What does the future hold for Donald Trump? - threadbans in OP

everlast75 wrote: »

Interesting thread by Klass....

https://twitter.com/brianklaas/status/1393511811656396800?s=19


1. By replacing Cheney with Stefanik, the GOP has centered itself around a cult of personality, in which sacrificing principles and truth on the altar of Trumpism is required. It's a dynamic I've seen firsthand in dictatorships and authoritarian regimes.

2. Cheney was replaced for two reasons: 1) She broke with Trump during impeachment; and 2) She challenged the "Big Lie" about the 2020 election. The 2nd reason is far more sinister. She was purged because she wouldn't repeat the myths that now define Trump's cult of personality.

3. At the extreme end, cults of personality are absurd. (I've had to stand up to watch a short biopic glorifying the King of Thailand before watching the Hobbit). But I worry that many Americans are also underestimating how dangerous and destructive they are to democracy.

4. Cults of personality function as loyalty tests. By forcing people to display devotion by repeating lies about a leader, they effectively separate the zealots from the dissenters. But it means that principles and debate become secondary to dogmatic repetition of official myths.

5. Worse, they create a ratcheting effect for extremism. Stefanik correctly figured out that she could break out as a GOP star by debasing herself with highly visible displays of fealty to Trump. How do others now break out relative to Stefanik? Be more extreme than she is.

6. As @anneapplebaum (Washington Post author of a piece referenced here) explains, Poland offers a warning. Repeating a false conspiracy theory became a mechanism to show bona fides as a devoted member of the authoritarian "Law & Justice" party. Repeat the official myths, and you're in. That helped accelerate democratic breakdown.

7. It is quite literally the case that advancement in the Republican Party now comes with two tests: 1) Will you unequivocally praise Trump?; 2) Will you lie and say that he won the 2020 election? This dynamic is a watered down version of cults of personality in dictatorships.

8. Whatever you think about Cheney, it's a dangerous development for American democracy that a senior Republican leader was purged largely *because* she told the truth about the winner of the 2020 election. Voters should punish a party that punishes leaders for telling the truth.

Conservative PAC Club for Growth gives Rep. Ilhan Omar a higher conservative rating than the new House GOP conference chair, Rep. Elise Stefanik.

The Minnesota Democrat has a 38% conservative rating, according to Club for Growth, and Stefanik, R-N.Y., the new No. 3 Republican, scored 35%. Stefanik’s opponent in the GOP conference chair race, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, scored a perfect 100%, and was endorsed by the group. Stefanik also received relatively low scores from the American Conservative Union and the conservative group Heritage Action.

Stefanik, however, had the backing of former President Trump and other leading House Republicans. Stefanik voted against certifying the election in favor of President Biden but Roy did not.