When decent people take their power to the polls
We can beat "conservatives," even when they have stacked the deck
It appears this morning that Poland has beaten back the vicious, right-wing, populist government that has been destroying that country for years.
Here are some of the things the right-wing government in Poland has been doing to lock in the power of “conservatives” and diminish the power of the people:
They changed the electoral system: In 2011, the government changed the electoral system to make it more difficult for opposition parties to win seats in parliament.
They packed the courts: The government appointed hundreds of judges to the courts who have been more than sympathetic to the ruling party.
They have taken control of the media: The government has taken control of many of the country's media outlets, including the public broadcaster.
They have cracked down on dissent: The government has cracked down on dissent, including by passing laws that make it more difficult to protest and by harassing and intimidating journalists and activists.
They have used state resources to benefit the ruling party: The government has used state resources, such as public funds and government jobs, to benefit the ruling party.
No wonder the government has been accused of eroding democracy and the rule of law in Poland.
This is the same playbook that Viktor Orbán used to destroy democracy in Hungary. It is the same playbook that all fascists use. They incite society’s dregs, the indecent “conservatives” whose inner fear is so great that hate and rage are their only reactions to the world. They promise them that their hate and rage will be meted upon their enemies if only they put fascists in power. Once they have even the smallest amount of power, they wield it ruthlessly to increase and keep power. Then they wield their power against decent people to make sure they are never removed from power.
The list of travesties above should sound familiar. It is exactly what the Republican party has been doing in America.
They have gerrymandered their districts and play the electoral college for unjust advantage. This is stacking the electoral system in their favor, even though they represent only a minority of Americans.
They have packed the courts with Federalist Society hacks whose allegiance is to “conservatism” rather than to justice.
They have nearly destroyed the American media, first by funding Fox News to pump propaganda to the dregs of American society, then by branching out to smaller “broadcasters” and social media hacks to cater to ever tinier niches of the dreg population. Decent media has been diluted in its ability to bring the truth to the populace.
They are cracking down on dissent. Everywhere “conservatives” have power, bigotry against non-conservatives is reaching epidemic proportions. Red-states are full of book-banning, discrimination against minorities in general and LGBTQ+ people in particular, stupid anti-medicine chest-beating, and Republican-legislature-led attempts to make non-”conservative” opinions illegal.
Red-state legislatures are madly passing laws that punish people for non-“conservative” beliefs. Tennessee’s legislature expelled two members for being black and having liberal opinions. Alabama’s legislature thinks it can punish women for going to another state for an abortion. Wisconsin’s legislature thinks that it can impeach a judge for being liberal even before she has started working at her job.
Republicans have become the dreg party, just like European right-wing, populist parties. They are authoritarian at the beginning. They become fascist as their power grows.
The Republican party, having way too much power for a minority and not yet having it torn away from them, has passed the authoritarian stage. It is now a pro-fascist party.
And for the naysayers out there: Don’t bother trying to use the you-can’t-paint-all-Republicans-with-the-same-brush meme. Until Republicans actually defeat the fascists in their party, they have already tarred themselves with same brush. If they push the Jim Jordans and the Matt Gaetzes in the House away from leadership and marginalize them effectively, then I’ll be willing to entertain the notion that there may still be some “good” Republicans.
But even then, they are still Republicans. And, as I’ve devoted a lot of ink to showing, being a Republican is a sign of severely stunted character. So even a “good” Republican is not a good person. They are too fearful to act decently, and that makes them indecent.
Poland shows the way. If we get to the polls before the “conservatives” make them irrelevant, we can rip their power away.
Then all we have to do is reverse everything they have done and keep them away from power until good democratic government can reassert its primacy.
In other words, all we have to do is return government to the decent people and keep a lid on the indecent ones.
That is the secret to progress, and we need to get it on track after a forty-year hiatus while “conservatives” tore at the fabric of modern democracy for their private benefit.
Let’s get to the polls before it’s too late, friends.
2024 may be out last chance!