Aren't the US extremists utterly, utterly WEIRD? Barking mad, the lot of 'em. Communist bloody Pope and Dalai Lama next, doubtless.
I fear that it's more than just the extremists now. Or at least, the extremists have become such a large faction that they are almost mainstream now. Hence, the control the tea bagger extremist crazies have over the whole political system and the irreparable damage they are going to come close to causing.
In a nutshell, the ordinary American has been dealt bad hands by the wealthy for so long that they are truly barking mad (angry) at their declining lot in life. Yet that anger has been redirected by the leaders of the tea baggers such as the Koch brother, etc., into an anger being expressed against themselves.
It's been a ver clever operation and only now some of them are starting to come to the realization that they have been snookered. Probably too few to make a large difference in the near future.
It doesn't seem possible to Canadians and probably British (such as you?) because we haven't been conditioned to accept the American mindset. That is, to believe with all their hearts that upward mobility is still possible in their country. It's been accomplished with the push for patriotism where you'll see a flag on many porches and you'll hear them screaming out their national anthem at every opportunity. Their military is praised and never questioned and they nearly always are easily snookered into accepting the war plans of either party. The American way is still their way even though it's being proven to have failed the people.
There is little hope of entertaining a rational discussion on the real problems with Americans yet. They are going to be protective of their image and patriotic to the point of not being yet capable of facing and admitting defeat at the hands of the wealthy. And so why bother trying? Except to say to you that everything discussed on this forum is really nothing more than a cleverly concealed argument on the merits of continuing with their rotten lots in life and suggestions that they subconsciously understand that it's not going to work anymore.
It's entertainment at best, to hear those who claim to be supporters of the political right screaming insults at people who are their political siblings. There's obviously not a one of them who fall within the ranks of the wealthy, even though they try to pretend they do. They are motivated by nothing more than the right's agenda that has been foisted upon them by the forces that drive the wealthy and it's been done under the guise of being patriotic Americans.
Now the question becomes, how low will they allow the wealthy faction to take them before they act out and take their country back? Is it even possible to reverse the momentum now? Could Mexicans do it? For the former I would suggest that it's still possible, for the latter it's clearly too late. It will soon be too late for America I believe.
It takes an outsider to recognize what's been accomplished with
