Trump has liberated those of his most passionate supporters to say what they thought all along. There is a history of eliminationist rhetoric in conservative thought that has been a feature since the Clinton Years. For a signficant part of the Republican Base/Conservatives they cannot share the country with people that they see as traitors and back-stabbers, pushing their liberal values.

Their ideas, to them, are not only right, but self evidently right - anybody thinking about it rationally, honestly (and for some with Christ in their Hearts) would come to agree with them. So to be a liberal is to be irrational, dishonest, and anti-Christ. Once you have demonized those you hate so completely, any alliance with monsters to defeat these even worse monsters (i.e. us) is worthwhile.

Trump changed the equation, not in that he changed the attitudes of this significant segment of conservatism, but that he allowed them to march into the spotlight.

Say what you will about W (and there's a lot to say) he didn't talk about his political enemies the same way that Trump does.

Bryant

Actually ameriKa hasn't changed it's just all it's dirty, dirty laundry it has always hidden, especially the virulent genocidal racism, has been revealed to the world via Putin and his puppet-tool, the potus. Amerikkka will never be respected in a positive manner ever again.

I don’t know what will happen. I’ve seen a lot in my 63 yrs, but nothing like this along the lines of social division.
The 60s were intense,but not in this way. I just have a sick feeling about it.

and as we all saw, that population reacted to be demonized. Started almost immediately after bush stole the election in 2000.

Things can change back. They knew we were right where we needed to be to dial back on this stuff after 8 years of Pres. Obama and the coming election of HRC. They made desperate moves bc it was a make or break situation i think. "Hate plates" take a lot of energy to keep spinning in the air. We can turn this around. HAs to be a landslide to overwhelm the voting box software it seems. When we really hit the polls, we win. Im glad mueller ids starting to issue charges closer to home (dt). We are so so close to losing this experiment. Get yard signs out. In my long experience w politics and campaigns, the folks who get their signage out has almost a 2 to 1 advantage on the opponent. I saw trum signs early in 2016...and a lot of them. After they were out for awhile, it seemed like the folks on either side were afraid to stick signs out. That's why it's important to get them out first. En masse. It's one of THE most critical things. Having to BUY Hillary signs didnt help. Im pretty sure the folks I saw who had dt signs...didnt buy them.

killed the Fairness Doctrine and then monopolized the airwaves with all the fair and balanced Orwellian lies and bullshit

Creating the next Trump figure for the white racist GOP masses after dotard is long gone.

I remember after President Obama was elected some people proclaiming the end of racism in the country.

And then came Grand Dragon Trump....

We have long memories.

Do you seriously think we're worse than we were during the civil rights fights? Watergate? More divided than during the Viet Nam war? More coarse than the 50's in the South?

I don't think so.

of election wins and a congress made up of "non-politicians" can make difference. The easiest place to start:

1. return to the Fairness Doctrine for any and every forms of mass media communications, OTA, cable and internet

2. eliminate "Citizen's United" by FEC law.


Both are doable, we just need a congress and a president to act. Everything else can follow/

of the meme "good old days"

America is still mainly socially progressive, liberal and aware that it has problems.

Just as many good people as there ever were.

You could make a case that America has become more divided (polarized) as a result of 40 years of Republicon propaganda, Atwater, big money, Gingrich, Rove, and Trump.

A certification as a news organization. An updated Fairness doctrine perhaps. I don't know what. But, figuring it out and dealing with it has got to become a priority.

Two media organizations report on a container half full of water. Is it half full? Half empty? An overly large container?

The debate over media fairness goes back to the age of newspapers. Once upon a time, there was William Randolph Hearst instead of Rupert Murdoch.

There is a lot of great reporting talent being let go from the vestiges of print media. Figure out a way to get their skills working in new media in a way that makes everyone a living and you too can be a media mogul.

Yesterday, I posted about Watergate. There are a lot of similarities between the early 70s and today - particularly suburban whites seeking "law and order." Back then, they hated the Black Panthers - today they hate BLM. Back then they hated flag burning - today they hate anthem kneeling.

In the Slate podcast I promoted in my post, they played an interview conducted at a bar in Queens that was frequented by blue collar Nixon supporters. The podcast noted how comfortable these folks seemed with the idea of a Nixon-led police state.

In many ways, the more things have changed, the more they've stayed the same.

We never had Russia interfering in our elections and Nixon was not trying to tear down our institutions of government, although he was trying to use them for his own benefit .

In '72, they ran a series of dirty trucks against Edmund Muskie to ensure that the more beatable McGovern was nominee. I'll grant that no foreign power was involved.

In '68, they used Anna Chenault to help derail peace talks with Vietnam that would have led to peace and a Humphrey victory. It's not quite collusion with Russia, but it's in the same zip code.

...so don't lose hope and just keep fighting.

Sadly, there are many for whom that will not be possible because the hatred and divide that tRump has fostered will never be overcome. If anything, these current days have flushed out much of the underlying ill will and brought it to surface. Now people can move on after dealing with the hidden truths.

I'm thankful that my family is pretty unscathed by all this as we're almost all of like political mind. We had a couple of tRump holdouts for a while, but they saw the light well before the election and have been welcomed back to the fold. One is still teetering, but there is hope.

it's always had a core of hateful, vengeful, racist people...but they've never been empowered by a 'president'.

there are no 'good old days'. growing up in the fifties and sixties, blacks were still being lynched.

the election of Barack Obama woke up the racism that has been part of America since it's inception and trump 'cashed in' on it.

Change is always hard.

IMHO

or has that which was formerly said in private now become acceptable in public?

they're much more overt about it today.