I wonder why right-wing messaging aligns so closely with that of a foreign adversary?

Let us retrace our steps. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Koch family, oblivious in the interest of profits to the national interest, or the threat posed by fascism or communism, sought to do deals with Hitler and Stalin in Germany and Russia. In the 1980s and 1990s, Donald Trump inherited and largely squandered his father’s real estate empire, launching scheme after ill-fated scheme, only to be bailed out by the senior Trump. As the 2000s broke, Trump turned to Russian oligarchs seeking a haven for funds from their profiteering of former Soviet assets. The oligarchs’ gangster-like methods of nationalization as privatization combined Stalin’s forced takeovers with monetizing formerly national assets. Then, former Soviet agents in the KGB, led by Putin, began a program of money-laundering which met the needs of both the oligarchs and the Trump Organization as the Trump family became Putin’s latter-day useful idiots. Then, in 2016, the odd Russian bet on one such idiot, like a bet on 23 red on a roulette wheel, paid off big time.

Some citations would have been nice, but the information is freely google-able, and backed by many reputable sources. It all sounds so conspiratorial, but the people involved have done a fine job of leaning into that angle to cover their tracks.

I don't feel an unwavering loyalty to the United States, nor do I fetishize the founding fathers, or our constitution. Joe Biden is a big, fat "meh", and the idealism of American Progressivism is often naive, impractical, and ineffective. But I'd like to think that I have a knack for sensing when a particular school of thought is clearly toxic for society writ large, and I'm here to say, with some restraint (it may be in all caps, next time):

The Koch-Heritage-Federalist-Birch bullshit is absolutely fucked. If you're a fan, and your net worth is less than several tens of millions of dollars? Congratulations, I consider you not only a special type of idiot, but a hazard to a healthy society. Sorry.

To continue some of another thread here, I'd never refuse a hug. If you ever need one too, that's A-OK, I'm stocked on hugs :). Long distance bromance is rough.

They're gonna run Paul Ryan and not give a fuck if they lose.

The wrongness of the second half of this sentence is why the first half is wrong. Power is all these people are interested in, and considering how much power we've consolidated into the executive, that's the main focus of the GOP, but hey, waging lie-based "cultural" warfare at a local level is apparently entertaining in the meantime. If Trump grew horns, a barbed tail, sported a pitchfork, and went from orange to full-blown red, Grassley'd still be hamming it up at rallies to cement his own re-election.

More importantly: I cannot overstate how much I appreciate you engaging me, 'bl00, even if we completely diverge in our perceptions from time to time.