I don't think that we are laughing, TC. "THE KOOKS' ARE WINNING '. .... and 'KOOKS': 'An eccentric, strange or crazy person.' That is not like you, to call them 'KOOKS'. They are killers .The Republicans are hardly the only killers around. Take Putin, take the heads of the fossil fuel sector...we are flooded with killers. What about Clim…
I don't think that we are laughing, TC. "THE KOOKS' ARE WINNING '. .... and 'KOOKS': 'An eccentric, strange or crazy person.' That is not like you, to call them 'KOOKS'. They are killers .The Republicans are hardly the only killers around. Take Putin, take the heads of the fossil fuel sector...we are flooded with killers. What about Climate Change? That's some understatement. If they are 'WINNING' we are DYING.
We called them "kooks" back in the day, which is why I used the term, because thinking of them that way was how their reality - that of being killers - slipped past us.
Thank you for this post, TC -- especially for the long excerpt from Richard Hofstadter, arguably the most astute observer of American political culture since deTocqueville. His description of the "pseudo-conservative" is chillingly spot-on, even seventy years later.
I suppose we should have been alerted to the growing power of "kooks" when Ronald Reagan was elected president. But in an eerie harbinger of the Trump years, we comforted ourselves with an expectation that establishment Republicans would restrain Reagan's kookier impulses.
In it are listed the ordinary good-faith Republicans who stood-up to the kooks when it mattered most, in the days following the 2020 election. They're all gone now, of course. But we mustn't forget their example. Their quiet, determined loyalty to the Constitution is an inspiration to all of us. And we'll surely need it, as this struggle is never over.
Let's face it, folks. Our democratic Republic is only as strong as we are willing to make it ourselves.
great quote, Fern. I'm just not sure it COMPLETELY applies. the past DOES illuminate the future for a LOT of us. like everybody here, for example.
this is me being a little, uhh...well not exactly OPTIMISTIC but not quite so nihilistic just yet. and this is me talking on a day in which it became obvious that my debit card was compromised. I wonder how the fuck THAT happened. me not going crazy, I mean.
Good to see you, David, and you come with a warm-hearted joke on yourself and a less dark outlook than mine. That's as surprising as you not going crazy about your compromised debit card. You truly brought a smile to my face. Big thank you to the sly and slinky David Levine!!
that "sly and slinky" made my day. and, very possibly my next month. or even my next quarter...
as for those Birchers back then...the only available term was "kooks," because they WERE and still ARE. it just never could have occurred to us that there was any real possibility they'd actually have any real influence in the actual day-to-day operation of the government. as I recall, even Goldwater had to make some kind of statement in which he disowned any relationship with the Birchers. THAT'S how fucking crazy they were (and, alas, ARE). does anybody else remember (this is a rhetorical question) the whole "Eisenhower is a knowing paid agent of the Russian Communist party." I THINK I got that right.
actually, I'm saying exactly what Tom is saying, so I might as well keep quiet and LISTEN. I sure do wish Substack had an italics option...using caps instead of italics makes me feel like I'm always SHOUTING.
ououou...Slinky, calling them 'kooks' that's the ilk of you and TC. and the other kookies. Take the blame, and stop passing it on to 'them'. They may be crazy, and, so is Trump, so they're crazy killers. History is full of them, but there's no solace it that. Stop them from 'winning' and stop misnaming them. That's part of how we got here, and it's far worst now.
See you around, sly and slinky, David Levine! We'll meet again, after we put the killers to sleep.
I don't think that we are laughing, TC. "THE KOOKS' ARE WINNING '. .... and 'KOOKS': 'An eccentric, strange or crazy person.' That is not like you, to call them 'KOOKS'. They are killers .The Republicans are hardly the only killers around. Take Putin, take the heads of the fossil fuel sector...we are flooded with killers. What about Climate Change? That's some understatement. If they are 'WINNING' we are DYING.
We called them "kooks" back in the day, which is why I used the term, because thinking of them that way was how their reality - that of being killers - slipped past us.
Thank you for this post, TC -- especially for the long excerpt from Richard Hofstadter, arguably the most astute observer of American political culture since deTocqueville. His description of the "pseudo-conservative" is chillingly spot-on, even seventy years later.
I suppose we should have been alerted to the growing power of "kooks" when Ronald Reagan was elected president. But in an eerie harbinger of the Trump years, we comforted ourselves with an expectation that establishment Republicans would restrain Reagan's kookier impulses.
Today's issue of The Bulwark has another article worth reading, "Where Are the GOP Heroes Now?" (https://morningshots.thebulwark.com/p/where-are-the-gop-heroes-now).
In it are listed the ordinary good-faith Republicans who stood-up to the kooks when it mattered most, in the days following the 2020 election. They're all gone now, of course. But we mustn't forget their example. Their quiet, determined loyalty to the Constitution is an inspiration to all of us. And we'll surely need it, as this struggle is never over.
Let's face it, folks. Our democratic Republic is only as strong as we are willing to make it ourselves.
.
Our democratic Republic is only as strong as we are willing to make it ourselves.
Exactly right.
When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.
___Alexis de Tocqueville
great quote, Fern. I'm just not sure it COMPLETELY applies. the past DOES illuminate the future for a LOT of us. like everybody here, for example.
this is me being a little, uhh...well not exactly OPTIMISTIC but not quite so nihilistic just yet. and this is me talking on a day in which it became obvious that my debit card was compromised. I wonder how the fuck THAT happened. me not going crazy, I mean.
Good to see you, David, and you come with a warm-hearted joke on yourself and a less dark outlook than mine. That's as surprising as you not going crazy about your compromised debit card. You truly brought a smile to my face. Big thank you to the sly and slinky David Levine!!
ooooo....Fern
that "sly and slinky" made my day. and, very possibly my next month. or even my next quarter...
as for those Birchers back then...the only available term was "kooks," because they WERE and still ARE. it just never could have occurred to us that there was any real possibility they'd actually have any real influence in the actual day-to-day operation of the government. as I recall, even Goldwater had to make some kind of statement in which he disowned any relationship with the Birchers. THAT'S how fucking crazy they were (and, alas, ARE). does anybody else remember (this is a rhetorical question) the whole "Eisenhower is a knowing paid agent of the Russian Communist party." I THINK I got that right.
actually, I'm saying exactly what Tom is saying, so I might as well keep quiet and LISTEN. I sure do wish Substack had an italics option...using caps instead of italics makes me feel like I'm always SHOUTING.
There's a lot to shout about, unfortunately. Yeah, you got Welch's quote about Ike right.
ououou...Slinky, calling them 'kooks' that's the ilk of you and TC. and the other kookies. Take the blame, and stop passing it on to 'them'. They may be crazy, and, so is Trump, so they're crazy killers. History is full of them, but there's no solace it that. Stop them from 'winning' and stop misnaming them. That's part of how we got here, and it's far worst now.
See you around, sly and slinky, David Levine! We'll meet again, after we put the killers to sleep.
Buckley thought he could keep the kooks out. But he was tolerant of the ones who looked “respectable.”
Too bad they weren’t recognized back then for what they really are.
Yes.