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| Self Inflicted - A. Hidahl - 2016 |
Self Inflicted
Ok, I usually try to keep my politics and my art separate; but this time, I just couldn't resist. This one wasn't even a political piece, at first. It started out as a way to experiment with certain specific textures and techniques that I had not yet used in my art; just an exercise to build my skills...
But as I got farther into the piece, the thoughts became clearer; mostly because the news of the week is the nomination of Donald Trump, and the death blow that the Republican Party has dealt itself.
Yes, the Republican Party did this to itself... and not as recently as you might think... No, this has been brewing for a LONG time...
So, when do I think it started?
I say it started during events that all Confederate flag supporters (conveniently) ignore.
It wasn't the Tea Party... it wasn't 9-11... it wasn't Obama's election... it wasn't (entirely) the religious right (although they SIGNIFICANTLY contributed to the destruction of the Republican Party, they are not solely to blame)... it wasn't the "Regan Revolution"... it wasn't either Bush...
Wanna know what it was?
It was the Nixon campaign.
Laugh all you want... I'll show you why I'm right.
Let's flash back to the 1960's...
The Republicans were NOTHING like the party they are now, as they lay dying. Some of the seeds were there, like their hatred of hippies; but they had not yet claimed the catalyst that would be their undoing... those people were in the Democratic Party, and were known as the Dixiecrats. These people were the Southern white racists; the dumbest people in America... and they were LOUD, as stupid people usually are.
The Democratic Party properly assessed the situation. They realized that these people were a cancer in their party, and that the Democratic Party would not survive, if they were allowed too much say. They did what was right, and rejected the whims of the Dixiecrats, to push through the Voting Rights Act.
The Dixiecrats were now basically displaced from their Party... the Democrats had left them behind in the ditch, rolling around in shit, where they belonged.
Along came Richard Nixon; a virulent racist, himself. Projections were that he wouldn't have the numbers to win the Presidential election with the numbers as they were. So, what did he do?
He made an appeal to the DUMBEST people in America; the Dixiecrats that had been thrown away during the Civil Rights Era. With those added numbers, he was able to pull off the Presidency; and we all know where that ended up... *cough*Watergate*cough*
Despite Richard Nixon's indiscretions, the Republican Party realized the power of stupid people in large groups, and continued pandering to racists and Theocrats using dog-whistle messaging.
The problem is, the more they pandered to the stupid people, the more they took that as license to take over the party, which they slowly did through purity tests, purging the more moderate members over time.
As the stupid people took over more and more of the party, they started to see compromise as a BAD thing... they started to see it as capitulation and defeat; because, of course, stupid people are like like toddlers. When they don't get their way, they throw temper tantrums. This was largely visible during the W. Bush years; but has become GLARINGLY apparent since his departure. Since the Tea Party took over the party in 2010, Congress hasn't been able to get ANYTHING done, because the DUMBEST PEOPLE IN AMERICA won't let them.
Now, along comes Donald Trump... he saw how many bigots and morons have floated to the surface, since Barack Obama's election. The election of our first black President has caused them to go INSANE! Not only do they feel comfortable SCREAMING racist bullshit; they readily reject PROVEN facts, like Barack Obama's birth certificate... they support historical revisionism that allows them to remain comfortable in their racism, throughout the debate surrounding the Confederate flag... they reject science and call evolution a "religion"... they de-fund education, claiming that it is "liberal indoctrination"...
Quite literally, they KEEP themselves stupid, because it's more comfortable than challenging what they "know."
Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump has literally done almost exactly the same thing as Richard Nixon. He's pandered to the morons, because they have now taken over enough of the Republican Party to claim a majority in the party and push through the nomination of a Fascist, narcissistic, unapologetically racist douchebag.
Now that Ted Cruz and John Kasich have left the race, the Republican Party has had to face the reality that pandering to the racists and Theocrats (the aforementioned "DUMBEST people in America") may not have been the best idea.
If Richard Nixon would have just left those assholes to ROT, like he SHOULD HAVE, the Republican Party would have been able to retain the more moderate, sane people in their party, and the bigot trash would have just died off, because they wouldn't have had any choice but to conform, because their time would have been OVER!
But reality is what it is...
Richard Nixon did what he did...
The stupid people did what they did...
... and now, the Republican Party is FUCKED, and America is worse off for giving those assholes such a loud microphone for 4+ decades...
Trump will easily lose the general election in November. With all the remaining moderates burning their party affiliation cards, the Republican Party will no longer have enough voters to maintain a viable major party going forward. All they have left are the racists and the Theocrats; and those morons may be LOUD, but their loudness makes them APPEAR greater in number than they are.
Trump's nomination will drive DOWN Republican numbers (and possibly inflate Libertarian numbers), which will also have a big influence over the Congressional makeup. The Democrats stand to see MASSIVE gains in both the House and Senate, due to depressed Republican numbers.
Will another party come along to sweep these assholes up, perpetuating their stranglehold over our political system with their REFUSAL to get anything done?
... or, will they just be left to fester and die in illegitimacy?
Laugh all you want... I'll show you why I'm right.
Let's flash back to the 1960's...
The Republicans were NOTHING like the party they are now, as they lay dying. Some of the seeds were there, like their hatred of hippies; but they had not yet claimed the catalyst that would be their undoing... those people were in the Democratic Party, and were known as the Dixiecrats. These people were the Southern white racists; the dumbest people in America... and they were LOUD, as stupid people usually are.
The Democratic Party properly assessed the situation. They realized that these people were a cancer in their party, and that the Democratic Party would not survive, if they were allowed too much say. They did what was right, and rejected the whims of the Dixiecrats, to push through the Voting Rights Act.
The Dixiecrats were now basically displaced from their Party... the Democrats had left them behind in the ditch, rolling around in shit, where they belonged.
Along came Richard Nixon; a virulent racist, himself. Projections were that he wouldn't have the numbers to win the Presidential election with the numbers as they were. So, what did he do?
He made an appeal to the DUMBEST people in America; the Dixiecrats that had been thrown away during the Civil Rights Era. With those added numbers, he was able to pull off the Presidency; and we all know where that ended up... *cough*Watergate*cough*
Despite Richard Nixon's indiscretions, the Republican Party realized the power of stupid people in large groups, and continued pandering to racists and Theocrats using dog-whistle messaging.
The problem is, the more they pandered to the stupid people, the more they took that as license to take over the party, which they slowly did through purity tests, purging the more moderate members over time.
As the stupid people took over more and more of the party, they started to see compromise as a BAD thing... they started to see it as capitulation and defeat; because, of course, stupid people are like like toddlers. When they don't get their way, they throw temper tantrums. This was largely visible during the W. Bush years; but has become GLARINGLY apparent since his departure. Since the Tea Party took over the party in 2010, Congress hasn't been able to get ANYTHING done, because the DUMBEST PEOPLE IN AMERICA won't let them.
Now, along comes Donald Trump... he saw how many bigots and morons have floated to the surface, since Barack Obama's election. The election of our first black President has caused them to go INSANE! Not only do they feel comfortable SCREAMING racist bullshit; they readily reject PROVEN facts, like Barack Obama's birth certificate... they support historical revisionism that allows them to remain comfortable in their racism, throughout the debate surrounding the Confederate flag... they reject science and call evolution a "religion"... they de-fund education, claiming that it is "liberal indoctrination"...
Quite literally, they KEEP themselves stupid, because it's more comfortable than challenging what they "know."
Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump has literally done almost exactly the same thing as Richard Nixon. He's pandered to the morons, because they have now taken over enough of the Republican Party to claim a majority in the party and push through the nomination of a Fascist, narcissistic, unapologetically racist douchebag.
Now that Ted Cruz and John Kasich have left the race, the Republican Party has had to face the reality that pandering to the racists and Theocrats (the aforementioned "DUMBEST people in America") may not have been the best idea.
If Richard Nixon would have just left those assholes to ROT, like he SHOULD HAVE, the Republican Party would have been able to retain the more moderate, sane people in their party, and the bigot trash would have just died off, because they wouldn't have had any choice but to conform, because their time would have been OVER!
But reality is what it is...
Richard Nixon did what he did...
The stupid people did what they did...
... and now, the Republican Party is FUCKED, and America is worse off for giving those assholes such a loud microphone for 4+ decades...
Trump will easily lose the general election in November. With all the remaining moderates burning their party affiliation cards, the Republican Party will no longer have enough voters to maintain a viable major party going forward. All they have left are the racists and the Theocrats; and those morons may be LOUD, but their loudness makes them APPEAR greater in number than they are.
Trump's nomination will drive DOWN Republican numbers (and possibly inflate Libertarian numbers), which will also have a big influence over the Congressional makeup. The Democrats stand to see MASSIVE gains in both the House and Senate, due to depressed Republican numbers.
Will another party come along to sweep these assholes up, perpetuating their stranglehold over our political system with their REFUSAL to get anything done?
... or, will they just be left to fester and die in illegitimacy?
How much will we be able to get done in their upcoming diminished capacity?
I wish I had answers to these questions... but I'm not a fortune teller... I'm just a guy looking at history and putting together the puzzle of how we got here now.
?
2016
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