Actually, that last part is untrue. The depths have already been plumbed and are pulling the Former Guy’s Party down, down, down into the abyss once exclusively occupied by Nazi Germany. This deliberately sharp right turn of events is too ugly, too weird for me. Just the headlines, please, no details.
Which is why I didn’t read the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Orlando, FL, 2021 book. But I did see the movie, or more accurately, the floor layout of CPAC’s main stage. In case you missed it, here it is.
The design was foreign to me but immediately recognizable to Neo-Nazis and their ilk (or should I say “ick?”). That design you see above, that’s an Odal rune. Wiki describes the history of the symbol:
The Elder Futhark Odal rune (ᛟ), also known as the Othala rune, represents the o sound. Its reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *ōþalan "heritage; inheritance, inherited estate". [As in the Former Guy inherited the GOP estate?] It was in use for epigraphy during the 3rd to the 8th centuries.
The rendition of the Odal rune with wings or feet (serifs) was the badge of the SS Race and Settlement Main Office, which was responsible for maintaining the racial purity of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS). This particular rendition has no historical significance outside of Nazi Germany. Because of its Nazi associations, Strafgesetzbuch 86a [the modern German criminal statute] bans any usage of the Odal rune as with most other symbols if used in a Neo-Nazi context.
Now that’s what I call an attention-getting floor plan, not to mention political plan! And let’s face it, nothing says, “Go back to your shithole country!”or “Jews will not replace us!” or “There are TWO genders. Male & Female. 'Trust the Science!'” or “We won the election!”quite like an alt-right, fascist symbol of Aryan male superiority and White nationalism. When you need to hit your dumbed-down audience over the head with a propaganda cudgel, nothing hits home like a relic from an SS uniform.
Why this particular reprise? I guess with Central American “barbarians” at the southern gate, DACA and a path to citizenship once more up for discussion, the U.S. fertility rate falling like a rock*, and the Democrats on the verge of enacting the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill with massively popular bipartisan support**, somebody in the CPAC/Former Guy’s set design department decided shit’s gettin’ real and the message must be sent: “We’re White and we're Christian. We’re male and we run it. And our boy’s gonna kick yo’ political ass.”
Well, that’s just a little bit too ugly for my sensibilities; moreover, it’s much too irrational for my rationality. Because when I encounter articles like the ones in the Lancet and Research Gate cited below about the projected decline in U.S. population and how endocrine-disrupting common household chemicals seem to be negatively affecting fertility, I understand that unless the U.S. embraces immigration, its standard of living will fall precipitously—right into the Mariana Trench of Shame. And in my reading of the historical record, it was the Germans who tried to get rid of the Jews, not the reverse. Furthermore, according to the science, Marjorie Taylor Greene is dead wrong: Gender is an identity, a socially-constructed role, and not a biological sex determination.
Call me old-fashioned, but I always let the facts get in the way. And because I do, I won’t be swimming with this vicious school of fish. Neither will I be goose stepping to their malevolent drummer. And I definitely won’t be worshiping at the flip-flop-clad feet of the Former Guy as golden calf. Nope. Not a snowball’s chance. To quote the quixotic Lindsey Graham, whose nighttime cabaret name is rumored to be Lady G, “Count me out!”
Keep it real! And please do not wear a damn mask like the one below!
Marilyn
** A poll by Morning Consult/Politico showed that 76% of Americans, including 60% of Republicans, support the Covid relief measure passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
"Ick" is so fitting!
ReplyDeleteDick also comes to mind.
DeleteUnbelievably disgusting!!
ReplyDeleteActually, believably disgusting.
Delete