@hcrichardson.bsky.social did an excellent article that breaks down when and why this change occurred in her Substack "Letters From An American". Have you ever heard of the "Movement Conservatives"?

They really only had that platform because the FDR/New Deal Democrats and their descendants still held sway back then.

If we're going full Wolfenstein in this mf, then I'm about to become BJ Blazkowicz himself.

I also am reminded of Valery Legasov and what he went through during the Chernobyl disaster. I'll never forget, "Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid." Unfortunately, we have a government led by someone infamous for not paying his debtors.

And I don't think he ever let that feeling of humiliation go. His niece, @maryltrump.bsky.social, wrote about it in that book she put out during his first term, which he tried to stop from being published.

And eventually, his older brother, Fred Jr., had enough and picked up a large bowl of mashed potatoes and dumped it on his head. Everyone laughed, except for Donald.

Absolutely. Let me tell you the "Mashed Potatoes Incident" that's become something of a legend within the Trump family. It happened when Donald was 8. He had been bullying his infant brother, Robert at the dinner table. He wouldn't stop.

Well, in an age such as this one, where the prospect of masked assailants busting into my home to bag and drag me off to a camp where nobody will ever find me is a very real threat, I'd feel better if I had some way to protect myself and my family.

Funny, I expected them to go the opposite way.

I'm a cis straight white male with autism. If they can take guns from trans people, they'll eventually get around to me. No. Either EVERYONE can have guns, or nobody can.

Any trans friends with firearms should immediately go full "COME AND TAKE IT" mode.

They want to talk about flooding the zone? How about we flood their zone with primary challengers? How's THAT for "flood the zone", Steve Bannon?

By the time the general election rolls around, red voters in red districts have a collective seizure and just vote (R) down the ballot. That's all they pay attention to.

So, what do we do? We steal the GOP out from under MAGA's nose. We run in their primaries. We vote in their primaries. And the best part? You don't have to change who you are, what your values are, or the principles that guide your decision-making.

Let me explain. Did you know that only about 24% of voters vote in the primaries? Primary participation is even worse in heavily gerrymandered states. Typically, Republicans win when fewer people vote, and in the primary races, particularly for House and Senate, the incumbent wins fairly often.

Exactly. I'd say "I'm in the Republican Party", not "I'm a Republican". Very distinct difference.

Now, I will say that I'm scared of them trying, but I'm not scared that they're going to succeed, because they won't. You cannot simply apply engineer solutions to what are complex societal issues. It will never work how they expect it to.

But people don't work like that. People are not machines, communities are not computer networks, and society is not a piece of software. They don't comprehend that, for all their supposed superiority.