5 ms·
This is the result of a bi-partisan effort[0], to divide the country, and keep our focus away from the concerns of the donor class. First, Ronald Reagan's advi
by mikewarot 10d ago
This is the result of a bi-partisan effort[0], to divide the country, and keep our focus away from the concerns of the donor class.
First, Ronald Reagan's adviser Lee Atwater[1], advocated for the use of wedge issues, such as the mythical "Welfare Queen"[2], to erode support for the social safety net. Reagan's FCC commission decided end the Fairness Doctrine[3], which helped maintain the public consensus in the mainstream. In my strong opinion, it was a huge mistake, along with Trickle down economics. However, considering the traitorous nature of Reagan's administration[4,5], I guess it's to be expected.
Hillary and Bill Clinton went along with things, and came up with the strategy of "Triangulation"[6], in which they used wedge issues as a way of staking out a political position, without actually needing to care for their base. This resulted in a wave of virtue signaling[7] and political correctness[8], and an end to actual support of the social safety net. Examples of this include "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as official policy in the US Military.[9]
When Hillary Clinton and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz rigged the 2016 Democratic Primary[10], they shunted the backlash against all of this that Bernie Sanders was channeling, and gave us Donald Trump, who is a master of exploiting it.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_strategy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_strategy
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Atwater https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Atwater
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_queen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_queen
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_doctrine#Revocation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_doctrine#Revocation
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_October_Surprise_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_October_Surprise_theory
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle-down_economics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle-down_economics
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation_(politics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation_(politics)
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_signalling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_signalling
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_correctness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_correctness
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell
[10] https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/02/clinton-brazile-hacks-2016-215774/ https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/02/clinton-b...