Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Christian Nationalists

 Jennifer Rubin runs down new polling that simply gives us another data point on the descent of the American Right into authoritarianism. She hypes it as an alarming poll, but it really needs to be understood as the composition of the current GOP. It's a god-bothering, Christianist movement that embraces authoritarianism in all of its guises: dominion of man over woman, humans over nature and white people over "others." It places America on a divine plane, which exempts it from criticism. To criticize America is to criticize - in a roundabout way - God Himself.

So, when Ron DeSantis wagers that he can become the GOP nominee by banning books, he's not making a bad bet. The GOP wants to be in charge of your life, your uterus, your bedroom. All while prattling on about freedom.

I think that's why I'm OK with an obviously aging Joe Biden being the nominee. He's just so freaking normal and these GOP Jeebus Freaks are simply not. The hidden meaning of the poll Rubin dissects is that most people do not hold these beliefs. That's the takeaway.

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