“Republican politicians face threats of violence if they oppose [Donald Trump],” but a New York Times guest essay, published Thursday morning, claims that shouldn’t stop them from trying.

Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way, and Daniel Ziblatt are the three political scientists who wrote the essay. They study how democracies come to an end.

“America has, with stunning speed, descended into a world in which opponents of the government fear criminal investigations, lawsuits, tax audits, and other punitive measures.”

The writers added, “Even Republican politicians are, as one former Trump administration official put it, ‘scared’ out of their minds ‘about death threats.’”

  • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Oh I’m sorry, did stoking the fires of misinformation and creating a constant state of fear in your base result in a dangerous environment? Who could have seen that coming?

    • Zombiepirate@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Yeah, they were perfectly happy to ride the tiger when it was hurting people they hated and giving them power over ignorant bigots.

  • JohnnyFlapHoleSeed@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Yeah, The colloquial term for this is painting yourself in a corner. You shouldn’t have bent over backwards to appeal to extremists in the first place. Now you’ve created a situation that’s essentially an open powder keg next to a bonfire

  • boolean_sledgehammer@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Conservatives are culturally incapable of true civic defiance or revolutionary action. It just isn’t in their nature. They obey the authoritarian. It’s just what they are.

    Don’t go looking to the right end of the political spectrum if you’re looking for rebellion.

  • SlippiHUD@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Democrats, independants, and anyone else who stands up to Trump already face death threats, and yet they keep doing it.

    Why are republicans such chicken shits? Also, it’s laughable to think that there’s a low they won’t tolerate.

  • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    The whole ideology of conservatism is to conserve the status quo. Literally waking up to reality is being against anyone still a conservative.

  • Zess@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    They can’t do anything except follow the mob because leaving the mob requires critical thinking and some fucking chutzpah.