Quote:
Originally Posted by Chief Rum
I don't disagree with really any of you. It's an utter shitsjow on that side of the aisle. And that's why I'm checking out of that party. I'm just pointing out it's not as simple as "it's the white nationalist party" and saying so akin to making racist generalized statements about nearly half of the country, ironically.
Considering how the Dems are fighting so hard (correctly) against that sort of label, I thought it might be a good time to point out your hypocrisy.
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It's been a white nationalist party since Nixon made the conscious decision to pursue the "Southern Strategy" and place the grievance politics of white Southerners at the heart of his bid for the Presidency.
What it hasn't been is
overtly white nationalist until, oh, the last 17 years or so.
The dog whistle's been blown with regularity, but it wasn't until post-9/11 that the really virulent strain of white nationalism that currently infects the party as a policy matter began to rear its head.
Now, as others have pointed out, the GOP being, essentially, a white nationalist party doesn't mean all of its members are, themselves, white nationalists - but to the extent members remain who don't explicitly believe in that ideology, it's because they're wrapped up in defining themselves in opposition to Democrats; unable to see what's become of the party in the last 18 years; or unwilling to see.
Trump has repeatedly shown us that he approves of white nationalist ideology, even if he hasn't thrown up the Nazi salute and started singing the Horst Wessel song. He's shown us with the things he's retweeted, the people he's appointed, and the policies he's pursued.
The GOP has enabled that at every step, either because they ALSO approve, or because they're terrified of the response of Trump's supporters if they cross him.
To the extent that their enabling behavior is a terror response, that is an implicit admission that the base is ALSO substantially white nationalist.
There isn't a third option there. There is no world in which they disapprove of the President's policies, decline to try to thwart those policies, AND have no fear of political blowback from his base.
The party is what it is. The adherents who remain who are not, themselves, white nationalists have some soul searching to do, and it's not clear that they're willing to do it.