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Bern's avatar

Having lived thru Reagan as governor (and the horror of watching him and his handlers/minions heading to DC) I can safely say that if you were my age then, you'd have made all these arguments then too. The Republicans by that time had given up all pretense of serious thought except for 'hoover all the money, consolidate all the power'. Everything was lies – nothing was defensible from a logical or substantive standpoint. But it was clear they knew all that, and continued on because they also knew that without lies they were nothing. That's what I was telling anyone who would listen by around 1980. And the lies are the point – they are the touchstones of the movement (and place Republicanism firmly in the line of succession from Mussolini, Hitler, Hirohito, Stalin...) The only thing they can't pull off is the operatic performance. And don't bother to suggest Trump's an exception – he's just a bad standup comic.

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John Smart's avatar

Lordy, John - you nail it (almost) every single time. This post is spot on.

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