More "largely peaceful" Portland protests

[Dill]

(08-14-2020, 03:11 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: This is essentially what has been done for a few decades now. I believe it was a memo from Gingrich that kicked this off where he advised for the use of more aggressive language when discussing political opponents with the intention of making them the enemy rather than just the other side of the aisle. The Democrats, instead of taking the high road, fell into the same pattern in many ways, but they've never been as good at it. His strategy works, too, and was one of the components to the efforts to take over all of the state houses and whatnot.

I think they have never been as good at it because most don't want to be. And their constituents will make them pay in most districts.

And there are no Democrats in the Trump class of demonization.

Gingrich is a good starting point for understanding this history of incivility as a tactic*, though I would say his pursuit of Wright in speeches on the House floor is when and where the line was first massively and publicly crossed at the national level. Dems mistakenly thought it would be over when Wright was gone, not realizing this new mode of scurrilous personal attack was a method.

*Some might want to take this all the way back Nixon/Agnew, or even McCarthy. But as these individuals didn't really much alter behavior on party-wide scale, Gingrich is probably the best choice.