The United States is in an alarming radicalization spiral that could realistically put an end to procedural democracy in the foreseeable future. Normally, the people who get blamed for this are conservatives, which is logical because right now they are the ones questioning the validity of future election results and gerrymandering local political institutions to give them the results they want. Seems bad. But radicalization needs some sort of a feedback mechanism to function, and I think that if there is going to be any way of breaking this doom-spiral it has to be pointed out that liberals have also played a role in ratcheting things up to this point. It’s not a question of the sides being equivalent: That doesn’t even matter in a practical sense if we’re just talking about keeping the rules of the game alive. At the end of the day, a democracy is really just a set of agreed rules for governing relations with people you lack other ties with, including people you strongly dislike. When you can’t annihilate your opponents – much as one may fervently dream – you need to at least understand what they’re talking about and where they’re coming from if you’re going to have a chance of steering away from a worst-case scenario of democratic rules simply collapsing.
It wasn't just the "Russiagate" that was like a bureaucratic coup. From the press to the FBI (which owned to it partially 6 years later, only to start the BS again as the Biden $10M allegations came out), to minor officials, to random government agencies, even the bloody National Park Service who made public announcements against the POTUS. Not to mention Twitter and Facebook and Apple deplatforming conservatives and removing Trump supporting posts left and right, even shutting down the presidents own account, something unheard off. And we know, now, from the internal communications exposed in the "twitter files", that this was coordinated.
Your premisses are all faulty, particularly with regard to what you call "Russia-gate". Your writing lends support to my hypothesis that the main fault of left-side denizens is a lack of critical thinking due to an insufficient civics education.
I normally do not post anything online, but your self-description as a "skeptical liberal" suggested a possibility for you of a more enlightened future, for "doubt is the handmaiden of truth".
It wasn't just the "Russiagate" that was like a bureaucratic coup. From the press to the FBI (which owned to it partially 6 years later, only to start the BS again as the Biden $10M allegations came out), to minor officials, to random government agencies, even the bloody National Park Service who made public announcements against the POTUS. Not to mention Twitter and Facebook and Apple deplatforming conservatives and removing Trump supporting posts left and right, even shutting down the presidents own account, something unheard off. And we know, now, from the internal communications exposed in the "twitter files", that this was coordinated.
My fellow American:
This article was referred via Pluribus.
Your premisses are all faulty, particularly with regard to what you call "Russia-gate". Your writing lends support to my hypothesis that the main fault of left-side denizens is a lack of critical thinking due to an insufficient civics education.
I normally do not post anything online, but your self-description as a "skeptical liberal" suggested a possibility for you of a more enlightened future, for "doubt is the handmaiden of truth".
Chris