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RRDRRD's avatar

Matt,

You keep adding to your knowledge base but need to release those things you “knew” that never were really true.

What do I mean by “really true”? For example, hardcore evangelicals who have not found a way to balance their faith with reality can be embarrassing. That said, the occasional eruption of a small town school board that oversteps its bounds is not worthy of armies of journalists and has not been a legitimate threat to our liberties for decades. It is appropriate to oppose it but the risk and the response has never been proportionate to outrages from the left. In this sense, that threat was never really true - it was gnat biting an elephant.

The fascist, racist, anti-intellectual nature of the American political left has been on display (to those open to seeing it) since at least the 1960s. After a pretty good run in the 50’s, working with the majority of Republican leaders to make serious improvements in civil rights, leftists succumbed to their ingrained belief that people of color could only thrive under widespread government control of their lives.. A welfare state initiated by demonstrably racist Democrats and (reportedly) acknowledged by LBJ to have been created to subjugate Blacks was one of the earliest signs.

Bizarre, Malthusian claims about impending environmental demise (that has been routinely refuted by the passage of time), followed along with ever increasing demands for control of the means of production by governmental central planners. Dependence on dubious court decisions and executive orders increasingly replaced the legislative process (and the related inconvenience of open debate and compromise – instead, let’s just allow 1-5 people to dictate fundamental changes to government policy). A mind shattering devolution of the education system was also part of the leftist agenda, vastly expanding the number of innumerate people, unschooled in critical thought and indoctrinated to anti-historical and unscientific dogma.

So, when you preface your belated recognition of the current terrible risks to our republic with “Things we once despised about the right have been amplified a thousand-fold on the flip”; you are missing the historical reality of the last 50-60 years. The faults on the right – as legitimate as it was to acknowledge and oppose them – were vastly exaggerated (often by your employers) while the leftist behaviors you are just seeing now have always been 100s of times worse (I will concede that breaking 1000 times is a recent development).

This did not happen overnight or even during the Trump administration. This has been something that 40-60% of the American people have seen – and warned you about – to varying degrees for a long time. Until you acknowledge this, you will not understand the degree of risk the country faces.

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Apollo's avatar

I've long been a fan, but the vitriol of the comments on your twitter post finally pushed me into subscribing and supporting you.

I share your skepticism of both the political left and right, and probably for similar reasons. It seems that moderate liberals—in the traditional sense—might find a better home with conservatives at the moment? They seem to at least have respect for my perspective and I see more hope for compromise, moderation, and positive evolution, especially in a post Trump world. Thoughts?

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