Renowned scholar says GOP is more akin to ‘a radical insurgency’ with ‘no interest in democracy’ than a political party.
A year after the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the success of Republican-led dismantling of voting rights by legislatures across the country, many have accused the Republican Party of imperilling democracy in the United States.
According to a recent Ipsos/NRP poll, 64 percent of Americans believe that democracy in their country is in crisis and at risk of failing. Yet political partisanship continues to rise, dominating discourse about government. While many blame former President Donald Trump for polarising the country, world-renowned scholar, author and political activist Noam Chomsky says responsibility largely lies with the GOP.
“Republicans have just become a denialist party. This precedes Trump. When President Obama was elected, Mitch McConnell, Senate leader for the Republicans and maybe the most influential person in the party, […] said straight out that the Republicans have one goal, make sure he cannot achieve anything.”
“He’s doing exactly the same thing now,” Chomsky says of McConnell and Senate Republicans.
“When Joe Biden was elected, McConnell said very explicitly, our goal is to ensure that he can achieve nothing. We’ll harm the country as much as possible, and we will then blame it on the Democrats, and we’ll come back to power. That’s not a political party. That’s a radical insurgency. No interest in democracy.”
This week in an UpFront special, Marc Lamont Hill speaks with Noam Chomsky about the state of democracy in the US.
ItsShiny on February 4th, 2022 at 13:50 UTC »
I mean they want to fine teachers 10k if they offend a students religious beliefs. They clearly want a theocracy, not democracy. https://news.yahoo.com/oklahoma-bill-fine-teachers-10k-074541672.html
mmsood99 on February 4th, 2022 at 12:29 UTC »
Most telling of all is that they are running on NO POLICIES. And getting away with it!
phalewail on February 4th, 2022 at 09:38 UTC »
Sometimes I do wonder if there is any hope left for democracy. Some really smart people have worked out how to scare people into voting a certain way with total disregard for the consequences.
This fear drives the great divide deeper and is reinforced by bad actors who care not for truth or what's best for the people, and only care about lining their pockets.