Part 1
The simple answer is that they don't know, and refuse to learn the truth, they believe lies and propaganda. Too many people don't vote. 25% of eligible voters (VAP - Voting Age Population) voted for Trump in 2016. Voter turnout was about 2/3 of registered voters.
There will be a separate blog on "conspiracy theories" and disinformation, but this recent article covers one aspect, overconfidence.
As Pat Robertson said in 1990, "With the apathy that exists today, a well organized minority can influence the selection of candidates to an astonishing degree."
“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”
Barry Goldwater, 1994
Historians Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman have taught us that history is important. I highly recommend listening to their podcasts.
I voted in Republican primaries and elections since 1968, when I was 19. I probably voted for Nixon. Hubert Humphrey was the Democratic candidate, Nixon won 32 states, racist George Wallace won 4. Nixon ran as a centrist on a "law and order" platform, and new leadership in the Vietnamese War. It was the first presidential election after passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, which was opposed by Southern Democrats, led by Strom Thurmond.
In 1968 LBJ was negotiating with leaders of North and South Vietnam to end the war he escalated. The result probably would have been a divided Vietnam, similar to Korea. Nixon sabotaged the negotiations to help with his election. At the time, 30,000 American and allied soldiers had died. Two killed in late 1968 and early 1969 were some of my best friends in high school. LBJ allegedly knew, but couldn't prove it. The proof showed up in 2017.
When the war ended in 1972, more than 58,000 American and allied soldiers had been killed. I suspect many Americans may know that, but don't know and don't care that more than 3 million Vietnamese died, most of them civilians.
Nixon's racist Southern Strategy gave the South to the Republican party and the party to the religious right. Theocon Catholic Paul Weyrich came up with the idea to use lies and propaganda about abortion to unite "evangelicals" and "conservative" Catholics to take control of federal and state governments.
IMO, Weyrich was the most evil never elected influential man in modern history. He founded ALEC ("I don't want everybody to vote.), co-founded the Moral Majority with Jerry Falwell, and the Heritage Foundation. https://www.jractivist.com/post/the-second-u-s-civil-war-began-in-the-1960s
Journalist Dana Milbank and former Republican operative Tim Miller published recent books about what happened to our country. Milbank said something that I have often, Trump is a symptom not a cause.
We have a Supreme Court, other federal and state courts dominated by judges chosen by Weyrich and the Federalist Society, Leonard Leo. $billions were spent doing so. Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett were accused of lying by Susan Collins and others. The Texas Supreme Court judges were all first appointed by Perry and Abbott to conveniently open seats. All I looked at are Fed Society members.
Public education and our teachers are under attack, the goal is taxpayer funded religious schools. Catholic schools in the pilot state of Wisconsin are receiving more than $200 million a year. The Milwaukee diocese is one of at least 19 dioceses or religious orders that declared bankruptcy or otherwise made settlements over lawsuits regarding pedophiles.
Texas Lt Governor Dan Patrick is pushing vouchers in Texas. He quietly arranged giving more than $100 million a year to Responsive Education Solutions, a project of DeVos supported "conservative christian" Hillsdale College in Michigan.
Texas governor Abbott called two special sessions last year trying to pass legislation that would give $millions to religious schools, by far Catholic. The proposals would give $8,000-$12,000 a year to parents of children going to those schools. Public schools receive only $6,000 per student, the lowest state funding in the nation.
A coalition of Democrats and mostly rural Republicans defeated voucher legislation, but Abbott and Patrick killed increased funding for schools and raises for teachers.
LGBT people are under attack, and not just adults. More than 40% of homeless children are LGBT, thrown out of or forced to leave their own homes. Homophobia has been a tool used by Republicans to gain votes.
We have a serious shortage of doctors, nurses and hospitals. Part of that is due to the COVID pandemic, horribly mishandled by the Trump administration and state governors. We have an aging population, people like me, who incur high medical bills. One of the reasons is lack of residency positions, many funded by Medicare, cut by legislation pushed by Republican senator John Kasich, signed by Clinton, Republican House and Senate.
Later I'll try to cover our highly profitable medical system scam. Our per capita medical costs are twice that of all other developed countries except Switzerland. They all have some form of universal healthcare. Switzerland's is 75% of ours, they require everyone to buy health insurance from for-profit companies.
The U.S. leads the world in COVID deaths. For the first time since it began, young people are experiencing the most cases. Most were preventable. Trump had nothing to do with Operation Warp Speed, but his administration bungled distribution of vaccines. German has 1/4 the population of the U.S., much more densely populated, 149k deaths of as yesterday, Sept 18. 149k * 4 = 596k. The U.S., 1.05 million reported. We know the actual number is far higher.
Tobacco kills more than 600,000 people every year in the U.S. Tobacco companies have been large donors to politicians from both parties, heavily weighted to Republicans, who have opposed tobacco control legislation. Tobacco companies were early donors to Paul Weyrich. The greatest amount spent on campaign contributions and lobbying was in 1998, the year attorneys general from 48 states reached settlement with tobacco companies for funds to combat tobacco use and it's results.
Republicans claim we have high taxes relative to other countries, that's a lie. The countries with the happiest people and healthiest economies are in Europe, social democracies, where they all have universal healthcare and better educated than the U.S.
Our per capita healthcare costs are over $12,000/yr. Add that to the taxes we pay and our costs are higher, but we get far less.
On June 24, 2023 five SCOTUS judges overturned Roe vs Wade. They were chosen by Catholic activists Paul Weyrich and Leonard Leo, appointed by GHW and GW Bush, and Trump. Much of the funding that put them on the court came from $billionaires including the Kochs and friends, corporate executives, and well funded special interest organizations, tax exempt entities.
The results are and will be increasing maternal deaths, increased unwanted children, and the social costs. It was estimated that maternal deaths will increase 25%, more for minority women. Women with resources have and will travel to states where they can obtain abortions, poor women cannot.
Republicans and Fed Society judges are attempting to limit or eliminate access to abortion pills and contraceptives.
It's especially puzzling to me why women voted for Trump. This article provides some of the answers.
One of the keys to understanding today's Republican voters is authoritarianism.
Take this quiz. John Dean, who went to prison for his role in Watergate, recently published a book about authoritarianism with Altemeyer. Try to imagine how people think who score high.
The link to Altemeyer's book on the above web page doesn't work, so here's another.
Please vote in November, help others become informed and voting. We have to overcome unprecedented voter suppression.
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