Free Peek: The GOP Flirts With Civil War

Dispatch Live teaser.

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A free sample from this week’s members-only Dispatch Live recording: Kevin, Steve, Drucker, and Grayson discuss the right’s embrace of violent rhetoric and the disputed value of Mike Pence’s last-minute anti-populist turn. (Steve, a few Spanish wine glasses in, gets extra ranty… you’ve been warned.)

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  1. James Bennett

    I just got back from Spain, where I bought a bottle of 1.95 EUR Sangre Del Toro in Steve's honor.

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    KLeeC

    Two things:

    1. I find it greatly disturbing that so many people across the spectrum minimize the threat from or number of bunker buddies champing at the bit to play war and how that will domino. Some say it's a joke, others say it's serious, but behave in ways that show they don't believe it.

    I hear them all the time...(FWIW, my husband got their threats nearly daily for over 2 decades, so I'm aware of the difference. Current ones are coordinated and feel they have the approval of GOP leaders.)

    2. In my opinion, Steve is so obviously right about how purity tests are counterproductive at times like this, it's baffling to me that people still insist on them.

    I see little achieved for any of us, due to both of these all-too-common blind spots.

    I hope I'm wrong, but if not, I hope those who refuse to listen are held to account.

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  3. RexDoodis

    I am a subscriber. Why do I only see the teaser? I am also a regular podcast listener. Where is the full recording?

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    1. Bryan D

      https://thedispatch.com/article/video-mccarthy-launches-impeachment-inquiry/

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      1. Avatar photostaff-badge-circle
        Adaam James Levin-Areddy staff-badge Editor

        Hi Bruce,

        You can watch the full live discussion here: https://thedispatch.com/article/video-mccarthy-launches-impeachment-inquiry/

        You can also sign up to all members-only podcast feeds here: https://members.thedispatch.com/account/feeds (make sure you’re logged in to your Dispatch account!)

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  4. DJ

    The rhetoric of violence has real world consequences. This week we learned Mitt Romney spends $5,000 a day on security, and in the article he suggests some Senators wanted to vote to convict but feared for their families’ safety. We heard similar things about Liz Cheney, Adam Kinziger and other House Republicans who either voted to impeach or decided not to because of the threat of violence.

    And that’s just at the federal level. We also hear about local elections officials stepping down because of death threats. Then there’s the two women in Georgia suing Rudy Giuliani.

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      Scarlette Tarte

      There is also the "Trump or Death" flags starting to pop up around the country. https://www-nationalreview-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/who-embraces-the-slogan-trump-or-death/amp/?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16949080913450&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalreview.com%2Fthe-morning-jolt%2Fwho-embraces-the-slogan-trump-or-death%2F

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      1. Avatar photo
        BillAZ

        Well the answer to that was: "If you insist upon placing the choice of “Trump or death” before the rest of the country, and will accept no other terms, recognize that there are high odds that the rest of country will refuse to be intimidated into electing someone they detest. The answer may well be, “Let’s go with death, then.”"

        I think the panel covered it but the threat isn't some kind of fifth column organized resistance so much as an increase in the kinds of stochastic terrorism and copycat violence we see as an outcome of the extreme rhetoric on the Right. And it is predominantly on the Right although it would not be surprising if violent left-wing acts didn't increase in response. But it should be no surprise that among a cohort that has reduced the entirety of the Constitution and Bill of Rights to a single clause in the 2nd Amendment that their first reflex is to reach for a gun.

        It occurs to me that this stuff and the general anxiety in the land is driven by a kind of fin de siecle despair symbolized by these doddering octogenarians holding on to power that are running the country; teetering on the precipice of death or dementia. Their imminent demise is reflected back to us as a foreboding about the country as a whole in in the non-stop zombie, planetary disaster and alien invasion flicks and movies like "No Country For Old Men". It's a kind of "end is nigh... so let's break shit" mass delusion. After all it was the gerontocracy in the Soviet Union that presaged it's collapse and now seems to be doing the same for China. Just a thought.

        It's going to get worse before it get's better.

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