I'm not American, just got interested in how their politics devolved to that, and apparently this was an intentional power play which started from republicans:

I'm not American, just got interested in how their politics devolved to that, and apparently this was an intentional power play which started from republicans: > "a race to the bottom to see who can be meaner and madder and crazier. It is not enough to be conservative anymore. You have to be vicious." The viciousness doesn’t necessarily reside in the individual souls of Republican leaders. It flows from the party’s politics, which seeks to delegitimize opponents and institutions, purify the ranks through purges and coups, and agitate followers with visions of apocalypse I feel this article summarize it well: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/how-did-republican-party-get-so-corrupt/578095/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/how-did-re... Newt Gingrich seems to be responsible for that more recent attempt at this, and everything happening now seems to be the end game of what he started, though the party seems to have a history of it to some extent. I know some people might say that the Atlantic is partisan and maybe Democratic leaning (I think?), but personally except for the part where the article seems to say they don't like what the Republican party is making of democracy, everything else seems pretty accurate and factual to me. I'd love to hear counterpoints, like is there anyone who doesn't think this characterizes the Republican party properly?