Republicans vs. democracy
For traditionally patriotic Americans, rule of law is sacrosanct. But leading Republicans don’t agree.
- They show this through authoritarian rhetoric, like “treason”, “enemies of the people”, “lock her up”, “human scum”, “fake judges” and “I have the right to do whatever I want”.
- They show it through dictatorial actions, such as defiance of Congress, open (and openly reciprocated) partisanship in judicial appointments, criminal-law harassment of the FBI officials who investigated them, and the whole mess with Ukraine.
And so the November, 2020 United States election will be desperately important. Republicans are sabotaging our democracy, and have done it much damage. So they must be temporarily removed from power, long enough for the system to be substantially repaired. This is essential at the national level, president and Congress alike. It is vital in individual states as well.
The importance of such repair is impossible to overstate; democratic government, once lost, can take a very long time to restore. Vladimir Putin was first elected president with 53% of the vote. He hasn’t given up power since. The Romans accepted an emperor in 27 BC, and next had a republic in 1798. And China’s model of slightly-free high-tech tyranny seems appallingly well-designed.
Democrats should message against Republican betrayals, far beyond what is being said about impeachment. But how should we tell this story? The extremism frame, which works for much anti-Republican messaging, is a poor fit here – for when democracy itself is at risk, the good guys should be even more extreme than the bad. Instead I suggest two closely-related concepts: “Republicans like dictators(hip)” and “Republicans dislike democracy.”
Notes on “Republicans like dictators(hip)” start:
- That message covers a lot of Trump domestic gambits and his fellow Republicans’ shocking support of same.
- It also covers Trump’s fondness for foreign dictators.
- The point can have multiple phrasings. For example:
- When it’s about foreigners, it’s about actual dictators.
- But when it’s about domestic transgressions, it’s about a potential dictatorship in the frighteningly near future.
- The relevant verb can be anything from “conspire” (for the most direct wrongdoing) to “(dis)like” or “support” to “accept” or “tolerate.” Sometimes Republicans do terribly wrong things; sometimes they just say weaselly things and fail to stop wrongdoing.
As for “Republicans dislike democracy” – that includes:
- All the vile anti-democratic things Republicans and conservative commentators say.
- The craziest things Trump Administration lawyers write.
- Anything that sounds like a desire for theocracy.
- Some of the consequences of partisan judges.
- A whole lot of things Republicans do to keep power in individual states.
Specific Republican offenses to highlight could include:
- Their decades-long demonization of Democrats and liberals in the harshest of terms – “feminazis”, “libtards”, “human scum”, hatred of America, hatred of families, and all the rest.
- Their decade-long demonization of the press, which quickly degenerated from “lamestream media” to “enemies of the people”, “scum”, and “treason”.
- Their slavish support of Trump’s attempts to put his political enemies in jail.
- The many, many ways in which they trample on election fairness, including:
- Gerrymandering.
- Overzealous purges of the voter rolls.
- All the other roadblocks – including in some cases literal police ones – Republicans put up against non-white voters.
- Russian election interference, which happened.
- Ukrainian election interference, which Trump and Giuliani solicited.
You surely can think of other examples as well.
Related links
- Nancy Pelosi made the patriotic case brilliantly in the same impeachment-related press conference that ended with the instantly famous “hate” exchange.
- Donald Trump has been authoritarian-oriented from the get-go.
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[…] Of course, all simple positioning or messaging strategies have drawbacks. For one thing, as I wrote in my post about slamming Republicans for their liking of dictators(hips) and their dislike of democracy: […]
If you look historically, there is a smattering of dictator-loving in both parties. That said, the impulse toward authoritarianism does have some party affiliation.
Hitler and isolationism were clearly Republican stances prior to Pearl Harbor.
Supporting “anti-communist” dictators around the world was something Democrats felt they had to do in order to avoid being pilloried as soft on communism.
Some of the more-fun coups/installations were done under Republican presidents. Think Mohammad Reza Palavi and Augusto Pinochet.
[…] may ask? The strongest message I have, as mentioned above and spelled out in another post, is that our democratic freedoms are at stake. If your intended audience isn’t likely to understand or acknowledge that danger, yet another […]
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