LOL sorry to shoehorn this in, I read the first two paragraphs of a WSJ op-ed today (I don't give them money anymore)

Rhetorical question: are there any editorial boards that aren't shit, that haven't been shit since William Randolph Hearst was giving his mistress' clitoris pet names or before? I would argue that the WSJ editorial board at least has moral clarity: they are evil and make no bones about it. The NYT editorial board, on the other hand, is evil but pretends to be good. They are concern-trolling us into totalitarianism.

Paraphrasing: "Reason #2: Trump's J6 behavior gave democrats a cudgel to hammer him with". Not the actual behavior itself, just the fact that it makes Trump weaker, politically. Faschy af.

You have to convince Democrats to vote Democratic. Their default is dudgeon and outrage with the party on their voter registration, with the organization that fundraises off of them, that when they vote, they vote for without fail. On the other hand, you have to convince Republicans not to vote Republican - they'll toe the party line and absolve their guy of any crime and if they have any misgivings they'll secretly not vote.

This has had the effect of peeling support away from the Democrats as they've drifted to center, and the effect of peeling the Republicans away from the center as they've become more and more criminal. The reason you're confused is that in your head, "support the candidate" is subordinate to "candidate has earned support." In the Republican mind, "support the candidate" is a fundamental underpinning of the Republican identity. "I'm not voting for the candidate" in Republican-speak is equivalent to "I support fascism" in Democrat-speak.

This is why the Jan 6 Committee stuff is so important: They're trying to change the definition of Republican. Nobody has ever accused anyone else of being a "democrat in name only" - Republicans fight all the time about who has the conch, who holds the scepter, who speaks for the tribe. This is why the Republicans became a fascism buffet the minute Trump had the nomination, and why Ted Cruz sat there phone-banking like a lapdog for a man who said his dad shot Kennedy and called his wife ugly.

Democrats value the ability to put forth logical, empathetic policies. Republicans value winners.

I'm still racking my brains to understand what the secret appeal of fascism is to the libertarian crowd

LOL the two most important beliefs of libertarianism are (1) "no one can tell me what to do" (2) "I don't have to care about anyone else."

If you're a white male, the fundamental outcome of Republican fascism is to make things a fuckton worse for non-white non-males.

All three of my Uber drivers in Seattle were differing versions of nonwhite pro-Trump immigrants. It's a global thing (and apparently Latinos in the Rio Grande valley).

nothing wierd about that

But I also think MAGA has been successfully packaged as anti-regulation, but that's simply not true.

in the liberal mindset, justifications are the logical underpinnings of the belief. In the conservative mindset, justifications are the backstop that allows you to stop thinking about it. "I like money, Republicans like money, therefore anything a Republican says about money is true." Prior to William F. Buckley the conservative mindset supported a welfare state because it forced the government to deal with the Poors, thereby permitting captains of industry to get their industry on.

The fact that many libertarians are in no way bothered by the Roe repeal says a lot.

(1) "no one can tell me what to do" (I demonstrably lack a uterus) (2) "I don't have to care about anyone else" (the uterine class is not my problem)

Sorry, I think most libertarians are simply conservatives who don't want the stigma they've rightly sensed exists towards the conservative movement.

NIH estimates that 6.2% of the population could be clinically diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The PRRI polling above indicates that 7% of the population is libertarian. Is that a false correlation? mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmayyyyyyybe?

does it feel truthy tho