Republican Party

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• SOURCE: MSNBC
  6/11/2023
  

  Pat Robertson Helped Make Intolerance a Permanent Plank in the Republican Platform

  by Anthea Butler

  Pat Robertson lived at the intersection of public piety, apocalyptic rhetoric, and the pursuit of profit, and did as much as anyone to make the vilifiation of opponents as threats to the moral fiber of the nation a part of conservative politics. 

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• SOURCE: CNN
  6/1/2023
  

  James Comey is Deluded About Trump's Influence on Republicans

  by Julian Zelizer

  The former FBI director blamed Trump for the growing Republican hostility toward the FBI, among other government institutions. But the belief that major institutions are compromised by un-American elements has a long and deep history on the right that won't be eliminated whenever Trump happens to leave the political stage. 

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  6/1/2023
  

  The Debt Ceiling Law is now a Tool of Partisan Political Power; Abolish It

  by Mark Weisbrot

  There is no "ticking bomb" of national debt; the use of the debt ceiling to threaten the nation with default to secure spending cuts that damage Democratic presidents is by now a clearly established partisan trick, and the US government should no longer be held hostage to it, says an economic policy researcher. 

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• SOURCE: Slate
  5/30/2023
  

  Inside a Key Part of the Republican Base: Car Dealers

  As legally protected middlemen who do business in every part of the country, auto dealers have been political players for a century. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  5/18/2023
  

  Conservatives Hate Tenure (Except for Clarence Thomas)

  by Tom Nichols

  Right-wing politicians with Ivy League degrees are eager to attack tenure at public institutions for political gain, but won't abide questions about Clarence Thomas's integrity.

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  5/19/2023
  

  After Dobbs, Abortion Politics are Straining the Republican Coalition

  by Daniel K. Williams

  When the party could focus on appointing anti-Roe judges, the Republicans could make abortion a political issue without having to decide matters of policy that inevitably leave parts of their coalition angry and disappointed. Have they lost by winning? 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  4/26/2023
  

  Why the GOP Can't Balance the Budget—and Why they Don't Care

  by Monica Prasad

  An ideological commitment to tax cuts and political unwillingness to cut entitlements (or defense spending) means post-Reagan Republicans can't balance the federal budget. Their solution has been to stop pretending to care about it. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  4/26/2023
  

  Tucker Carlson Embodies the GOP's Cynicism

  by Tom Nichols

  "If you were trying to undermine a nation and dissolve its hopes for the future, you could hardly design a better vehicle than Tucker Carlson Tonight."

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  3/22/2023
  

  Nikki Haley's Campaign May Capitalize on Gender Stereotypes, but at a Cost to Women

  by Jacqueline Beatty

  The former South Carolina governor and UN Ambassador is seeking to separate herself from other conservatives by leaning into certain gendered stereotypes; this reinforces the idea that women leaders are fundamentally different, which has historically kept women from equal political footing. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  2/27/2023
  

  Can Republicans Rally Around DeSantis as an "Electable" Choice?

  by Robert Fleegler

  In the wake of disastrous overreach by House Republicans in impeaching Bill Clinton, the party cohered around George W. Bush as a candidate without Beltway baggage. If the party can't do the same thing in 2024, they risk being dragged down by Donald Trump. 

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• SOURCE: Substack
  2/16/2023
  

  Nikki Haley's Confederate Flag Revisionism

  by Kevin M. Levin

  "Hopefully, Haley understands that a presidential bid means that she is no longer sitting in a room with the Sons of Confederate Veterans."

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• SOURCE: The New Republic
  2/21/2023
  

  You Can't Have Ideological Conflict When One Side Abandons Ideas

  by Timothy Noah

  Sociologist Daniel Bell described ideology as "the commitment to the consequences of ideas." If this doesn't describe the GOP today, the author wonders how well the term "party of ideas" ever applied. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  2/15/2023
  

  What's the Point of Nikki Haley's Campaign?

  by Tom Nichols

  No candidate is going to "restore sanity" to the Republican Party, even if any want to. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  2/15/2023
  

  Nikki Haley's Confederate Flag Story

  The former South Carolina governor, now once again a presidential candidate, has claimed credit for taking the Confederate flag off of the state house. A timeline shows she was often more conciliatory to the powerful pro-Confederate constituency in the state. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  1/23/2023
  

  Miami-Dade has Lurched Right, but Still Loves "Obamacare"

  by Catherine Mas

  Even though conservative Latinos in Miami are generally suspicious of "socialism", the long history of local government support for medical access means that many carve out a big exception for the Affordable Care Act. 

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• SOURCE: The New Republic
  1/20/2023
  

  The History of Consumption Taxes Shows GOP Won't Eliminate IRS

  Consumption taxes are successful when they target luxury purchases and the rich. A broad-based consumption tax like the one proposed by House Republicans to replace the income tax would be suicidal to even bring to a vote. 

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• SOURCE: Slate
  1/21/2023
  

  Why do Republicans Keep Calling it the "Democrat Party"?

  by Lawrence B. Glickman

  The odd rhetorical device isn't just trolling—it reflects 70 years of the Republican Party seeking to define itself against the opposition even as terms like "liberal" and "conservatism" had not yet taken on stable meaning. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  1/12/2023
  

  House GOP Invokes Church Committee, but Echoes Earlier McCarthy

  While they claim to be fighting abusive government agencies, promised investigations have uncomfortable parallels to McCarthy and HUAC, warns historian Beverly Gage. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  1/17/2023
  

  Conspiratorialism is Now a Defining Feature of Republican Politics

  While both British and American politics have become bitterly polarized and dysfunctional, the embrace by American leaders on the right of conspiracy theories as a uniquely American phenomenon. 

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  1/19/2023
  

  As a History of Insurrection, the January 6 Report is a Mess

  by Jill Lepore

  The Committee delivered a potent indictment of Donald Trump's responsibility for the events of January 6, but shed little light on the origins or the future of the antidemocratic insurrection and failed to tell a compelling story about what happened.