Comments by "wily wascal" (@wilywascal2024) on "Why we’re all so damn angry" video.

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  4. Freedoms can exist only up to the point they infringe upon the freedom of others. Religious tolerance can be practiced only up to the point it becomes intolerant of others. Our Constitution is a secular document, not a religious one, and it was certainly never intended to be a suicidal death pact. Getting vaccinated and following CDC guidelines brings freedom from preventable illness or injury, and a senseless premature death, but the mindless fascist Republican cult only believes in freeDUMB. Just as they don't understand or would deny the Constitution is as much about the common good as personal liberties, and that those two things are intrinsically and inextricably intertwined. "The secret of freedom is educating the people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant." ~Robespierre “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” ~ Voltaire "Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge." ~ Ben Franklin, from Poor Richard's Almanack Those who scorn public health guidelines during a deadly global pandemic and confuse a grievous public health issue with "essential" liberty to kill and harm themselves and their fellow citizens--as well as their nation--sorely lack both care and knowledge. They are also sorely lacking in common sense, something else about which Mr. Franklin was quite keen. Mr. Franklin was also one our nation's first scientists--yet these modern-day knuckleheads who ought know better refute science! Were he alive today, he would be rather dismayed, disgruntled, and disgusted with the fascist anti-science Republican cult, that much is crystal clear.
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  5. The problem at the heart of all this is a Republican cult built up over four decades by the GOP, plutocrats, Reich-wing demagogues, Reich-wing Christian nationalism religious leaders, and Reich-wing print, radio, TV, and social media, programmed 24/7, radicalizing them and creating mass delusion. A straight line can be drawn through to the inevitable catastrophic conclusion witnessed today from Lee Atwater, Roger Aisles, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Lou Dobbs, Mitch McConnell, Billy Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jim Jordan, to Donald J. Trump, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sure, some in the Republican cult truly are that ignorant or gullible; but most are willfully ignorant, being fed the lies they want to hear. They bear personal responsibility. Part of it's a cultural problem, as some mostly older white people's mistaken perception is that the America they knew is slipping away. Well, America is still America, but--like most nations--is constantly evolving, as progress invariably rolls on, but they are unwilling to accept that, or change with the times. Those Americans elected that pitiful, pathetic puerile President, and have continued to support him no matter what travesty he committed! The creators of the Republican cult have always been weak men, and now find themselves harnessed by those they sought to enslave, subject to the fickle whims of a moronic madman and the mob whose ignorance they relentlessly nourished and cultivated. They created the beast, thought they could ride the tiger, exploit it for their own greed, vanity, and power, too stupid or uncaring to realize that it would instead inevitably come to consume them. American conservatism has always been the endless, futile quest to justify greed, but the coin of the realm in GOP land is fear; it’s what they peddle, it’s what they traffic in, it’s what they carry in their pocket at all times. Then, they turn that fear into hate. And that hate is the poison killing them, America, and all of us. It’s the poison to which the Republican cult has become addicted. Republican cultism is the disease, Toxic Trump is merely the most visible symptom and but one carrier of that disease. It existed before Trump, and it will continue when Trump is gone—unless or until the problem is adequately addressed. COVID-19 is also a disease; but a virus is blameless, unlike those who engage in willful ignorance. America would have confronted and easily conquered COVID-19 disease, had America not already been diseased for so long with Republican tribalistic partisan cultism. Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny and religious bigotry all were central to the formation of the Republican cult, and remain its lifeblood. "United we stand, divided we fall." A simple concept, really, that too many Americans seem to have forgotten or abandoned. Our nation is like an airplane; it requires both the left and right wings working together in tandem to operate properly and safely. Only problem is the Reich-wing decided to try flying solo, forcing us all into a nose-dive! Care about the issues, disdain political gamesmanship, while still recognizing politics is an inseparable and necessary element. Have always respected and valued loyal opposition, even if in disagreement with the ideology. Fact is, though, the GOP has abdicated the requisite role of loyal opposition to become a mindless, tribalistic, hyper-partisan Reich-wing cult that places greed and political party over truth, reason, decency, and country.
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