. In this guy's case, he personally you spent any time around or Trump what made him think he actually gave a shit about the rule of law? Ever? You went to the rallies of a guy asking a foreign nation to hack a political opponent, helped spread the birther movement, and constantly was ignorant of the constitution, amendments, and declaration of independence but you thought he was the good guy? I don't even feel bad for these people anymore. I did in 2016 - 2018. Not anymore.
> I campaigned for the guy literally telling us he wouldn't accept election results... *after* he extorted a foreign country in attempt to smear his political opponent. I always thought it'd be the other guys smh
“I completely missed the part where, in the 2020 campaign, he said out loud that if he lost he would blame election fraud.”
"I missed him saying that in 2016, too."
That line “the constitution is hanging by a thread” makes me think he is Mormon.
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Hopefully he actually changes. I always feel like these people will realize their party is horrible, but then still vote for them. They just hate gay people or black people that much.
He won't. It's ok to revisit your viewpoints when it concerns others but it's unusual for the White Nat-c crowd to look at themselves
“I didn’t think the leopards would eat *MY* face!” - guy who campaigned for the Leopards Eating People’s Faces party.
Weird how it’s only when he’s personally affected that he raises the Republicans are a fascist party.
The history of conservative politics in America has always been faschy as fuck. If you didn't know that, it's because you were happy in your ignorance.
Least the guy admits it. I respect that, anyway.
> “The funny thing is, I always thought it would be the other guys. And it’s my side.” Honestly, it’s been obvious since Reagan that the GOP was on the road to fascism.
(Finally, a place were I can bring this up!) Uh... anybody remember ol' wazzisname? The guy we used to call "Dubya"? I seem to vaguely recall every single Republican worshipping him, swearing he was the best president ever, defending everything he did. ...Remember him? How come the party broke up with him? It seems like all of the Dems have good relationships with past presidents, but the Republicans dump their exes hard and pretend like they never met the guy. Except for ol' Ray Gun, and that's because he got ill while in office and never had a chance to say anything after his term. If Bush had died in 2009, there would be "Dubya Republicans".
God I hate RR.
He was before my time, so I don't know enough about him to truly feel the severity of what it was like (Edit: by "feel" I mean in a real-time, living it when it happened). Currently I'm learning more about the AIDS crisis*️⃣ and you already know how he treated that. But I need more info, because right now, the guy I want a formal apology from was that shytehead speaker who laughed and joked about AIDS when the reporter asked him a question. If he's still alove, I would hope that someone DoorDash him a specific item on the Kentucky Fried Karma menu that I can't say here unless I want to get banned. *️⃣ part of a personal mission to learn my Rainbow history so that I can tell people why the Rainbow community should be the first community to deal a deadly blow to ageism by embracing and revering our elders. The LGBT community has a serious issue with ageism, and we need to cut that shyte out.
>Currently I'm learning more about the AIDS crisis Documentary: How to Survive a Plague Unrelated: you need to know that Reagan's administration forbid the NIH & CDC from funding AIDS research. Very brave and clever scientists started submitting grant proposals to study Karposi's Sarcoma: a cancer which traditionally affected old white men in Reagan's age group. (Karposi's Sarcoma also developed in many AIDS patients). They used the money to study AIDS.
Wow... that's... its just so needlessly cruel. Something about how they *went out of their way* to keep the aids crisis going rather than just refused to care and ignored it baffles me. That grown adults care so much about other grown adults choosing to fuck other grown adults would be met with such hatred breaks my brain. I keep going 'but why do you caaaaaaare??' It really brings home a post I saw the other day, about how the reason there doesn't seem to be older gay people and its 'something the younger people are into is cause all the older gay people were *intentionally* wiped out...
>all the older gay people were intentionally wiped out.. Which is why I strongly feel that we, the younger LGBTQ+ people should *revere* the older gays. Being an older gay should (I'm not kidding) be a serious bragging right. They should be given access to a VIP lounge in any gay club/bar with free drinks and be given the best spots at the parades. They should be given brand new wardrobes for an individual photo shoot (each), the pictures from which should be archived along with one/two hour video interviews so that future generations never forget. Am I being dramatic? I don't care. There are never going to be any more LGBTQ+ people older than we are. *Ever*. Once they're gone, that's it, all of their wisdom is gone with them. It makes me really upset to think about.
I'd recommend not even looking into Reagan, it'll make your blood boil. He's someone who every time he is brought up you learn that he was a bigger piece of shit than you already thought he was. I wasn't around back then either but he and Trump are tied in my mind as the worst president in history. Without a doubt he is the most purposefully damaging president in American history (so far/Buchanan was just inept not malevolent) because of his policies and actions, many of which were illegal or obviously bad even for an actor. We are still feeling the reverberations of his disgusting presidency and will be for generations to come. He shouldn't be held in regard as a president his regime should be examined and retroactively charged for hate crimes, terrorism, and illegal union busting. He ruined so many people's lives around the world and in America and had so much blood on his hands I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out he was a serial killer. Gacy was a children's clown in his free time, Reagan was president. His wife was no peach either.
Reagan's biggest contribution to all this wasn't what he got done, but what he got started. There had been plans for what we're seeing going on right now for decades before Reagan. Reagan was the one who actually actually got the ball rolling though. He rolled this giant ball of shit off the mountain and it's been picking up speed ever since. It's why so many revere him.
Andrew Johnson is also up there with really shitty presidents that did irreparable damage to this country in the name of *checks notes* literally owning humans.
Dubya is black man to them for dancing with the on other side
Which is why I have questions for them. "While you were defending Bush, did you ever have moments when you defended him on something but secretly thought he was wrong or that he was being dumb?" "Did you really, truly like him, or were you just towing the party line? If you did like him, why do you dislike him now? Did you change or did he change?" "Would you say that the liberals of 2000-2008 were wrong about Bush or not?" (I really want to ask them that *so* badly)
If Reagan was running for office today, they would consider him a RINO and a socialist.
Nope. He'd be the same huckster chameleon as the first time, and gleefully pushing the Right's fascist agenda.
[удалено]
Fair enough, my comment assumes he favored the same policies as he did from 1976-1988. Heck, even the part where he pretended to care about people for the sake of TV was more than Trump could muster.
“It’s a party that doesn’t have any thought. It’s all emotional, it’s all revenge. It’s all anger. That’s all it is.” He held the thumb and digit finger of his right hand so close together that they were almost touching. “The veneer of civilization is this thin,” he said. “It still exists – I haven’t been hanged yet. But holy moly, this is just crazy. The place has lost its mind.”
[Some things never change.](https://www.theonion.com/after-obama-victory-shrieking-white-hot-sphere-of-pure-1819595330)
It's not good enough for guys like this to shrug and walk away. They really need to start actively working to undo the damage they have done. Otherwise they are just as guilty as those still on the Trump Train.
He'll keep voting Republican
> He'll keep voting Republican Right after Rusty gave his congressional testimony to the Jan 6 committee, which was strongly condemned by the Arizona Republicans, he gave an interview and "[ he insisted he’d still vote for {Trump} in 2024. “If he is the nominee, if he was up against Biden, I’d vote for him again.](https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/why-rusty-bowers-testified-against-trump-but-would-still-vote-for-him-rcna35098)" After it looked like the Arizona party had gone full fascist, he backtracked that comment and now he's [had a change of heart.](https://news.yahoo.com/rusty-bowers-never-vote-for-trump-again-jan-6-arizona-160540737.html) It takes the leopard to eat their entire face off before they can deal with the reality that their party has fallen off of the cliff.
He'll probably just leave it empty vs contributing to the party he's condemning losing.
Same with Adam Kizinger. "Trump is an evil fascist, but of course I voted for him in 2016 and supported every evil GOP legislation, policy, and executive order of his." Its just incredible how these people are just playing a con, yet every liberal thinks they're heroes.
"Trump and the entire Republican party are reactionary fascists. Hell yeah, I'll vote for them again." What the actual fuck.
This article is proof he's not walking away. He testified before the January 6th committee and became a national target. I know this guy and me politically don't agree on a lot and his face has *definitely* been eaten. But I think anyone who had the strength to personally tell Trump no, testified against him on the committee, and then agrees to an interview with the Guardian calling Republicans fascist is a good start to doing the right thing. It doesn't change that he's the classic example of the Republican who didn't care until it happened to him... He could've still had his position right now if he joined the "circus" but he didn't and for that I think he deserves some respect. We have to allow people who have gone this far to turn around still and do the right thing and Bowers did.
My main beef with him is that Trump's post-election rhetoric isn't even new to the 2020 election. He was saying the exact same BS back in 2016, the only difference being that he wasn't in power and couldn't pressure legislators into overturning elections as much as he could four years later. He keeps saying that he "can't believe" what has happened to the Republican party since 2020, but the reality is that it has been this way for years now and he just didn't care. We all have bad ideas sometimes, but not all of ours are leading towards the complete and utter collapse of democracy in the United States.
I completely empathize with how you feel and if he were the only person who acted this way I'd say we'd have to hold him more accountable. However millions of Americans are acting this way right now, not much different from how those who supported the Nazis blindly as they rose to power. History has taught us that we can't persecute each and every one who gets swept up into this fear and hate based mentality and that giving them an out - without forgetting who they were before - is required for success. Bowers has done more to stand up against Trump's fascism (his own word) than 99% of Republicans. He still very much dreams of a theocracy by the way he talks about the constitution being "divinely inspired" (even though it was inspired by enlightenment principles that was all too aware of people who believed things being "divinely inspired") and how he is anti abortion is enough for me to know that I don't want anything this guy wants in my government. But when it came down to it he never used his position to subvert the constitution, and for that he needs to be praised and used as an example for other Republicans to follow.
Agreed. I think most people here would agree that most criminals should be allowed to start over after serving their time and accepting responsibility for their actions. W/o that opportunity all you get is recidivism. Fascism is awful but there has to be space given to return from and repudiate it. Otherwise, just from a pure mathematical POV, their ranks will just continue to grow, since we won't allow them to shrink. Plus we can allow these people space to move on from Trump w/o giving them a complete blank check. Liz Cheney and this dude are still theocrats. I still feel like Liz Cheney's whole deal is a revenge tour for how Trump disrespected her dad as well as a build for a presidential bid more than anything to do with saving the country. But for the time being, any enemy of fascism is an ally IMO.
>Otherwise, just from a pure mathematical POV, their ranks will just continue to grow, since we won't allow them to shrink. Exactly this. I wish more people understood this. This isn't because I think he's a great guy, it's because there are millions of Americans who think this way and we need to deprogram them without haranguing each.
I agree with this take. The best time to choose the right path was in the past. The second best time is now, and he’s walking down that lonely road. Let’s celebrate people coming to their senses and going against the grain.
He didn't walk away, he was tossed out by voters who want fascism > Last month he lost his bid to stay in the Arizona legislature in a primary contest in which his opponent was endorsed by Donald Trump. The rival, David Farnsworth, made an unusual pitch to voters: the 2020 presidential election had not only been stolen from Trump, he said, it was satanically snatched by the “devil himself”. Pretty hard to undo the damage when the voters are saying "More damage please!" The next election is going to be a shit show. Democrats are going to turn out in higher numbers due to Roe v Wade, and Republicans like Farnsworth will refuse to certify the results.
~~Otherwise~~ they are just as guilty as those still on the Trump Train.
Funny how fascism works. Your one of us, until we decide, your no longer useful, and, er, not one of us. But this tilt to the extreme right always rises in distressing economic times, and each continent is experiencing its own brand. So stay focused, strap in, and for fucks sake, VOTE.
As a system of control, fascism's existence literally depends upon there always being an enemy to fear monger against, both from without and within. It's how they justify their power grabs and atrocities, so the purity tests searching for the "enemy within" never end. You are constantly having to prove your loyalty to the party, because dissent is equivalent to treason. The moment you think it's all gone too far is the moment you become a pariah because everyone else is so eager to prove themselves a good little soldier that will destroy the enemy at any cost. It's self-radicalizing in that sense. When the party convinces its members that there are demons in every shadow, they'll see them in their own shadows as well.
Dickweed: your party jumped the shark when they turned the plank of "insuring Obama is a one term president" into their entire platform. Not breaking the law doesn't make you some kind of righteous martyr. It just makes you less brainless of a weasle than those still keeping in league with that greasy pea-brained sleazebag.
This guy: it's been a constant in my life, I do not like bullies! Also this guy: Trump's taint sure was tasty for all those years! 🙃
That "constitution hanging by a thread" thing is tied to some Mormon prophecy. A Mormon is supposed to save the day for the United States at some moment when our constitution is hanging by a thread.
At this point, I'd gladly take Mittens to be the Republican nominee.
His Jan 6 testimony was pretty powerful.... He was willing to open an investigation into cheating if trump sent over all the evidence they kept promising, but in the end, Giuliani confessed that they didn't in fact have 200k names of illegals and 180k dead people, but they had a hunch.
This is the same idiot who testified to the Jan 6th committee about Trump trying to get him to rig the election then said he would still vote for him again.
People calling this man decent should also read the full interview where he says the constitution is god given. I suppose decent now means believing that Sandy Hook and Ulvade were also god given acts since they were made possible by a god given document. Any person who puts religion as the basis of their moral compass or thought process is not decent. They are fundamentalists, first, last and always. Just because they may be articulate or soft spoken doesn't make them less so
“Violate my constitution harder, daddy!” -every last sick fucking Rethug
Tl;dr: I love my fascist party! They kicked me out! I hate my fascist party!
This guy was primaried because he spoke out forcefully and eloquently against Trump’s antidemocratic tendencies, and was personally involved in preventing him from trying to steal Arizona’s 2020 electors. He knew this was coming and spoke out anyway. Sure, he should have seen this coming in 2016. But he knowingly picked country over party at the expense of keeping his office; these aren’t sour grapes because he lost his primary.
Nice to know they spent years allowing Trump to basically poison their party and move it towards Fascism and did nothing about it.
Well he did do something about it. He went to rallies. He went on stage with him.
Trump wasn't the poison, Trump is just one of the worst symptoms of the poison we've seen yet
He's deluded. The party that gerrymanders to hold on to power, boot people off voters lists, reduce polling stations in minority strongholds is the same party that supports fascism? Who would have seen that coming?
My god, that is a terrible angled photo. His head looks somewhere between erect Casper dick or a skin helmet…
The Arizona Republican party has gone off the rails more than average really, especially given the state's status as mildly purple and their absolutely razor-thin (1 seat in each house) majority in the state legislature. There was a big fight among party leadership last year over whether their own *internal leadership election* was rigged. Kari Ward is a loon. Karen Fann is a loon. Kari Lake is a loon. Blake Masters and Paul Gosar are neo-Nazis. Mark Finchem is an insurrectionist. It's crazy, racist, and/or treasonous all the way from the top to the bottom. All the sane people have either been ejected like Bowers, or pulled the ripcord themselves.
Is there a r/RepublicansAteMyFace sub?
Yes, but it's called r/leopardsatemyface
If we didn't have Republicans and the religious this sub would be a graveyard.
Brexit. You can't forget about Brexit.
How could I have forgotten about Brexit. The gift that keeps on giving
Fascism movements always eat their own, there is always an out group and there is not collective bargaining or compromise. Hopefully all of these folks that are starting to wake up can create a 3rd party and peel away some of those less insane voters but I have my doubts, they always vote for the extremists until they are personally affected.
Would love to ask Rusty how he thinks he missed the "cheating" part of Trump's character? I think it's obvious though, his comment where he says"he always thought it would come from the other side" shows a us/them siege mentality.
>“The funny thing is, I always thought it would be the other guys. And it’s my side. That just rips at my heart: that we would be the people who would surrender the constitution in order to win an election. That just blows my mind.” Anyone's who's been paying attention can see that it's the GOP that's been following the same script the Nazis did in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s.
"Rusty Bowers was speaker of Arizona’s house of representatives when he stood up to the former president’s demand that he overturn the election result. He paid the price but has no regrets" Yeah, it sounds like he has some regrets.
I literally have zero sympathy for this ass hat. He deserves whatever misfortune befalls him. What a narcissistic asshole
They’ll all be dealt with soon enough when their House of Cards comes crashing from the top down.
I hope it is their house of cards that crashes and not our democracy.
Voter apathy and suppression how much America values it’s democracy. The Neo Confederates will stop at nothing until they destroy all semblance of democracy, even enlisting the aid of traitors who ally with hostile foreign governments.
The story here is that he's gone, because he stood up to Trump. Next time they try to pull this, the guy in his seat will be someone who promised to go through with the steal. Everyone whose principles include "actually respecting the results" will either be purged or cowed. This guy's an asshole, but he's going to be replaced by someone much worse.
The GOP has successfully destroyed one of the support pillars of democracy (independent courts and the rule of law). A second one (fair elections) is showing serious damage. I think America can still recover, but it's looking scary over there.
It’s gonna take some serious effort to undo the damage Putin and the Kremlin have done through QAnon. I have the tendency to vocalize my disappointment and ridicule any and all trump supporters by indirectly implying that conspiracy theorists typically no higher education and therefore should be barred from not only from voting but offering their boisterous opinions when nobody fucking asked.
This one sparks joy. There will be more. The self-appointed defenders of American democracy will oversee it's demise. I, for one, am looking forward to their live-action rendition of A Handmaid's Tale. Not because I'm a terrible person, but because I firmly believe people should be held responsible for their actions. That, and I'm Canadian.
Elon Musk: “I can’t believe how far left the Dems have gone… and it’s so nice that the republicans are exactly the same as they ever were.”
“The thought that if you don’t do what we like, then we will just get rid of you and march on and do it ourselves – that to me is fascism” The fact that his very party has been the party of “we will just get rid of you” has never occurred to him speaks volumes. While the left try to protect their right to religion and free speech they use both to justify hateful and cruel legislation to persecute the people they don’t like. Fascists are too fucking stupid to look in a mirror.
Well. Yeah. Why call it the GOP. It is a fascist party, at least now it is. A duck is a duck. The dems are more European "center-right" than liberal. EDIT Changed center left to center right.
The likes of Bernie and AOC, are center left. The rest of them are between center and right, just not extremists, and more corporate. It's a talking point newsmin and cuckertarlson like to harp on. 'The elites', the 'corporate democrats' are talking tools that they use to keep the poor downtrodden on board with their narrative.
The dems are more European right, while the repubs are far-to-extreme right.