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Lots of people have searched for a historical parallel for what the MAGA movement and the Republican Party have become. Fascism comparisons certainly are apt. But the best historical parallel is the 2nd Ku Klux Klan of the latter 19-teens and 1920s. Let me explain. 1/
Read KKK leader Hiram Evans& #39; 1926 depiction of the KKK& #39;s mission: https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/22-the-new-era/hiram-evans-on-the-the-klans-fight-for-americanism-1926/">https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/22... 2/
What you& #39;ll see is shockingly similar to MAGA-speak today. White nationalism thinly veiled in a return to an imagined morallly upright past. An attempt to join male power with white racial power to control black Americans and immigrants while "protecting" white womanhood 3/
And, yep, a focus on law and order. Check out this 2nd KKK poster from Nebraska https://nebraskahistory.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/6C30CC0D-86C7-425D-91F5-351884255497">https://nebraskahistory.pastperfectonline.com/webobject...
The trick here is obvious. Use fear to appeal to the existing prejudices of a privileged group anxious about its cultural dominance amidst in a globalizing economy and newly influential mass media (radio, magazines, and movies in that age). 5/
The kicker? The 2nd KKK was led by grifters who got rich on the dues of the true believers while living decadent lives with sex scandals that would almost embarass Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Donald Trump. The same grift we see from Trump family and its cronies today. 6/
The difference? While the Klan dominated state political parties in some states, it narrowly failed to take control of either party at the national level. Republican prez Calvin Coolidge snubbed the Klan& #39;s big D.C. march and the Democrats bowed to Klan pressure for much 7/
of the twenties but nominated a New York Catholic for president in 1928. In contrast, Trump& #39;s movement has turned the GOP into his personal plaything. The only way back to a sanity in American politics will be to decimate the GOP until it is either replaced or reborn. 8/
Decent people eventually smashed the 2nd KKK. It& #39;s up to us to do the same to its clear descendnt. End/
