Yikes - 4 out of 10 Republicans favor political violence to achieve their aims

Nah. Some are merely collaborators. The rest stand silently by, didn’t seek reelection, were primaried out by delusional fascists, or spent the past four years having a cry-in with centrists. They’re not all enemies.

But hey, keep painting with that broad brush; they’re are no mistakes, just happy little accidents. BRB, someone with a noose is pointing a gun at my family. /Fe+H2SO4 (when regular sarcasm isn’t strong enough)

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We get it, your personal experience disagrees with this poll. Please stop reposting the same thing over and over, this isn’t a post about you.

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the right (at least 40% of them, anyway): I want to disappear gays, create a white ethnic enclave, and to enforce a rigid winner-takes-all hierarchy

the left: I want to stop that by all means, up to and including punching people who advocate ethnic cleansing and murder.

a genius: both sides! polarization!

the problem is not polarization. the problem is systemic injustice and those who would enforce it. calls to civility in the face of oppression is siding with the oppressor.

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Yes. A lot of appeasers and “good Germans” in the Dem establishment in addition to the kapos, poltroons, and opportunists in the GOP establishment. Such is the zentrum that allows the other groups I mentioned to take power.

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For the last 40 years, all I’ve seen is Republicans (who are no longer conservative) claiming that Democrats call them the enemy, and using that claim to ‘prove’ that Democrats are the enemy.

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The other 6 are out of touch with the modern Republican party.

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The paraphrase Jim Mattis (yes, I’m keenly aware of the irony), the enemy gets a vote.

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If this is how Christian majorities wind up, one can understand the repression of Christianity in countries where they remain the minority. Not much different from ISIS et. al., just more neighborly?

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I still haven’t found anything that explains how they get away with the endless projection. They hate victims, and claim none is to be believed…until something bothers them, at which point they claim to be the “real” victims. They engage in childish behavior like name-calling, tantrums, and refusing to listen to others…then demand civility from everyone else. Given audio, video, and eyewitness accounts of an event, they’ll call that fake news…while statements confirmed to blatant lies told by a member of their party are the truth, or “alternative facts.” Just like when dealing with children, you will rarely get one to admit they were wrong. They demonize anyone who disagrees with them, even members of their own party who refuse to be as extreme as they wish.

There were a few GOP strategists who attempted to apologize for their role in the previous administration. The common excuse was that they were so focused on winning and “owning” their opponents, the candidate didn’t matter. After the sweet smell of success quickly turned into a miasma of mendacity, some were horrified and tried to undo the damage. Rick Wilson’s take on that is here:

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It is not at all surprising to me that the percentage is that high, the party is clearly insurrectionist at this point.

That said…while I am not at allclaiming equivalence, when you put these sentences next to each other:

4 out of 10 Republicans favor political violence

2 out of 3 Americans reject political violence

Then it seems odd not to mention that this implies that something like 20-25% of Democrats must also favor political violence (approximate, could be higher or lower depending on people not identifying as either major party), which does align with at least the rhetoric I encounter in a lot of forums. It’s very easy to argue that their reasons are different, and more just, or not supported by party leadership, and I would agree with many of those arguments. I’m not even sure how I would answer the poll question, as it would depend on the exact phrasing and the phrasing of the questions around it (I admit I didn’t dig into that) and my mood at the time. It just seems important to point out that this is on the order of a 2:1 ratio, and not like a 10:1 ratio, between those two sides.

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“stacked against conservatives and people with traditional values.”

Also, that’s the way things are supposed to go - when things change, things change. When the world moves on from ‘conservatives’ and ‘traditional values’, then guess what?

It’s like that XKCD about free speech - when most people disagree with you it doesn’t mean they’re oppressing you. It just means your ideas aren’t mainstream anymore and it’s time to move on.

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Yep, raised red state, this is nothing new. 40 years of RW radio (with increasing hysterics) plus whatever periodicals prior to that and people are suddenly surprised that this is a thing.

Parents have always spoken of Democrats as Teh Evil since I can recall (as a 50+year old).

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Correct! The apparent Tantrum Three mental age is always disconcerting, coming from people who claim to represent the “real nation” or “moral majority” or what have you.
But here’s a relevant quote from R.Wolffe:
“It is long past time to admit the blindingly obvious: the Republican party has been hijacked by fascist extremists. It is now a far-right organization in league with neo-Nazis who have made it painfully clear they want to overthrow democracy and seize power, using violence if necessary”.

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Where did you see that? On FoxNews? :ok_hand:t2:

Where were you Jan 6th 2021?

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Not at a political disadvantage, but it’s helpful to remember “traditional values” conservatives have been losing ground for decades (a good thing).

I think it’d behoove us to call some of the GOP members who intend to vote against impeachment to tell them about this survey and ask which of these mindsets they support.

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Same as it ever was; they just no longer care enough to maintain a facade…

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It gets worse - 3 in 10 believe in QAnon conspiracy theories.

The survey, which was conducted by the conservative American Enterprise Institute, reported 29% of Republicans and 27% of white evangelicals — the most of any religious group — believe the widely debunked QAnon conspiracy theory is completely or mostly accurate.

Remember when it was supposed to be all about small government and so-called fiscal responsibility?

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Not really, no.

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Insert air quotes where appropriate.

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