#politics It’s difficult to hold these two thoughts in mind at the same time:
(1) Everything Donald Trump represents has been at least latent in movement conservatism and the Republican party since the days of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
(2) Trumpism represents a qualitative transformation of the GOP into an explicitly authoritarian anti-democratic party, and this transformation makes that party a fundamentally different entity than it was even eight years ago. https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2024/03/34-weeks
@InUnfunky especially since Movement Conservatismc ame into its own, but "America First" goes back to the 30s, at least. So yeah, elements of all of this have been here, but I tthink he's also right in that it's gotten even worse since Trump.
@tgraph52 @InUnfunky @GlennS Good movie, if for no other reason, the cast includes Jean (swoon, thud) Simmons and Shirley Jones. However, I strongly suggest reading the book. Elmer Gantry was a far greater monster than the character portrayed by Burt Lancaster.
@KamloopsBob @tgraph52 @GlennS
Sinclair Lewis, a poet and a prophet…
@InUnfunky @tgraph52 @GlennS _Babbitt_ is a book that deserves more attention. Still very relevant today.
@GlennS
Disagree with Campos -- DJT and the GOP's descent is a natural devolution on the "conservative to authoritarian to nutty fascist cult" continuum, American-style. All one has to do is look at money fetishes, snake oil salesmen, religious credulity, celebrity and fame worship, toxic masculinity, the legacies of slavery and native extermination, and equating intelligence with effete, limp-wristed dandies.
In other words, the seeds were there since the beginning.
Thx for posting! 😆👍