The GOP and American Nazis

[Chris James]

Hard to believe, isn't it, but the politics in this country has gone insane. 

https://thinkprogress.org/20000-illinois-republicans-voted-for-nazi-7bbeeb7631fd/

Of course, this was just a primary vote but it says a lot about the people who would cast their ballots for a Nazi. That's 20,000 people without functioning brain cells even as their own party leadership condemned the man. Any wonder why Trump ended up in the White House? 

[William King]

I appreciate your point, but I'm not sure that it's hard to believe. There is a growing movement of nationalism around the world, from Russia, through Europe, so it's not too surprising to find this in America. Things start with nationalism and finish with a dictatorship which persecutes minorities. We've seen it before, we are seeing it now in Russia, where Putin wants a fifth term. The one thing America has going for it, is that it's a big country dedicated to freedom, I could never see the USA as a dictatorship!

[Cole Parker]

My guess is that people who'd vote that way—and a lot of Trump's base, too—feel disenfranchised with the way America had been going.  They suddenly feel free to speak up and voice their frustrations because they have a lout in the White House doing the same.  We do have problems, of course.  Too many jobs lost to automation or going oversees in search of cheap labor, too many jobs remaining that don't pay enough to support a middle class lifestyle, the emergence of women and gays to positions of equality in our society  (which to them lowers their own standing in the community), too much regulation of guns (which they see as taking away one of their freedoms) — there are certainly many more objections they have with the status quo.  But how that'd be fixed by putting a Nazi in charge blows my mind.  Look what the advent of Trump has brought, then multiply in by ten, or a hundred.

All the problems these people see have better solutions than what would be available under a dictatorship, which is what a Nazi would eventually bring to the table.

C

[ChrisR]

It's also important to note the political makeup of the Illinois 3rd. The Democrats haven't lost the Congressional seat there but once since 1959. On last year's Republican ticket no Republican candidate even even ran for the office other than Jones. (I'm not even certain if a party can deny any voter party membership or the state can deny the registration.) So I'd wager the majority of Jones's votes were thoughtless party-line votes without respect to any names. And, of course, some fringe nuts who deserve whatever they get. Perhaps some of those were even Democrats who figured it would be funny.

But it was definitely NOT an instance of Republicans=Nazis. The election process is ungainly, but it's not that bad. We should be thankful.

 

[DesDownunder]

We're here to help each other, not to profit from each other's miseries.