re: #2 sizzzzlerz

Is there anyone still so naive and/or stupid to not be totally clear as to where the GOP is headed?

re: #3 Drive By Commenter

Yes. Bunches.

My own father is in denial of how extreme the GOP has become, even as he echoes much of the extremist rhetoric himself. A decade ago, he would’ve labeled this crap the extremism it is. Yet, he now espouses it himself, willfully ignorant of the irony even after I’ve tried to spell it out for him. All that matters to him in politics now is fitting into his group and demonizing “teh emeny.”

For example, he used to understand why unions were necessary, albeit with mixed feelings due to corruption scandals. Now, he labels all unions corrupt and cheers on union-busting, red state governors. He used to understand the importance of environmental protections. Now he denies human activity causes climate change.

The worst part of it for me is that I used to be that kind of RW extremist, back before it was “cool” within the GOP. I woke up not long before I noticed my father got sucked into it. Then again, he may have already been that way while I was still rubbing the crust from my eyes. Either way, I feel like I’ve helped push him into that direction. My efforts to try to talk sense to him are currently rebuffed with accusations of “drinking the kool-aid.” It doesn’t matter to him that we’ve switched places, that he’s the extremist and I’m the centrist. Well, maybe not quite centrist, but you can guess what I mean.

My point is, don’t assume what’s obvious to you about this ugliness is obvious to everyone. Denial is a very powerful thing. I know this, inside and out.

But, don’t give-up on reasoning with wingnuts long term. Yeah, they’re brick walls now, but seeds of doubt can grow big enough to crack the walls open. It just takes years. Arguably too many years, especially regarding climate change. Again, I know first-hand.