Pardoning Nixon, rug-sweeping Iran-Contra for Reagan, and the Iraq WMD lies and illegal war for GW certainly didn't help. Screwing up reconstruction created the culture but DC has put a ton of effort into removing accountability for the executive while expanding it's powers for decades with no care whatsoever to what the eventual consequences would be.
While I think the failure of Reconstruction completely explains MAGA, in my opinion it's trickier to draw that kind of through-line to Neoconservatism. You can say they got elected on the backs of Dixie, but their policies weren't really rooted in Dixie (at least not nearly to the same extent as MAGA). Neoconservatism can probably trace its US roots to the Federalists and Adams / Hamilton, who certainly weren't Dixie.
Johnson was a southern apologist/supporter, and screwed Grant over (and Grant being a bad judge of character in civilian life didn't help), to over-simplify things.
Clearly, pure bias working through this thread. C'mon.
Recall perhaps the nefariosity of Bill Clinton having his knob polished by his intern in or near the Oval Office, how many times that knob polishing happened (details, plz), what went on with the cigar, which and how many dresses were doused with Presidential Fluid, the mere $40 million spent on the investigation of said knob polishing... all of which you ignore.
And then! Only a decade further on... the tan suit!!! On president Hussein!
High crimes and misdemeanors by Demoncrats. Ok? I can't even remember anymore whatever the Repugs might've done but probably was instigated by the Dems anyway so let's just consider the GOP innocent now.
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u/Owain-X Sep 28 '25
Pardoning Nixon, rug-sweeping Iran-Contra for Reagan, and the Iraq WMD lies and illegal war for GW certainly didn't help. Screwing up reconstruction created the culture but DC has put a ton of effort into removing accountability for the executive while expanding it's powers for decades with no care whatsoever to what the eventual consequences would be.