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George Scialabba's avatar

For Pete's sake, Damir, adherence to constitutional norms is damn well something to cluck about. Don't tell me you've "moved on" from Jan 6, 2021 and the protracted effort to overthrow a perfectly valid presidential election? It was a pretty serious constitutional violation; the Georgia episode alone -- "Just get me 11,000 votes, and the Republican congressmen will do the rest" -- should have landed the bastard in jail. Threatening to hold up aid to Ukraine unless they ginned up an investigation of a rival candidate's son also demonstrated a somewhat casual attitude to constitutional principles. As did his obstruction of every investigation of his crimes and misdemeanors. As did his recent effort to evade Senate approval for his nominees by means of recess appointments. And so much more.

Please, Damir, stop twittering about "new visions" -- that's just idle Beltway chatter. Since Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party has been waging relentless class war against the bottom half of the population. All the bottom half has is smart, honorable young intellectuals like you. Don't desert them in a vain attempt to craft some bit of discourse that will ever-so-briefly capture the attention of the empty-headed custodians of The Conversation.

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Damir Marusic's avatar

George, isn’t the reality that the bottom half, in the United States at least, has fully embraced a completely different paradigm? What’s the matter with Kansas, etc. — shouldn’t we be moving on past that question at this point?

In any case, I don’t think I’m abandoning any of these questions as much as deprioritizing a whole slew of potential answers that feel exhausted to me right now.

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George Scialabba's avatar

Move on past "What's the Matter with Kansas?" just when its argument -- that Republicans succeed by disguising their support for plutocracy with almost exclusive reliance on ersatz "anti-elitist" rhetoric -- has attained maximum relevance? Frank exhorted Democrats to eschew cultural radicalism and return to an emphasis on economic equality. Have the Democrats tried this approach .and "exhausted" it ? No, of course not. So why "move on"?

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