Ruthless Exercise of Power

author: Brad Spear

posted 18 October 2024 in Religion and Politics

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“…we really need to be really ruthless when it comes to the exercise of power…” — J.D. Vance, 18 May 2021 on the Federalist Radio Hour, about 25 minutes in. This was over three years ago, but he doesn’t appear to have changed his mind.

In the middle of the 20th Century, most Americans believed in democracy, and fought a war against a pair of fascist dictators in Europe; dictators who also believed in the ruthless exercise of power.

And now the Republican party, with Trump sitting at the head and alluding to these goals in every speech, appears to be trying to institute fascism in America — rule by a small elite over the much larger majority. A majority who has little or no say in that government. A single political party. A dictatorship.

Many Republicans say they can’t be elected as Republicans. And yet they have often held a majority in the House and Senate. Even “liberal” California has had Republican governors in recent memory, including Ronald Reagan (1967-1974) and three more since then. And Republicans have held the presidency for half of the last 24 years.

Perhaps the incentive for many Republicans to say they have a hard time being elected is because they are becoming more extreme, and moving away from the principles and people that have helped to make this country a world power. Perhaps it is a result of the need to control rather than to lead. Perhaps it is the result of a bias that, any problem seen from one or a few individuals, is amplified to irrationally include an entire class of people.

Many current conservatives seem to have a victim mindset, misunderstanding so much of reality and seeing conspiracies against them in every corner. Some seem to believe, for example, that the country’s leaders are dominated by those who hate conservatism. Perhaps the hatred they fear is not a backlash against general conservatism, but against their extreme conservative views. Views that remove us from having a say in the world. Views that put us at risk from the totalitarian regimes of some other countries. Views so extreme, they identify moderates and even less extreme conservatives as leftist.

The election in November is not about policy, it is about the existence of the United States of America as a democracy, or maybe even as a republic. Given the load of propaganda and outright lies coming from the extreme right, I wonder if any of those who are in thrall to Trump and Vance even recognize the path they follow. It certainly isn’t patriotism. Or, given the stakes, intelligence.

(Due to personal website problems, the text above was originally posted to Facebook directly. After those issues were resolved, it was copied verbatim here, and the date set to the original posting date.)

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