(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
"No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices." - Edward R. Murrow. [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-05-11
Perusing the 'internets' and social media these days, many appear to be baffled by the amount of intentional cruelty the Trump Administration, and the Republican Party, are inflicting on our country right now, searching for some rational 'method to the madness'.
But - as with everything else this political movement is engaged in - it's not that big a mystery.
This is simply what all fascist/authoritarian regimes do. They always target certain segments of society - starting with the most vulnerable - with brutality.
They do this for several reasons.
First, it's a classic form of domestic terrorism... to openly threaten the citizenry that if they get on the wrong side of the regime, they could be next. That's why they have their new 'gestapo' breaking down doors, snatching people off the street, and disappearing them into offshore gulags. Terrorism, by definition.
It also arouses the 'base', those fervent supporters of the movement. These are the same types of people who cheered the burning of 'witches', the torture of heretics, and the public lynching of black folk. They just love that stuff, for some odd reason, and can't get enough of it... as long as it's happening to 'those people'.
But the primary reason we see so much cruelty in today's GOP is the concept of "normalization". They want to create an environment where a certain amount of ruthlessness becomes the norm, and therefore acceptable.
This normalization is necessary in an authoritarian system because the movement itself typically starts out in the minority, and therefore depends on chaos and fear to perpetuate itself.
Unlike ordinary systems of government, where the goal is to govern in a manner that improves people's lives, the ongoing goal in a fascist system is the accumulation of power (and wealth) for power's sake.
Nothing else matters.
That's why intentional cruelty is a never-ending component. They need people continuously off kilter, fearful, and obsequious, so it becomes far more difficult for the majority to mount a defense.
Keep that in mind as this all plays out.
As is so often said, the cruelty is the point.
Let's not allow them to make it the norm.
[One of my local ‘letter to the editor’ series]
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/11/2321694/-No-one-can-terrorize-a-whole-nation-unless-we-are-all-his-accomplices-Edward-R-Murrow?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
