For the US right wing, the first 20 years of the 21st century have been a story of ever-increasing radicalization. No doubt the seeds were always there, but this descent into bad craziness was what brought me back to my senses after 9/11. I saw the degradation happening up close and I fucking hated it - I hated the increasingly open racism and Islamophobia, dumbass anti-science crap-think, and caveman attitudes toward women. Eventually it got so repulsive, I just had to make a break from that crowd. And I’ve never regretted it.