by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I on occasion find myself talking to a conservative relative of mine. While I love them dearly, the two of us could not be more different. In fact, in some ways, we’re on the exact opposite ends of the political spectrum. So, talking to this person is an insight into “how the other half lives,” if you will.
Here are some first-blush things I’ve noticed.
First and foremost, the Republican nomination is Tucker Carlson’s to lose. Even though my relative is not really MAGA but rather “MAGA adjacent” when asked, they were all-in on voting for Carlson if he runs for the nomination. Carlson has all the ingredients of Trump in 2015-16 and pretty much all he has to do is throw his hat into the ring and he will go toe-to-toe with Trump. It would be easy for Carlson to paint Trump as a “loser” who has lost a number of elections for Republicans.
So, for me at least, it’s curious that we’re not hearing more about Carlson’s presidential ambitions.
The next thing I found interesting is how the Trans movement is used to juice the conservative base on conservative podcasts. My relative, in fact, said they were rather tired of that being the only thing that anyone on his conservative podcasts are talking about. The thing about the Trans movement, which I generally support, is it is too often used as a bludgeon by conservatives against moderates and centrists to sort of force the issue of “which side are you on?”
We’ve reach a point where there is absolutely no middle ground on ANY issue of the day. None. Either you’re all in for the Right or you’re all in for the Left. The center has not held. What makes this whole situation even worse is there is a lot of agitprop about the Trans movement being pushed by all these popular Right wing podcasts to the point that the whole issue is so muddled to the point that it’s difficult for anyone to get a handle on what is really going on. (Which, of course, is the whole point.)
Another thing I notice is how potent the Gay Scare is within Republican ranks. What’s more, it is clear that even with your run-of-the-mill conservative that the idea of the state enforcing a Christian morality on secular society is very, very popular. It’s a catch all solution for anything that conservatives don’t like or can’t explain any other way.
They don’t like gay people because it’s a “sin.” They hate any form of gun control, so they say we have a “mental health crisis” or we all just need more of the Good Lawd in our lives. They hate the right to chose because they believe life begins at conception, so they all all for squashing female agency, even though they, themselves say they “just want to be left alone.”
The list goes on.
But the key takeaway from my conversation is how my center-Left echo chamber no longer has any overlap with my relative’s center-Right echo chamber. None. We can’t even agree on the facts anymore. There are basic ideas that make the Right seethe with rage, even if they little no basis in reality.
It definitely seems to me that we’re careening towards the existential choice of autocracy or civil war starting in late 2024, early 2025 in the context of the 2024 election cycle.
