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there was an analysis i saw a few years ago of how right discourse was starting to operate--it was during the clinton period, when the machinery was getting up and running.
the tactic that was discussed was projection.
how it works is thatthe right does something and then imputes the same thing to the opposition.
so here is an example: the right shifts pretty hard to a different kind of conservatism, which is quite different from older types--so they accuse the democrats of having shifteed left.
which is absurd.
in the empirical world, the dlc-dominated dmocratic party could not be more centrist. could. not. be. more. centrist.
the right has moved to a space where there is a circuit that connects it to fundamentalist protestant politics. there is a discoursive circuit that links it to aspects of the militia movment (the outrage about wavo and ruby ridge migrated, in almost the same terms, from one space to the other.)
right discourse now uses elements from the john birch society in its enlightened and constructive views on the united nations. a few years ago, john birch ideology was understood as extreme right. now it is more or less maintstream populist republican stuff.
for quite a while now, the democrats have been trying to move to capture moderate republicans alienated by this change.
in doing so, they have alienated more progressive/left elements all over.
in the empirical world, this is pretty well known.
in conservativeland, where things are just a little different, the shifts all happen on the "left".
it is like they have slid down the rabbithole, but without the charming lewis carroll to tell us the story in the form of a book that you can close.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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