The American Two Party system

[Dill]

(03-10-2023, 04:22 AM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: After reading the first post I came to say I think we may soon see the toppling of the two party system, because the GOP may fragment with the trumpets going one way and desanitized going another. But now I see this history and I guess nevermind.

Yes, in 1940 the Right was stronger, in control of most major news outlets, in a nation much more openly white supremacist. Then there was radio, where Christian nationalist Father Coughlin regaled 10s of millions of listeners with his warnings about the domination of Jewish bankers in the New Deal and affirmation of CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM. It was  warmonger JEWS who wanted us to go to war in Europe against another Christian nationalist nation, and to mongrelize "our" race and replace it with non-white immigration and political influence. It wasn't explicitly "racism" the U.S. was fighting against in WWII, when we interned Japanese (but not Italians and Germans) and sent a segregated army to war, though hard to get that from my school history books.

But the war decided a lot of things for most Americans, including much of its industrial/banking elite as well as the middle and working classes. 
The increasingly successful legal challenges to white supremacy might not have gone forward, or at least so quickly, had not we lost 400,000 dead
to fascism. Then the threat of another world war--this time against "worldwide communism! --kept our bases overseas, as plenty of right wingers were ok with fighting Commies anywhere, anytime, any way, including non-white developing countries no one had ever heard of and non-signatories to the Geneva Conventions.

Now we are again in a period with some parallels to the interwar years, when the Right targeted "war mongering internationalists" who linked us to communism and "international Jewish domination" via civil rights and union activism. Democracies were falling in Europe and fascist governments in Japan and Italy were sending mechanized industrial armies into developing countries to create new empires, linking up with similar illiberal governments via treaties and alliances. Leave "warmongers" but replace "internationalist" with "globalist" and "communist" with "socialist," and some rhetorical similarities with the present appear. The style of Hannity and Levin is very much like Coughlin's. Tucker continues the "replacement" concern--though all this is very "soft" compared to right-wing ideologues of the 30s, who feared no "canceling" from woke warriors and loudly proclaim themselves anti-racist (the "real" racists now being those who continue the civil rights struggle in their pushback against, e.g., voting restrictions).

Our current right is somewhat split, as there is still a neo-con presence among establishment and traditional Republicans, and an ant-Soviet hostility easily conflated the with now tending fascist Russia for them--though this is proportionally very small (no greater than 15%, if you trust Pew polling) and almost 100% anti-Trump. 

Which all brings me to one of my current concerns--the growing international illiberalism, the loss of so many established liberal democracies as autocrats recognize their common interests and now link up to contest a liberal international system. Domestically, the MAGA portion of our right seems uniquely susceptible to Russian/Putin propaganda against "globalists" etc. 

And that appears to be Fox's new direction--loudly undermining support for war against a Christian nationalist nation whose domestic "cultural war" priorities are so close to those of our own right. Even if we don't send billions in support of Ukraine to defend an international system predicated on rule of law, money so saved is NOT going to be suddenly re-directed to East Palestine if the Republicans can help. That's just asking rural Americans to embrace government help and--gasp!--socialism. But for now its ok for flyover American to imagine it is Biden and globalists preventing that with "handouts" to a very CORRUPT Ukrainianin government which (the mainstream news won't tell you) is riddled with fascist elements!