Republicans have been grooming their base for at least 2 decades. They started with all of the Clinton conspiracies and from there went to denying science. Like the Russians, they found out how easily their core of support could be manipulated and was willing to believe anything no matter how irrational.
Rejection of the science behind climate change morphed into rejection of any science that they didn’t agree with. What was to become the Republican Death Cult (RDC) joined forces with the “anti” or CAVE people. (Citizens Against Virtually Everything.) They embraced them into the RDC and encouraged them. They can not only reject the science of vaccines but be glorified for doing so.
Science is whatever they say it is.
Trigger
Initially I spent a lot of hours, we’re talking in the hundreds if not thousands over the years, chasing down all the conspiracies. In the process of doing so I learned some things.
The first thing that I learned is the Republican and Russian operatives alike can make up stuff faster than it can be debunked. A lot of the stuff is just repackaged with a few changes and circulated again. Or just complete fabrications are cranked out to the waiting Gohmerts, Gaetzes, Greenes and Boeberts of the world.
It doesn’t have to be real.
The second and main thing that I learned is that the core Republican base isn’t even remotely interested in the truth. They respond to dog-whistle trigger words like socialism, communism, liberals, constitution, rule-of-law, immigrant, gangs, patriots, mandates, etc. They don’t have to know what the words mean. They just know how they’re supposed to Pavlov when they hear the code words and whistles.
That’s the beauty of it.
The right wing Evangelical Party came into the Republican fold early on in the game as did the White Nationalists. They knew a man of their cloth. The Evangelicals traded their faith for political power in pursuit of a conviction that they defined if not an outright theocracy or government that they controlled through their voting block.
The stage was set.
Fertile ground
What they didn’t know but should have guessed is that they prepared the grounds for a multi-billionaire pauper like Donald Trump. A supposed ‘man of the people’ who won’t associate with the people other than at rallies or photo ops because they are too low class. Their base was primed and anxious for his casual racism, hatred of immigrants and anti-Muslim dogmas.
His dogmas were their dogmas.
To his credit Trump recognized the lay of the land early on and capitalized on it politically and economically. All that he had to do was remain his vulgar crass unintellectual self. There were and yet remain hundreds of millions of dollars to be made off of them. The game was rigged in his favor.
Now that Trump’s reign is over the RDC has come to realize that they no longer control the RDC. After Trump’s Cullman, Alabama speech it’s apparent that he may not be in complete control either. Right after he told people that they should get vaccinated because he had been there was a smattering of boos. Yes, the man that takes the credit for getting the vaccine was booed by the very people that applauded him for doing it. He tarnished his image by doing something right. They booed him for it.
It doesn’t matter though. There are plenty of more Trumps. They’re waiting in the leather wings of the RDC. Men like DeSantis and Pompeo are not so patiently waiting at the gate.
Ready to out-Trump Trump.
Their America
The Constitution of the RDC says that they are free to do whatever they say regardless of anything. It’s their Constitution and their Constitution says they have right to endanger others. Their Constitution says that they’re being patriotic for trying to overthrow our Republic. All the idiotic things they do they do in the name of….
F R E t E o D b U e M B