GOP's Long History Of Cooperation With The Radical Right Fringe

Click here for an excellent article by Digby, at Hulabaloo, about the development of the Republican party and their connection with the radical right since post-WWII days: the John Birch Society, the Ku Klux Klan, and “'Newt Gingrich’s conversion of GOP politics into nationalized scorched earth warfare,'” the latter of which was the first step to openly marrying extremist rhetoric and tactics to the party itself."

Norm Ornstein, who has written a number of books on the radicalization of the modern GOP noted recently that it was Gingrich who turned the Republican Party into a cult, saying Gingrich “very deliberately generated tribalism” creating a “situation where people could view Democrats as evil, trying to destroy their way of life.” Of course, it wasn’t just Gingrich. He came to prominence at the same time that talk radio became a toxic hatefest creating star propagandists like Rush Limbaugh. Roger Ailes then joined up with Rupert Murdoch to create a TV and print empire to similarly stoke the partisan acrimony. The Clinton years were a dumpster fire of partisan rancor.

Then came Bush's Big Lie, that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and played a part in 9/11, as justification for the catastrophic invasion of Iraq. Then the Tea Party, the Freedom Caucus -- leading to the mess the GOP is in today.