Actually Bush Jr. (Karl Rove and Roger Stone more precisely) did do a little mini one in Florida. There’s a whole conversation to be had over the pretty-much-validity of this meme as it could have been applied to the pre-W-era Republicans and Democrats, with the 2000 election as the ushering in of the new era. The Democrats started showing some tentative signs of being 1% working-class-supporting, which was kind of nice, and the Republicans gradually but steadily went about 500% over to the Nazi side to the point that they’re currently in “kill the vice president, military seize the voting machines” full throated fascist mode, making the application of this meme at this point a wholly bad-faith effort to influence the current election and throw it to a country-destroying fascist. Any other questions?
(Edit: Actually, even as far back ago as that, there’s an instructive example that can be drawn about this “both sides are the same” messaging. Back then the argument was about 1,000% more valid than it is today. But even so, if some of those activists who were smashing windows of Starbucks and fucking up the WTO (which I’m fine with, it’s a good and noble activity) had gone to bat for Al Gore the same way “activists” on the ground on the Republican side went to bat for W, maybe things would have been different. We’d have had Gore, a kooky weirdo who was so out-there that he was talking about climate change and what a big deal it was, in charge of the most powerful diplomatic and economic power in the world, back 24 years ago when there was a lot more time to mitigate the damage. But no. Both sides were the same, lots of activist energy on the left went into “anti establishment” activities instead of “within the establishment” activities, W got in office helped along by effective on-the-ground organizing by his people even though he lost the election, and here we fucking are.
I’m not blaming anyone who was politically active back then for the situation. Helping is helping, wherever it’s directed. I’m just pointing out a real concrete example of how both sides, even back then, were abso fucking lutely not the same, and highlighting a little preview of the by-now apocalyptic damage that can potentially be done by this messaging in the current election.)
Actually Bush Jr. (Karl Rove and Roger Stone more precisely) did do a little mini one in Florida. There’s a whole conversation to be had over the pretty-much-validity of this meme as it could have been applied to the pre-W-era Republicans and Democrats, with the 2000 election as the ushering in of the new era. The Democrats started showing some tentative signs of being 1% working-class-supporting, which was kind of nice, and the Republicans gradually but steadily went about 500% over to the Nazi side to the point that they’re currently in “kill the vice president, military seize the voting machines” full throated fascist mode, making the application of this meme at this point a wholly bad-faith effort to influence the current election and throw it to a country-destroying fascist. Any other questions?
(Edit: Actually, even as far back ago as that, there’s an instructive example that can be drawn about this “both sides are the same” messaging. Back then the argument was about 1,000% more valid than it is today. But even so, if some of those activists who were smashing windows of Starbucks and fucking up the WTO (which I’m fine with, it’s a good and noble activity) had gone to bat for Al Gore the same way “activists” on the ground on the Republican side went to bat for W, maybe things would have been different. We’d have had Gore, a kooky weirdo who was so out-there that he was talking about climate change and what a big deal it was, in charge of the most powerful diplomatic and economic power in the world, back 24 years ago when there was a lot more time to mitigate the damage. But no. Both sides were the same, lots of activist energy on the left went into “anti establishment” activities instead of “within the establishment” activities, W got in office helped along by effective on-the-ground organizing by his people even though he lost the election, and here we fucking are.
I’m not blaming anyone who was politically active back then for the situation. Helping is helping, wherever it’s directed. I’m just pointing out a real concrete example of how both sides, even back then, were abso fucking lutely not the same, and highlighting a little preview of the by-now apocalyptic damage that can potentially be done by this messaging in the current election.)