How Blaming Nader in 2000 Paved the Way for Today’s Neo-Fascism (12/9/19)

How Blaming Nader in 2000 Paved the Way for Today’s Neo-Fascism Even though it was a myth, the “spoiler” story was severely damaging to our society: it brushed aside the fact that a national election had just been stolen in broad daylight by a right-wing cabal, which paved the way for more of the same. At the time, I remember feeling deep dread. “If they get away with this,” I wondered to myself, “what will they get away with next?” That turned out to be a new global war, frightful attacks on civil liberties, further dismantling of the social safety net, worsening income inequality, and the stripping of even more environmental protections, among other crimes against people and planet. Virtually all of this was pushed through with bipartisan consensus. The Democrats of today are where the Republicans were in the ’90s except on a handful of social issues, and the Republicans have staked out new territory even further to the right. We’re at the threshold of fascism, and the current occupant of the White House is merely the next logical step in this perverse process, not the aberration he is made out to be. The falsehood that Nader “spoiled” the 2000 election played no small part in this rightward degeneration of US politics. It was the foundation for a fallacious narrative façade that’s since been constructed from innumerable other deceptions. Insidiously, it also served as a way of demonizing left-of-liberal political ideals by associating them with a manufactured villain. Original post on Macska Moksha Press: https://macskamoksha.com/2019/12/rightward-lurch Support Kollibri's Weekly Column by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/kollibris-weekly-column This podcast is powered by Pinecast.