The mainstream media have denied the Republican Party’s extremist drift. However, this denialism was encouraged by Democratic politicians who also wanted to maintain a façade of normalcy. While the rise of Donald Trump in the Republican Party made any pretense of normalcy impossible to maintain, the deniers could blame Trump for the tilt toward fascism. But the signs of this tilt were there for decades. Stuart Stevens, a longtime Republican operative who wrote a book, It Was All a Lie, detailed the signs he, as an insider, ignored. Outside observers, however, cannot offer the excuse of being too close to the trees to see the forest.
Recently, several new books (The Right by Matthew Continetti; Partisans by Nicole Hemmer; and American Psychosis by David Corn) have been published that make precisely this point: the Republican Party had begun its tilt toward fascism decades ago. Of course, even without the objective assessment of the media, the threat to American democracy posed by the Republican Party should have been evident. Beginning in 2001, Rick Perlstein wrote four books (Before the Storm; The Invisible Bridge; Nixonland; and Reaganland) that described the faults within the Republican Party that would eventually break it.
The critical question is why many Democrats, people in the mainstream media, and other observers were oblivious to the evidence that something was seriously wrong with the Republican Party. And does this attempt at normalizing the overthrow of our democracy make it more likely that there will be other attempts?
Recently, several new books (The Right by Matthew Continetti; Partisans by Nicole Hemmer; and American Psychosis by David Corn) have been published that make precisely this point: the Republican Party had begun its tilt toward fascism decades ago. Of course, even without the objective assessment of the media, the threat to American democracy posed by the Republican Party should have been evident. Beginning in 2001, Rick Perlstein wrote four books (Before the Storm; The Invisible Bridge; Nixonland; and Reaganland) that described the faults within the Republican Party that would eventually break it.
The critical question is why many Democrats, people in the mainstream media, and other observers were oblivious to the evidence that something was seriously wrong with the Republican Party. And does this attempt at normalizing the overthrow of our democracy make it more likely that there will be other attempts?