A story about that time in 1962 when a group of former Silver Shirts and present white nationalists and Christian supremacists came close to taking over the Multnomah County Republican Party.
Yes, I understand now that leaders killed our democracy GOOD-FAITH STANDARDS LINGUISTICALLY SIMPLE uneducated but informed citizenry judgments changes about 1969. Born in 1962, I have been enlightened for today by reparations of my glorious breathing brain 🧠 🙌 I REJOICE IN GRACE'S PURPOSE FOR HUMANITY PURPOSES TO SHARE OUR THOUGHTS AND EXPERIENCES WITH WHOMEVER IS LISTENING AS ANCESTORS COLLECTIVELY EXZAULTING BASICS COMMUNIONS SAFTEY HEALTHY CITIZENS FREEWILL 💙 is 🇺🇦 🙌 ✨️ sentient BREATH SURVIVAL together with truth unfettered HEALS always all chaos immediately when revealed by material evidence.
Please, please continue this important work of exposure. I try to read most every of your posts and continually find them well researched and illuminating.
I grew up in 1970s in a wealthy suburb of LA. No shortage of rabid anti Jews and Nazis there then. So much of what you write therefore is utterly imaginable…the conspiracists, the crazies, the give me my country back thugs. I left the U.S. 35 years ago and have lived abroad since. Recently (thank you, internet) I checked back on 2016 voting records for my hometown. Unbelievably it went 11 fking points for Hillary. Clearly some demographic change has occurred (and timely die-offs!), as that result wwould have been impossible in even the 1990s. Maybe it’s still an R district, but clearly not enamored with the Orange Brand.
“ 1) It’s wrong to say that the GOP has always been like this”
I’m glad to see someone on the American left say this, yes it’s true that the seeds were being planted and it is ever arguable that it was always heading to this conclusion but the Never Trumpers at places like The Bulwark were key figures in the Republican Party for years and instead of the left constantly yelling at them ‘you were always like this’ they should stop more often and consider just how hard it is to walk away from your tribe even for the average politically engaged voter who gets no more involved than reading an ideologically friendly newspaper, imagine how hard it is to do when it was literally your life, your profession and your passion, yet people like Bill Kristol who were literal pillars of the GOP establishment and Rick Wilson who were partisan knife fighters said ‘no’ and walked away and fought what’s happened, now you can’t pretend that these people were both key figures in the party and that the party was always a monolith that was deliberately heading in this direction by the unanimous choice of its elites
It really is a lot more complicated than that and despite all the mistakes they obviously made we can’t pretend this was what they wanted
1) While it's true that the GOP hasn't "always" been like this, for a certain part of the population (anyone under 45 in this case), it is effectively true. The GOP has - for the most part - been like this since Reagan took office. The major difference between the modern Republicans and Reagan-era Republicans is that the later were maybe a bit more circumspect about this stuff, keeping the "crazies" at arms-length, but always within reach.
2) While the GOP hasn't always been like this, these elements are not new. While I can understand some life-long moderate Republicans being unwilling to step away from their party, I do think they really need to acknowledge the fact that whatever issues might be driving them away from the current party didn't come from nowhere. MAGA, the Tea Party, all that stuff didn't just spontaneously appear on the scene.
Excellent points. My folks were Republicans throughout my childhood and to my everlasting regret I myself voted for Reagan in my first presidential election. However, all of us became Democrats soon after that. I’ve always wondered how we wandered so far from the moderate conservatism which characterized the Packwood and Hatfield years, and I think the rhizome analogy is really apt. That crazy bigoted strain of conspiracy theory goes underground and then pops up again and some folks, especially in the red areas of the state, get caught up in it through social contagion. My mom often talks about how many of her friends were Republican then, and how they were decent good people.
Presuming the Union in Union ave was named related to Labour unions and that it was a Democratic council that changed the name then there is also a story there about the move of the Democratic Party from the class based Union backed focus of the FDR/Truman Democratic Party to the more identity politics focused party we see today
Not saying anything wrong with naming the street after someone who is after all a secular saint in America and arguably the world, but if that is what happened it’s interesting nonetheless
Not sure how sound that assumption is. Oregon was admitted to the USA in 1859, so its political foundations were laid over the course of Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. I'd give good odds that the "union" in question is Lincoln's, not the Wobblies.
Yes, Union Av. was named in honor of the Union side in the Civil War. When Walter Huss protested the renaming of Union Av to MLK, Jr. BLVD, he framed his opposition as pro-Lincoln, the guy who ended slavery. That was bullshit though, because in his early 1960s newspaper Huss emphasized that Lincoln believed in colonization, i.e. sending Black people back to Africa...which is also something that Huss supported.
It’s really remarkable how much similarity there is between Huss and his ilks vibe they give off of being people who desperately need to get outside and spend time with actual people and todays incels
My mom is a historian, and says that she would bet that it was the Civil War Union being recognized. The Union street in the Dalles was definitely named for that.
She says Victor Trevitt was supposed to name several streets in TD because they were on the property he was developing. However, he’d been elected to the legislature and had to leave town. He asked his friends to just name the streets for him. When he returned to town, he found the streets named Liberty, Union, and Lincoln, which was perhaps not a welcome choice since he had been a southern sympathizer. However the streets retain those names today.
Another great piece about the far-right movement and the fascism they have always subscribed to, instead of the belief in democracy. The founders of the Republican Party would not recognize what it has become today.
90 years old...just incredible that he's still kicking. I went to grad school at NU in the 90s and was only vaguely aware of his existence...he mostly just seemed like an embarrassment who couldn't be fired because of tenure. I now realize that I have no idea where and when Butz became a fascist...like, do we know where he got these cockamamie ideas from?
In the letter from Gardnier, Butz is listed with Oliver as a prof at IU, so that likely has something to do with it. Raises my fascist faculty flag so I’m gonna keep digging!
Great research!
Yes, I understand now that leaders killed our democracy GOOD-FAITH STANDARDS LINGUISTICALLY SIMPLE uneducated but informed citizenry judgments changes about 1969. Born in 1962, I have been enlightened for today by reparations of my glorious breathing brain 🧠 🙌 I REJOICE IN GRACE'S PURPOSE FOR HUMANITY PURPOSES TO SHARE OUR THOUGHTS AND EXPERIENCES WITH WHOMEVER IS LISTENING AS ANCESTORS COLLECTIVELY EXZAULTING BASICS COMMUNIONS SAFTEY HEALTHY CITIZENS FREEWILL 💙 is 🇺🇦 🙌 ✨️ sentient BREATH SURVIVAL together with truth unfettered HEALS always all chaos immediately when revealed by material evidence.
Please, please continue this important work of exposure. I try to read most every of your posts and continually find them well researched and illuminating.
I grew up in 1970s in a wealthy suburb of LA. No shortage of rabid anti Jews and Nazis there then. So much of what you write therefore is utterly imaginable…the conspiracists, the crazies, the give me my country back thugs. I left the U.S. 35 years ago and have lived abroad since. Recently (thank you, internet) I checked back on 2016 voting records for my hometown. Unbelievably it went 11 fking points for Hillary. Clearly some demographic change has occurred (and timely die-offs!), as that result wwould have been impossible in even the 1990s. Maybe it’s still an R district, but clearly not enamored with the Orange Brand.
“ 1) It’s wrong to say that the GOP has always been like this”
I’m glad to see someone on the American left say this, yes it’s true that the seeds were being planted and it is ever arguable that it was always heading to this conclusion but the Never Trumpers at places like The Bulwark were key figures in the Republican Party for years and instead of the left constantly yelling at them ‘you were always like this’ they should stop more often and consider just how hard it is to walk away from your tribe even for the average politically engaged voter who gets no more involved than reading an ideologically friendly newspaper, imagine how hard it is to do when it was literally your life, your profession and your passion, yet people like Bill Kristol who were literal pillars of the GOP establishment and Rick Wilson who were partisan knife fighters said ‘no’ and walked away and fought what’s happened, now you can’t pretend that these people were both key figures in the party and that the party was always a monolith that was deliberately heading in this direction by the unanimous choice of its elites
It really is a lot more complicated than that and despite all the mistakes they obviously made we can’t pretend this was what they wanted
I have two thoughts about this:
1) While it's true that the GOP hasn't "always" been like this, for a certain part of the population (anyone under 45 in this case), it is effectively true. The GOP has - for the most part - been like this since Reagan took office. The major difference between the modern Republicans and Reagan-era Republicans is that the later were maybe a bit more circumspect about this stuff, keeping the "crazies" at arms-length, but always within reach.
2) While the GOP hasn't always been like this, these elements are not new. While I can understand some life-long moderate Republicans being unwilling to step away from their party, I do think they really need to acknowledge the fact that whatever issues might be driving them away from the current party didn't come from nowhere. MAGA, the Tea Party, all that stuff didn't just spontaneously appear on the scene.
Excellent points. My folks were Republicans throughout my childhood and to my everlasting regret I myself voted for Reagan in my first presidential election. However, all of us became Democrats soon after that. I’ve always wondered how we wandered so far from the moderate conservatism which characterized the Packwood and Hatfield years, and I think the rhizome analogy is really apt. That crazy bigoted strain of conspiracy theory goes underground and then pops up again and some folks, especially in the red areas of the state, get caught up in it through social contagion. My mom often talks about how many of her friends were Republican then, and how they were decent good people.
“Union Av (now MLK, Jr. Blvd,”
Presuming the Union in Union ave was named related to Labour unions and that it was a Democratic council that changed the name then there is also a story there about the move of the Democratic Party from the class based Union backed focus of the FDR/Truman Democratic Party to the more identity politics focused party we see today
Not saying anything wrong with naming the street after someone who is after all a secular saint in America and arguably the world, but if that is what happened it’s interesting nonetheless
Not sure how sound that assumption is. Oregon was admitted to the USA in 1859, so its political foundations were laid over the course of Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. I'd give good odds that the "union" in question is Lincoln's, not the Wobblies.
Yeah, could very well be the case
Yes, Union Av. was named in honor of the Union side in the Civil War. When Walter Huss protested the renaming of Union Av to MLK, Jr. BLVD, he framed his opposition as pro-Lincoln, the guy who ended slavery. That was bullshit though, because in his early 1960s newspaper Huss emphasized that Lincoln believed in colonization, i.e. sending Black people back to Africa...which is also something that Huss supported.
Real charmer that guy
It’s really remarkable how much similarity there is between Huss and his ilks vibe they give off of being people who desperately need to get outside and spend time with actual people and todays incels
My mom is a historian, and says that she would bet that it was the Civil War Union being recognized. The Union street in the Dalles was definitely named for that.
She says Victor Trevitt was supposed to name several streets in TD because they were on the property he was developing. However, he’d been elected to the legislature and had to leave town. He asked his friends to just name the streets for him. When he returned to town, he found the streets named Liberty, Union, and Lincoln, which was perhaps not a welcome choice since he had been a southern sympathizer. However the streets retain those names today.
Another great piece about the far-right movement and the fascism they have always subscribed to, instead of the belief in democracy. The founders of the Republican Party would not recognize what it has become today.
Arthur Butz is tenured and still teaching at Northwestern
90 years old...just incredible that he's still kicking. I went to grad school at NU in the 90s and was only vaguely aware of his existence...he mostly just seemed like an embarrassment who couldn't be fired because of tenure. I now realize that I have no idea where and when Butz became a fascist...like, do we know where he got these cockamamie ideas from?
In the letter from Gardnier, Butz is listed with Oliver as a prof at IU, so that likely has something to do with it. Raises my fascist faculty flag so I’m gonna keep digging!
I understand if you feel the need to ban Ms Thobois, but I hope you leave her comment up. It is a thing of beauty.