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The R governor candidate in Washington has said that Democracy is the gateway to socialism, and that socialism is the gateway to communism, so we should all be

The R governor candidate in Washington has said that Democracy is the gateway to socialism, and that socialism is the gateway to communism, so we should all be wary of democracy. It's wild right now.

vkou 6y ago
It seems that the Republican party decided that it has no hope of contesting the gubernatorial seat, which was reflected in their primaries - a race among a lineup of absolute clowns, among whom Culp placed first. For folks who don't live in Washington - his official blurb is that he has no platform, and his qualifications consist of owning a construction company and being married for 43 years. No elected experience, no other professional experience, no education, no background in community service. [1] This state of affairs is, of course, bad for democracy for two reasons. For one, the opposition candidate is completely unqualified (And heaven forbid if he actually wins.) For another, when the opposition is so incapable, the bar of competence for the incumbent can't be lower. [1] I wish I was kidding, but that is what I see in my voter guide. The folks who are running unopposed for their seats have more to say about themselves than he does.
bleepblorp 6y ago
This isn't surprising. Reformed conservative thinker David Frum warned about this several years ago, with his most notable quote being: "If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. The will reject democracy."[0] Conservative opposition to democracy has already has wide, deep, roots and extends from kook candidates in blue states up to the Senate (where McConnell described attempts to increase voter turnout as a Democratic 'power grab'[1]) and the Trump circle, which has identified reducing voter turnout by disrupting absentee voting as a critical electoral strategy[2]. This problem isn't going to get any better. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/56364271-trumpocracy-the-corruption-of-the-american-republic https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/56364271-trumpocracy-t... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/us/politics/election-day-holiday-mcconnell.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/us/politics/election-day-... [2] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-campaign-2020-voter-suppression-consent-decree-1028988/ https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trum...
- abnercoimbre 6y ago
  I finished David's latest book [0], and I've been trying to find the quote where he says if Trump wins without the popular vote again then that may cause the majority of Americans to "impose their will" on the nation regardless. Do you recall? I've been seeking to clarify his thoughts there. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49205130-trumpocalypse?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=RWACEK4zTv&rank=2 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49205130-trumpocalypse?a...
  - bleepblorp 6y ago
    Sorry, I can't help as I haven't read that one yet.
    - abnercoimbre 6y ago
      Thanks. Even though I'm on the left, I appreciate David's conservative writing and his policy solutions to prevent another Trump. I'm a little confused about the downvotes, but it seems you've been through worse.
- donw 6y ago
  > "If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. The will reject democracy." This is true on both sides of the political divide. The narrative from the Right is something like, "The Democrats are trying to steal the election with voter fraud, rioting to intimidate conservative voters, and last-minute changes to voting laws. We need to fight this by pushing Voter ID, for keeping the voting system as-is (either in-person or absentee, but no mail-in voting[1]), and seating our supreme court justice. They can only win by cheating." The narrative from the Left is something like, "The Republicans are trying to win by suppressing the popular vote. We need to fight this by expanding voting to as many people as possible, abolishing the Electoral College, and preventing the Republicans from seating their supreme court pick. They can only win by cheating." Both of those viewpoints have large elements of truth to them. This is not politics as usual -- this is a dirty fight to the death, between two mutually incompatible visions for the future of the United States. Neither side is going to "play fair". > "Reformed conservative thinker" Reversing polarity, would you call a former Democrat that now supports Trump a "reformed liberal"? Something tells me the answer is "no". People learn and change their views. Or the Overton Window shifts, and they find that their views puts them in a different camp. [1] Absentee and Mail-In Voting are different. Absentee voting assumes you have registered to vote for an upcoming election, and receive your ballot by mail. With mail-in voting, ballots are sent to all potential voters.
donw 6y ago
Do you have a direct link to a source for that? The candidate's twitter feed or blog, an uncut youtube video, etc.? Emphatically not Fox News, MSNBC, NYT, etc. The lot of them have fully sacrificed their credibility over the past decade. I keep seeing things like "Candidate Claims That We Must Kill All Babies And Eat Their Flesh" happily bounced around between media sites and their captive talking heads, and when you actually dig out what the candidate actually said, it's totally mundane, the exact opposite of what was claimed, or the claim itself was outright fabricated ("an anonymous source tells us...") Not saying you're wrong, but in the age of fake news, direct sources are really the only believable thing.
- Pfhreak 6y ago
  https://mobile.twitter.com/Jemsinger/status/1312457634306424833 https://mobile.twitter.com/Jemsinger/status/1312457634306424... “The problem with Democracy — you can look at quotes from famous Chinese leaders like Mao, Gorbachev — they loved Democracy because Democracy is a step toward socialism, which is a step towards communism.”
  - donw 6y ago
    Thanks for sharing a link with context! The quote is a little out of context -- the candidate is arguing for keeping a representative, rather than a direct democracy -- but he absolutely does say that direct democracy is a step towards communism at the end.

The R governor candidate in Washington has said that Democracy is the gateway to socialism, and that socialism is the gateway to communism, so we should all be wary of democracy. It's wild right now.

vkou 6y ago

It seems that the Republican party decided that it has no hope of contesting the gubernatorial seat, which was reflected in their primaries - a race among a lineup of absolute clowns, among whom Culp placed first. For folks who don't live in Washington - his official blurb is that he has no platform, and his qualifications consist of owning a construction company and being married for 43 years. No elected experience, no other professional experience, no education, no background in community service. [1] This state of affairs is, of course, bad for democracy for two reasons. For one, the opposition candidate is completely unqualified (And heaven forbid if he actually wins.) For another, when the opposition is so incapable, the bar of competence for the incumbent can't be lower. [1] I wish I was kidding, but that is what I see in my voter guide. The folks who are running unopposed for their seats have more to say about themselves than he does.

bleepblorp 6y ago

This isn't surprising. Reformed conservative thinker David Frum warned about this several years ago, with his most notable quote being: "If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. The will reject democracy."[0] Conservative opposition to democracy has already has wide, deep, roots and extends from kook candidates in blue states up to the Senate (where McConnell described attempts to increase voter turnout as a Democratic 'power grab'[1]) and the Trump circle, which has identified reducing voter turnout by disrupting absentee voting as a critical electoral strategy[2]. This problem isn't going to get any better. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/56364271-trumpocracy-the-corruption-of-the-american-republic https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/56364271-trumpocracy-t... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/us/politics/election-day-holiday-mcconnell.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/us/politics/election-day-... [2] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-campaign-2020-voter-suppression-consent-decree-1028988/ https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trum...

abnercoimbre 6y ago
I finished David's latest book [0], and I've been trying to find the quote where he says if Trump wins without the popular vote again then that may cause the majority of Americans to "impose their will" on the nation regardless. Do you recall? I've been seeking to clarify his thoughts there. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49205130-trumpocalypse?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=RWACEK4zTv&rank=2 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49205130-trumpocalypse?a...
- bleepblorp 6y ago
  Sorry, I can't help as I haven't read that one yet.
  - abnercoimbre 6y ago
    Thanks. Even though I'm on the left, I appreciate David's conservative writing and his policy solutions to prevent another Trump. I'm a little confused about the downvotes, but it seems you've been through worse.
donw 6y ago
> "If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. The will reject democracy." This is true on both sides of the political divide. The narrative from the Right is something like, "The Democrats are trying to steal the election with voter fraud, rioting to intimidate conservative voters, and last-minute changes to voting laws. We need to fight this by pushing Voter ID, for keeping the voting system as-is (either in-person or absentee, but no mail-in voting[1]), and seating our supreme court justice. They can only win by cheating." The narrative from the Left is something like, "The Republicans are trying to win by suppressing the popular vote. We need to fight this by expanding voting to as many people as possible, abolishing the Electoral College, and preventing the Republicans from seating their supreme court pick. They can only win by cheating." Both of those viewpoints have large elements of truth to them. This is not politics as usual -- this is a dirty fight to the death, between two mutually incompatible visions for the future of the United States. Neither side is going to "play fair". > "Reformed conservative thinker" Reversing polarity, would you call a former Democrat that now supports Trump a "reformed liberal"? Something tells me the answer is "no". People learn and change their views. Or the Overton Window shifts, and they find that their views puts them in a different camp. [1] Absentee and Mail-In Voting are different. Absentee voting assumes you have registered to vote for an upcoming election, and receive your ballot by mail. With mail-in voting, ballots are sent to all potential voters.

donw 6y ago

Do you have a direct link to a source for that? The candidate's twitter feed or blog, an uncut youtube video, etc.? Emphatically not Fox News, MSNBC, NYT, etc. The lot of them have fully sacrificed their credibility over the past decade. I keep seeing things like "Candidate Claims That We Must Kill All Babies And Eat Their Flesh" happily bounced around between media sites and their captive talking heads, and when you actually dig out what the candidate actually said, it's totally mundane, the exact opposite of what was claimed, or the claim itself was outright fabricated ("an anonymous source tells us...") Not saying you're wrong, but in the age of fake news, direct sources are really the only believable thing.

Pfhreak 6y ago
https://mobile.twitter.com/Jemsinger/status/1312457634306424833 https://mobile.twitter.com/Jemsinger/status/1312457634306424... “The problem with Democracy — you can look at quotes from famous Chinese leaders like Mao, Gorbachev — they loved Democracy because Democracy is a step toward socialism, which is a step towards communism.”
- donw 6y ago
  Thanks for sharing a link with context! The quote is a little out of context -- the candidate is arguing for keeping a representative, rather than a direct democracy -- but he absolutely does say that direct democracy is a step towards communism at the end.