Never forget this: The GOP’s nonsensical culture war is meant to distract you from corporate corruption, worker oppression, and staggering wealth inequality.
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“Pit race against race, religion against religion, prejudice against prejudice. Divide and conquer! We must not let that happen here.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt
GOP culture war was always part of the plan. The GOP needed a way to convince middle class and working class Americans to vote against their best interests. So the GOP decided to cater to people's biases to distract from policies that would hurt them economically.
Fear and anger, the two emotions maga has tapped into. We keep trying the calm, the rational, the facts and evidence based approach. It can’t compete with emotion.
We need to get better at story telling to hit on the emotions. Like me I would have died from my first miscarriage with some of the laws on abortion in Texas . I live in Minnesota and because I got the health care I need I now have 2 children.
Red states are going to get hit worse than any others. Like it did in the first Trump term and how have they forgotten that quickly is astoundingly beyond my comprehension.
Man. I dunno. Not everything is a distraction. There’s no 4 D chess. Pretty sure they hate the things they say they hate AND are interested in making fortunes above board below board and anyway they can no ethics needed.
Were these discussed in any serious way leading up to the election? Were any serious causes for said conditions presented? Were any real solutions proposed? No. Will the new head of the DNC whoever he is (pretty sure he will be white and a he) take them on? Actually listen & respond to real peeps?😆😆
Left matters because we see that most families agree on terms for civics that helps all of us. Can’t say “greater good” anymore because the right have high jacked that terminology.
It matter more than ever.
We are about to lose democracy because people don’t use a dictionary
Seeing the same language here in Canada. The "elites" are the people defending the working class, and the ones calling them that are the Conservatives, who are aligned with the billionaires. How people buy this bullshit I can't fathom, but they do.
Sometimes I feel like they use the word "elites" when they refuse to hear logic. They believe all the disinformation, and heaven forbid anyone point out the actual facts -- that's elitist. This term has been handed to the hoodwinked to help them deflect the truth.
Agreed, but it’s still working for them, as our short attention span and quick attention to the next sensational moment has left us with a populous unable to think their way out of this. Sadly.
We’re going to keep losing elections if we keep losing the culture war. Most Americans don’t understand and won’t abide taxpayer-funded gender reassignment care for prisoners. I knew we were doomed when I saw the first 300 Trump ads about that while watching football.
Glad to see you on this platform, sir. My deepest respect to you, you always give us the unvarnished truth, and I appreciate you for that. Carry on! #resist
I’ve always admired your insights and work. You work tirelessly to expose the fallacies of the once conservative and now radical Republican Party. That said, what we have today is not the GOP - it’s the POT, the Party of Trump. He’s the be all, end all of the party, no one else matters.
It’s exactly what Bannon **told us** they were doing the 1st time: a firehose of WTF 2 constantly distract from the bloody knife (or say, Elon quietly visiting the Iranians 2 buy them off) This steady drumbeat of #LegionOfDoom appointees is meant 2 bamboozle Think of it as #OperationShlockAndFlaw
Also intended to pull into the tent that portion of the electorate who have zero chance of benefitting from conservative economic policy (i.e. trickle-down) but who are democratically necessary for GOP wins. Not likely to be such an issue going forward though once they get all the rules changed.
HOCUS POCUS WHERE'S YOUR FOCUS? As someone who has performed magic tricks, I'm chiming in to say this is the oldest trick in the book...distraction. This is the key to all magic. As Mr. Reich has noted here, retaining this focus is paramount to getting our country on a fruitful track.
The Culture War is to keep the most unlikely of political coalitions - the Rich and the Rabble - intact. There aren’t enough rich to sustain the GOP; all that’s left are the emotionally manipulatable.
The culture war is a distraction—a shiny object to keep eyes off the real issues: corporate greed, worker exploitation, and a growing divide between the rich and everyone else.
This is true!! Unions better unite and be ready to protect their members. The GOP does not care about the working class. They will oppress the working class while giving corporations and billionaires government "welfare" tax cuts and bail outs. GOP socialism for the wealthy.
Correct. Yet "There is universal frustration in this country—much of it I actually think [is] justified—that is raging at a political establishment that centers corporate interests, billionaires, and puts their needs ahead of the needs of working Americans,” she explained on MSNBC Thursday. #AOC
Will be an interesting 2 years before the mid-terms.
Bush brought the GFC, Trump brought Covid.
Seems Fauci, Gates and Big Pharma should be held accountable for Covid though. Time will tell.
My number one question to all my Blue friends out there is how can we unite our voices? There are Millions of us and if we speak as one, we can be Heard! We need to figure out how to communicate en masse and organize with our leaders to speak Loudly and not be ignored.
Tremendously CRITICAL Hack & SETS OF INTERFERENCE IN Our National Election Processes. Please try & DO AS I ASK. Please Sir! PLEASE! Musk likely was complicit in Hack of Transfer of Tabulations by STARLINK ! I Sincerely BELIEVE THAT IS CRITICAL ALSO!
2/ Hacks of Tabulation Machines DID Occur; WITNESS Stephen Spoonamore! I have no pull; YOU CERTAINLY DO! I have no Degree at all: YOU have a Brilliant History in Our Fed. Gov. as a Wise Democrat. Joe may be very much slowed, Demented, & Very Much NOT WILLING or Able to fully ENGAGE IN THIS…3/
By the way Mr. Reich. If YOH WANT TO REALLY HELP, if you read this, YOU SHOULD CONTACT BIDEN, GI TO WASHINGTON OR GET ON SECYRE FaceTime With Biden & Harris Hopefully Together. Be sure Biden is awake from his seemingly ALMOST RETIRED, MENTALLY DEPLETED STATE, & Let him know Hacks of Machines..,1/
Robert.The HACK of Tabulation MACHINES IS THE NEWS NOW! PLEASE COVER THE HACKS ! Stephen Spoonamore thinks Tabulation MACHINES; MAY ALSO BE Transfer OF TABULATIONS BY STARLINK! Bottom line is:NEED REVEAL INFORMATION OF AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE OF ELECTION INTERFER.OR FRAUD TO HARRIS, BIDEN, FEC, DNI, ETC
Biden may be very much not believing it Or trying to investigate & FIGHT LIKE HELL ! Too demented & aged to realize it will TOTALLY DESTROY THIS NATION ; Not Just DESTROY HIS LEGACY!!!
It's not just the gop. Let be real here this red vs blue is because divided we fall but United we can stand against their wealth and power. That is the common point we can use to get some of the none brainwash people from gop. The dems also need to take action and start fighting more seriously
You know, they always say that the republicans are better for the economy. That is absolutely not true. All you have to do is look at history.
The only thing they're good at is making sure the rich stay richer. Trickle down economics. Pshh.
Stale and vacuous talking points that harken back to Occupy Wall Street (and probably much longer), sprinkled with a cynical dusting of class envy to wet the emotional tastebuds. Reflect on the Dems crippling inability to sell itself as anything but the "not Trump" party. People need a vision.
Don't forget how Russia has its hand in this by spreading misinformation and content which increases social tensions causing us to fight each other and weaken our country. Also these nonsense culture wars help Republicans get more votes without them doing anything to benefit the people.
It's just propaganda and spin reports that's supposed to take into account inflation, but clearly doesn't. If it were true, explain why America's credit card balance is at an all time high and auto loan defaults are at highest since the great recession.
recent study released by the fed acame out and said it's mostly due to the size of loan origination and not the interest rates. where's all this disposable income they're talking about?
The Republicans and the Tories began practicing this strategy under Reagan and Thatcher. It's antecedent was Nixon's "Southern Strategy." Until we start identifying with class rather than race/ethnicity, workers in America will always be behind their Western peers.
Right. But for which side? Remember Kamala had the most money of all politicians that ever ran. 1 billion total spending. Musk did not match democrat spending.
Musk’s America PAC (he is its only donor) pumped an estimated $200 million into helping elect Trump. He used X, where he has more than 200 million followers, as an incessant source of misinformation in supporting Trump. His AI image generator, Grok, has been used to produce a cascade of deep fakes.
Not arguing that point. I agree with you. Musk is just 1 billionaire though. How many other billionaires had to get in on the action to get Kamala a billion dollars in a month? Way more than 1.
Why would they need to spend money on advertising when Musk could just adjust an algorithm so only right wing influencers were promoted to new users? Musk didn't buy Twitter for fun.
I think we need to move fast, this is a battle, much damage can occur in 2 years. Impeachment on the ballot to motivate Republicans and Democrats that the country is in dangerou with Trump as President. Visiting 6 months from now the chaos that can take place. Republicans would if they were us.
But don’t you see, Robert? That they care enough to help you blame the wrong people for your woes is a real vote getter. At least MAGAts are doing something.
Waking up to this was a major reason why I left the Republican Party.
The billionaires are too few to actually win outright, which is why they need to create fake “culture wars” to divide the electorate. Reacting is losing. We need to redefine the narrative towards the truth again.
Yes, trans people in sports, religion in public schools, even abortion, are all red herrings, not public policy issues. @rbreich.bsky.social is right - conservatives take delight in arguing about these issues to distract from their nefarious agenda.
True. But it’s not just the GOP both sides use it to distract from the fact that they are lining their pockets with corporate money. While neglecting the people
Some were not around yet and too many forgot about the republican recession in 08. When 1/3 of the country was out of work and republicans only answer was to deny unemployment benefits. Once they have your vote they don’t care about you anymore. A lot of people are about to learn some things.
Soon mass deportation concentration camps, food shortages, quadruple inflation and martial law will distract us from the culture war. So at least there's that.
I think we need to move fast, this is a battle, much damage can occur in 2 years. Impeachment on the ballot to motivate Republicans and Democrats that the country is in dangerou with Trump as President. Visiting 6 months from now the chaos that can take place. Republicans would if they were us.
A good defense is to have a strong offense and we should go on the offense and put impeachment on the ballot. When things go sideways very soon, next years. Our forefathers maybe wanted impeachment to be used by the masses. Put on the ballot for senators,vote up to impeach Trump they don't they lose
I think I have an idea, it almost sounds repetitive. I think we should just go for the impeachment again. Make it political, put it on the ballot 2 years from now, what do you think? Mr. Reich. There's a way to do this strategically and covertly which would increase its ability to be accomplished.
Keep your eyes on the money flow. Don't get distracted with the smoke and mirror. Can't you see Trump and Elon robbing us in plane sight. The Republicans house and senate were hired to distract us while they robbed us.
First step - my people are not "lower middle class" they are working class. Let's embrace it. Second Step - Democrats must acknowledge that working class people want working class things, like food security, housing security, and knowing their tax dollars are spent on THEIR behalf.
I think there's more to it than that. I think the program of misinformation (still continuing on Twitter) is designed to confuse, disorientate and therefore diffuse any meaningful opposition.
Bruh you compared the internet and computers to fax machines and a passing fad.... Why would anyone listen to you now, even if you're correct about GOP?
I think it’s the power play of the ultra rich who have regained their stranglehold over society in the last decade or so. Buying up assets & power & now cementing it in political power so regulation doesn’t hold them back for the betterment of everyone. Democracy is more fragile than we thought
The Democrats do "identity politics" to distract from "class politics." The same way. I didn't see them rolling back Trump's 2017 trillion dollars+ tax cuts for the 1% any time they had the majority
That's what the old GOP was about, and I wish we were having the fight on wealth inequality. Now it's about Russian propaganda and Christian nationalism. I'd take Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney in a second now
This has been the case since the late 60s. The GOP has used culture wars to distract the working class from the economic issues and to peel them from the Democratic coalition formed in the 30s. It has just really kicked into a hyper drive since the early 90s and intensified in the past 15 years.
Yes, and at every level. I was just charged $2,200 for 90 minutes of work to install a $650.00 water heater by the contractor of a big box home improvement store (the blue one). Afterwards while investigating did I learn what I actually paid for.
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That our wheelhouse, what are they doing here…
—Eleanor Roosevelt
the more BS stealing tax payers ca$h they can get away with
Because the mainstream newsfeeds are soo stupid they fall for the chaos of culture war lazy headlines All the time! :)
Stop allowing the argument. The rich have a mandate. Give them rope. Most will suffer, but better quickly and obviously than generationally.
If you care fight with struggle now. It is like cancer: you kill cancer with a deeper death.
It’s about power and control over a population they led as pets, more as cattle.
(Wrote some words about it 👇 Robert. Would love to know if it piques your interest?) https://read.ultraprocessed.news/p/how-to-win-an-election
🤦♂️ gotta learn to proofread
it’s s tech thing: you name your servers .. till you scale to a size where you just start numbering them like cattle 🐮
It matter more than ever.
We are about to lose democracy because people don’t use a dictionary
The preamble to the Constitution
And
FDRs second bill of rights.
Once this impressed among students brains by the time they graduate. It becomes harder for them to be sold the propaganda of the corporate elite.
Well, I wonder if the USA might see a "French Revolution 2.0".
Bush brought the GFC, Trump brought Covid.
Seems Fauci, Gates and Big Pharma should be held accountable for Covid though. Time will tell.
The only thing they're good at is making sure the rich stay richer. Trickle down economics. Pshh.
Americans disposable income is highest it’s ever been. More disposable income = you can take on more CC debt.
a. The same old politics as usual (i.e. supporting Corporations + Billionaires)
b. The GOP packing the government with their cronies/ loyalists
c. A Trump dictatorship, that resembles Putin's Russia
d. All of the above?
Grow up, Cretin
https://read.ultraprocessed.news/p/how-to-win-an-election
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/18/election-trump-oil-gas-fundraising
The ability to vote in 2026
I hope we don’t lose the vote 🗳️
https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/thom-hartmann/two-santas-strategy-gop-used-economic-scam-manipulate-americans-40-years/
https://www.salon.com/2024/11/15/not-the-way-we-do-things-johnson-will-ask-ethics-committee-to-bury-gaetz-report/?in_brief=true
The billionaires are too few to actually win outright, which is why they need to create fake “culture wars” to divide the electorate. Reacting is losing. We need to redefine the narrative towards the truth again.
You put some credibility to this place.
Thinking about closing all my FB accounts!
MAGA's psychological war against us all now relies on lies, brainwashing, confusing the issues, and Orwellian scapegoating of political enemies.
Book: The Deficit Myth
I hope we can eventually make the world better despite the 1% and media outlets twisting the truth to make us fight amongst ourselves
Can't forget about climate change caused by billion dollar corporations and then them blaming Us for not "recycling enough"
and I left the damn country in large part because of his second term win. *smdh*
I very much believe that we are in this mess because the democrats abandoned the working class.
Ground control to Major Tom…
Wampanoag kindness was not reciprocated!