About me and Nazis:
Back in 1906 my great-grandpa and his family emigrated to the UK from the part of the Russian empire that became Poland in 1918.
A bunch of their relatives said "naah, life's good" and stayed home in the old country.
In 1939, Nazis invaded and by 1943 they were all dead.
It turns out that FAFO is a REALLY BAD way of dealing with Nazis.
And Trump and J. D. Vance are playing a medley from Hitler's hymn book, at ever-increasing volume.
You know how this ends—if you let it.
@cstross I think it’s abysmally clear that the racists had to wait until ever WW2 veteran had died before they got any traction. Can you imagine Bob Dole, Daniel Inoue, Bush Sr, or even Ronald Reagan putting up with anybody spouting the current Trump xenophobia? I cannot
@Seanochicago @cstross George Wallace, Strom Thurmond, all the Dixiecrats, and their follow-on groups sure would. And probably Nixon.
This is not new.
@Seanochicago @cstross Maybe what’s new is that these days it appears constrained to a single political party. 60 years ago both parties were going for it.
@Seanochicago @cstross Many of them are just letting their lust for power overrule their knowledge of history. Mitch McConnell is reported to have thought that Trump would fade away after 2020. Newt Gingrich has a doctorate in European history, concentrating on the Belgian Congo, that paradigm of liberal, benevolent colonialism… Elise Stefanik used to be a moderate conservative. And look at where people like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley got their Lord degrees. They know better; they just don't care.
@SteveBellovin They do care. They want exactly that.
@Seanochicago @cstross Bob Dole supported Trump in 2016 and 2020, so he was willing to accept a lot of racism and xenophobia.
@Seanochicago @cstross you mean Ronald "I'm laughing at gay cancer" Regan?
Yes. Yes I can.
@blackcoat @Seanochicago @cstross
Yeah, this is the thing: it’s easy to turn your back on disgusting Fascists. But the polite ones are the ones who do the most harm.
@blackcoat
Yeah, fucking this. The people who tolerated Goldwater and Nixon were always going to end up here.
@Seanochicago @cstross
@dymaxion @Seanochicago @cstross I still think that Ford pardoning Nixon is the gravest sin in modern US politics. Not letting the office get tarnished and showing everyone who wants that power that you can be held accountable for your crimes even if you take it has, I think, empowered every president or aspirant to that office since.
@Seanochicago @cstross I can assure you Reagan would be fine with the racism & xenophobia. Its the pro russian stuff he’d shut down. The only joy donald gives me is knowing Reagan is spinning in his grave having a putin puppet in the white house.
@Seanochicago @cstross I can imagine it, easily. Buzz Aldrin is a Trumper. Not quite WW II generation but very close. Because the Muskrat, and rockets. My Dad was a WW II veteran who died in 2012. In his last decade he was consuming straight-up Fox News constantly. And so on.
@Seanochicago The xenophobia? Hell, yes.
The running around waving swastika flags & openly admiring Hitler? Hell, no.