Thomas ZimmerFeb 20, 2023

Rightwing extremists advocating for the dissolution of the country is neither new nor surprising.

The fact that such extremists have risen to the center of conservative politics and continue to be elevated within the Republican Party, however, is indicative of an acute threat.

Show threadThomas Zimmer
It really says a lot about how far the Republican Party has radicalized to the right that we all know this stuff will neither have any personal consequences for Marjorie Taylor Greene nor be forcefully condemned by any of her Republican colleagues. That’s just where we are.
Feb 20, 2023 at 3:33pmIvory for iOS
Show threadThomas ZimmerFeb 20, 2023

I certainly get the urge to dismiss and ignore Marjorie Taylor Greene. But it won’t work. She is an elected official in good standing with the rest of her party, in a position of influence, fully intent on using her power. Her extremism is increasingly that of the Republican Party itself.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/13/extremists-like-marjorie-taylor-greene-are-the-future-of-the-republican-party

Extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene are the future of the Republican party

It’s impossible to understand American politics without grappling in earnest with why Greene’s extremism is widely seen as justified on the right

The Guardian
Show threadThomas ZimmerFeb 20, 2023
And as much as I get the temptation to say: Go ahead! Go do your own reactionary thing! - That’s just not how America’s political geography works. The “blue states vs. red states” narrative too often obscures what is primarily an urban vs. rural divide.
Show threadThomas ZimmerFeb 20, 2023
“Well, they’ll have to vote with their feet and move!” I’m sure a lot of young people, especially, will do exactly that. But it leaves those behind who aren’t able to uproot their entire existence – often precisely the people who will suffer most from white reactionary politics.
Show threadSpicewallaFeb 20, 2023

@tzimmer_history

Convincing D voters to move out of red states is even one of their stated goals.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article262849238.html

Show threadKee HinckleyFeb 20, 2023

@Spicewalla @tzimmer_history that only works if they continue to suppress the Black vote. Otherwise they don’t have a majority even in red states.

Which is also why I disagree that this is rural vs. urban. It’s far more about race. It’s just easier to use racism to scare rural whites than urban whites.

Show threadThomas ZimmerFeb 20, 2023
@nazgul @Spicewalla “It’s not rural vs urban, it’s about race” assumes those are somehow mutually exclusive when, actually, they are closely intertwined. Tons of great research on the reasons behind the urban vs rural divide. I’d strongly suggest staying away from simplifying “I think it’s this… I believe it’s that…” arguments. Not a matter of opinion. Again, tons of empirical evidence.
Show threadKee HinckleyFeb 20, 2023
@tzimmer_history Agreed. I was oversimplifying and not well. I was responding to “primarily an urban vs. rural divide” which made it sound to me like you weren’t factoring race into it at all, which probably was not your internet. In any case, it’s far more complicated than short posts are going to capture.
Show threadLassielmrFeb 20, 2023
@Spicewalla @tzimmer_history surely anyone with the means to do that are already considering their options.
Show threadElizabeth SudduthFeb 20, 2023
@tzimmer_history Also, I don't want to leave. I'm proud to be an NC native and proud to live in Georgia. We have amazing climate, great food, great music, and the majority of us are great people. Racist traitors like Greene are the exception here, and I'm not abandoning my neighbors to her abuse.
Show threadVictoriaFeb 20, 2023
@hydropsyche @tzimmer_history
But, you are going to have to organize and get like-minded people to the polls.
Show threadNow @christinkallama@hcommonsFeb 20, 2023

@runkleva @hydropsyche

Which Georgians have become exceptionally good at. But they are fighting entrenched voter suppression and white supremacy systems, and help from the national level, such as passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and future Supreme Court appointments, is also fundamental. "We" are going to have to organize to make democracy a priority.

Show threadElizabeth SudduthFeb 20, 2023
@christinkallama @runkleva Thank you! Exactly that. At this point I thought most folks knew that grassroots work got Ossoff and Warnock elected, restoring Democratic control of the Senate, and about Better Georgia and Fair Fight and our current fights like #StopCopCity and #SaveTheOkefenokee. We are working so hard here and could use backup!
Show threadLassielmrFeb 20, 2023
@hydropsyche @tzimmer_history how did she obtain the votes? A whole lot of people must agree with her batshit crazy dangerous views. But as a Scot who loves Georgia I do agree you should not have to move.
Show threadElizabeth SudduthFeb 21, 2023
@lassielmr @tzimmer_history She is in a single, very gerrymandered district in the far northwestern corner of the state. Georgia has 14 Congressional seats. If you're going to judge our state by who represents us in Congress, you have to also consider Nikema Williams, Hank Johnson, David Scott, Sanford Bishop, and Lucy McBath.
Show threadLassielmrFeb 21, 2023
@hydropsyche @tzimmer_history I’m not judging at all. Can’t as I don’t live there. And every country has a variation of her. My mind always thinks ‘what type of person votes for these crazies’
Show threadWoozle HypertwinFeb 21, 2023

@hydropsyche @tzimmer_history

Speaking from NC: they can't my home either. The balance everywhere is slowly tilting against them over the long run.

Show threadDewi IoanFeb 20, 2023
@tzimmer_history The most extreme "Red State" Wyoming only 67.4% of voters voted Republican... but only 67% of eligible voters are registered and only 44.4% voted - so only 43.3% voted republican ... It's not really Red
Show threadGreg BellFeb 20, 2023
@tzimmer_history also didn't the rural areas historically kill and chase out those of more progressive views and darker shades of skin, unless properly subjugated by class and neighborhood? Even today the entire countryside feels like a giant Nextdoor that treats anyone who doesn't appear to "belong" with suspicion and hostility.
Show threadice.cream.assassinFeb 20, 2023
@tzimmer_history I think it's important to focus on the salient points of what she is doing. Like, in this case, I think it's less important to think in terms of 'secession' and more in terms of 'she continues to promote the idea that only a limited subset of Americans are valid and she is intentionally inciting her base to believe that'.
Show threadNick FleisherFeb 20, 2023
@tzimmer_history At one time it would have been considered a big problem for the Speaker of the House to be harboring secessionists in his own caucus
Show threadMichaelFeb 20, 2023
@nickfleisher @tzimmer_history it still could be if journalists had any interest in calling it out.
Show threadf*cking b*tch clubFeb 20, 2023

@tzimmer_history The fact that anyone pays attention to her at all is alarming. The fact that the Speaker tolerates/encourages her is vile! (though it shows his weakness….)

But I doubt that “everyone I talk to” is more than a handful of like-minded seditionists.

Show threadHahahagidaFeb 20, 2023
@tzimmer_history I am nearly afraid to ask, but what did MJG say now? That jewish space lasers not only cause forest fires but also earthquakes? ...
Show threadMichaelFeb 20, 2023
@Hahahagida @tzimmer_history it's in the first post of the very thread you're responding to.
Show threadHahahagidaFeb 21, 2023
@MikeyTsi @tzimmer_history Sorry, new here. I was responding to your post in my feed so did not actually see it as part of a thread at first.
Show threadjimrayFeb 20, 2023
@tzimmer_history are you suggesting that when Mitt Romney tried shaming that grifter from Long Island it wasn’t a fix for decades of Republican revanchism? I thought for sure that would do it.
Show threadShawnFeb 20, 2023

@tzimmer_history average GOP voters are all on board for civil war. That’s what “national divorce” means. Killing Americans to get control of land.

The U.S. won’t give up Guam. Does the GOP honestly think they can just walk away with Kentucky? No, they know what they mean of killing Americans and stealing land, or pushing liberals onto reservations.

Show threade. e. yikesFeb 20, 2023

@tzimmer_history You make very valid points, but it’s worth noting that there’s no shortage of left-leaning people on social media who think it’s smart/edgy to support this (“I wouldn’t miss the south”, “Let them secede”, *GIF of Bugs Bunny letting FL float away*, etc.)

There are some already popping up in your replies 😕

It’s insanely short-sighted, and suggests that all the women/minorities/LGBTQ+ people in so-called “red states” just get abandoned to their fates. But still popular!

Show threadJeffFeb 20, 2023
@tzimmer_history GQP wants it's own country like Brexit