politics

This. Reagan in particular just lovedb nothing more than knocking the supports out from under bridges. Fucking old bastard.

I’d say when FDR replaced Henry Wallace with the more right-leaning Truman.

Wallace wanted to pass a civil rights bill.

Truman dropped nuclear bombs on 2 civilian cities and was more interested in kick-starting the red scare than expanding upon the programs and policies FDR clearly laid out in his last days on literal record as president with things like a proposed 2nd Bill of Rights.

The stuff passed during Nixon's presidency was mostly not bad, because he had a progressive congress and knew it was good for his public image if he went along with their stuff (and took credit for their successes), but Nixon realized Southern Strategy, and his presidency perhaps marked the start of descent into incivility and absurdity in politics. He was a piece of shit in every regard imaginable, but he wasn't an obstructionist afaik.

Reagan is where policy took a SHARP dive, straight into the ground. He was the next step which was allowed by Nixon turning national politics into a rapid-fire shit-spewing competition.

Nixon, Reagan, HW Bush, W Bush, Trump. Did I miss one?

Reagan led the charge but there was also folks like Gingrich and Armey doing stuff like the Contract with America (Heritage Foundation endorsed) and pushing to never let the dems have a win, and always oppose whatever they do.

I'm of the opinion that sunshine laws also fucked things up but that's a whole other discussion.

I think the JFK assasination pretty clearly shows the MIC/CIA et al has been firmly in control since the 50s.

Is this what happens when Germany stays out of trouble for a couple of decades?

I think this hits the nail right on the head.

For a while now I've been pondering this very thing. I can't prove it conclusively, but I honestly think this goes all the way back.

$0.02: The USA was started as a bunch of colonies, and we're co-cohabiting with lunatics that think this still is one. Over time, territory expanded westward up to and through the Civil War. This was done by the kind of people that came to a foreign land, saw it was full of people already, and decided to completely upend that whole situation for their own benefit. You know, the whole "screw them, got mine" world outlook. This is also an ethos that is completely compatible (if not required) with owning people (slavery), secession to maintain that ability, spilling blood over it, and continuing to punch down on "people not like us" for a 150 years since losing that fight. In a sense, we're up against colonists, the values they espoused, their great-great-great-offspring, and people in their community that keep those values alive.

And when you FUCKING WON you did the thing I would never do. The South would have been a smoldering pit of cinders in my timeline. I'd have decorated the halls of the white house with the hides of the plantation owners.

You've learned nothing in all these years except how to be polite to the scum you beat until they inched their way back on top of you. It's truly one of the most vile tales in human history.