Why Taibbi doesn't complain about the right
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I think most people who care about politics or culture choose a political side to complain about and mostly stick with it, to whatever extent they talk about politics at all. Taibbi explains why he is currently complaining about the left:
Why I don’t spend a lot of time on the Republicans:
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There is a enormous army of MSM reporters already going after them from every angle, with most major news organizations little more than proxies for the DNC, to the point where stations hire Biden spokespeople as anchors;
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The Republicans have very little institutional power nationally. It’s not their point of view prevailing in schools, on campuses, in newsrooms (where over 90% of working reporters vote blue), and especially in the intelligence and military apparatus, which has openly aligned itself with Democrats. Even if Donald Trump were a “threat to Democracy” he lacks the institutional pull to do much damage, which can’t be said of Democrats;
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The Democrats’ ambitions are significantly more dangerous than those of the Republicans. From digital surveillance to censorship to making Intel and enforcement agencies central players in domestic governance — all plans being executed globally as well as in our one country — they are thinking on a much bigger and more dangerous scale than Republicans. I lived in third world countries and the endless criminal indictments of people like Trump and ongoing lawfare efforts to prevent even third party challenges are classic authoritarian symptoms. The Republicans aren’t near this kind of capability;
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Last and most important, the Democrats are being organized around a more potent but also much dumber, more cultlike ideology. People like Yuval Harari and his Transhumanist “divinity” concept scare me a lot more than the Rs, and I was once undercover in an apocalyptic church in Texas. Ask your average Russian or Cuban what overempowered pseudo-intellectuals are capable of.
I have a pretty good record of picking dangerous phenomena ahead of time. I feel confident on this one, and that’s before we get to the demographic/class shifts in the parties.
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I agree with points 1 and 2 mostly. 3 and 4 are so wishy washy, they depend entirely on the narrative floating around in one's head. But to whatever extent 3 and 4 are not true, or the opposite of true, #2 renders them meaningless. The cold sweats TDS sufferers wake up with have always been ridiculous and ultimately masturbatory. the enjoyment of sharing in a cultural moment where you are under existential threat. Cosplaying it, at least.
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Why aren’t Republicans worried about Russia? Because we’re already facing worse Marxism at home.