It was a remarkable moment Monday night at the Republican National Convention, surely creating some amount of confusion among longtime Republicans, when Sean O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, delivered a stemwinder of a speech in prime time. He called former President Donald Trump a “tough S.O.B.”
They don’t care about facts, it’s always about controlling the conversation; they’ll sacrifice everything to that end, including their own judgement, edification, and dignity.
Reactionary politics is always about maintaining power for the privileged.
They believe there is no higher good than to fulfill the role bestowed upon you by your betters: it’s why they all lick the boots of cops who put those uppity minorities in their place. It’s why the “never Trumpers” started out reviling Donald Trump until he won and proved to them that he deserves to rule. It’s why the KKK terrorized black folks who rose above their station. It’s why they fought for school segregation. It’s why they opposed women’s liberation, abortion, and now birth control. It’s why they want to transfer wealth to the already obscenely rich. It’s why they ruined innocent people’s careers during the Red Scares. It’s why they oppose unions and strikes. It’s why they want to end public schooling. It’s why they kept locking up black men in chain gangs after slavery was (mostly) outlawed. It’s why they object to prison reform. It’s why they are opposed to welfare programs.
Everything about the reactionary right makes sense when viewed from this perspective.
Lincoln noted the same lack of substance behind conservative arguments in that quote above; reactionaries have always been this way.