#1381 The Conservative Fever Swamp is Reaching Critical Mass
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 17 November 2020
⏱️ 69 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 11/17/2020
Today we take a look at the Republican Party and that which is hath wrought. The deeply racist and conspiratorial constituency has been part of the party for decades but it wasn't always the dominant strain. Today it clearly is and in an age of hyper-polarization and with enthusiastic stoking from Trump, that branch of the party is perfectly primed to splinter from shared reality completely in a spectacular, violent way.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
BECOME A MEMBER! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content)
EPISODE SPONSORS: GROUND.NEWS/BEST | MackWeldon.com/Best
IF YOU’RE GOING TO SHOP AMAZON: Amazon USA | Amazon CA | Amazon UK
SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: A devastating indictment of the Republican Party - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 10-10-20
The problem, Stuart Stevens believes, is not that the GOP became something it wasn’t; it’s that many of those within it — including him — failed to see what it actually was.
Ch. 2: Is Trumpism the New Conservatism? - The Atlantic - Air Date 7-20-17
Goldwater's conservative movement ended up dominating Republican politics for 50 years. Trump·s takeover of the Republican party looks a lot like Goldwater's, so could an ideological movement resembling Trumpism dominate the next 50 years?
Ch. 3: The crisis isn’t Trump. It’s the Republican Party Part 1 - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 11-12-20
Anne Applebaum, staff writer for the Atlantic, discusses why the GOP ultimately took the path of Sarah Palin and Donald Trump, not John McCain and Mitt Romney and why what separates Never Trumpers from Trump enablers is a steadfast commitment to democracy
Ch. 4: The Good Germans - Gaslit Nation with Andrea Chalupa and Sarah Kendzior - Air Date 9-8-20
The phrase “Good Germans” refers to the Germans living in the Third Reich who enabled Hitler and his Nazi regime yet remained in denial that they were doing so. Or they did know, but they put on a show of respectability. They were “just following orders.”
We discuss why the beltway wants to call it Trumpism and why we must never do so. And the difference between a coastal D+20 district and a Midwest R+5 district reminds us that all politics is local.
Ch. 6: The crisis isn’t Trump. It’s the Republican Party Part 2 - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 11-11-20
If the past week — and past four years — have proven anything, it’s that we are not as different as we believed. No longer is the question, "Can it happen here?" It’s happening already.
Ch. 7: WHOA: 86% of Trumpists Think Biden Didn't Really Win - The David Pakman Show - Air Date 11-13-20
86% of Trumpists believe that Joe Biden didn't really win the election, stealing it from Donald Trump through fraud of some kind.
Ch. 8: Trump Tries A Suplex On The American People - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 11-13-20
As Donald Trump and his enablers, the Republicans continue this farcical half-serious coup, Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman discuss how the complicated grift that is professional wrestling explains this slow-moving disaster.
Ch. 9: The crisis isn’t Trump. It’s the Republican Party Part 3 - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 11-11-20
If the past week — and past four years — have proven anything, it’s that we are not as different as we believed. No longer is the question, "Can it happen here?" It’s happening already.
Ch. 10: The crisis isn’t Trump. It’s the Republican Party Part 4 - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 11-11-20
If the past week — and past four years — have proven anything, it’s that we are not as different as we believed. No longer is the question, "Can it happen here?" It’s happening already.
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 11: More nuance about legitimacy - Dave from Olympia, WA
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on the high likelihood of violence and death between now and Biden's inauguration
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Activism Music: This Fickle World by Theo Bard
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Check out the BotL iOS/Android App in the App Stores!
Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft
Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award winning best of a left podcast in which we shall |
| 0:06.9 | learn about how although the deeply racist and conspiratorial wing of the Republican Party |
| 0:12.8 | has been around for decades, it wasn't always the dominant strain. |
| 0:18.0 | Today it clearly is, and in an age of hyperpolarization, and with enthusiastic stoking from |
| 0:25.0 | Trump, that branch of the party is perfectly primed to splinter from our shared reality |
| 0:30.8 | completely in a spectacular and violent way. |
| 0:35.1 | Clips today come from the Ezra Klein show, the Atlantic Gas Lit Nation, the Professional |
| 0:41.2 | Left Podcast, the David Pakman show, and the Muck Rake political podcast. |
| 0:50.2 | I think that you'll like to eyes an hour ago, almost 40% of the African American vote |
| 0:55.8 | drops off to 7% with Goalwater and 64, and it never comes back. |
| 1:00.9 | So what does that mean? |
| 1:01.9 | It means that the Republican Party is predominantly a party that is appealing to white people. |
| 1:07.2 | Now there was a period there where we admitted that was a failure and we aspire to do something |
| 1:11.4 | else. |
| 1:12.4 | We don't do that anymore, and I think that difference is actually important. |
| 1:16.2 | But the lack of diversity in the party, I think, is the root of this. |
| 1:21.0 | So I use an example, say you take a 35-year-old Republican school teacher and a 65-year-old |
| 1:28.2 | Republican hedge fund manager. |
| 1:30.4 | They probably have pretty similar ideas on taxes. |
| 1:33.7 | Probably they're both white, and they probably believe in tax cuts. |
| 1:37.4 | So you take the same in the Democratic Party. |
| 1:40.4 | Just odds are much greater that that 35-year-old teacher will be non-white. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jay Tomlinson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jay Tomlinson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.