[deleted] t1_ix5ekyj wrote on November 20, 2022 at 9:50 PM

Reply to comment by headgasketidiot in Democrats and Progressives regain veto-proof majority in the Vermont House by mojitz

First off, thank you for having a meaningful and civil political debate. It’s is appreciated even though we disagree.

While I think you are right, that the letter next to someone’s name is more than just that, it’s also not the ONLY thing that characterizes them or what they represent. As a voter, especially in a gubernatorial race, I feel better served voting for someone that most closely represents me rather then doing so because they are a republican or democrat. If memory serves I’ve split every ballot I’ve ever voted on.

headgasketidiot t1_ix5hjkz wrote on November 20, 2022 at 10:11 PM

There's a really good book by Milton Mayer called "They Thought They Were Free." He was a Jewish journalist that moved to Germany shortly after WW2, where he befriended former Nazi party members and wrote about them. It's been a long time since I read it, but it really affected me, and what I got out of it was that regular people supported the nazis and the holocaust without really actually meaning to. They didn't even seem to have particular animosity towards Jews.

One of the people Mayer details in the book is a banker who joined the party late in its rise and was honesty pretty clearly never really super into it. This is what he told his long-time Jewish friend about his joining the party:

>With men like me in the party, things will be better. You'll see.

Days after that conversation, kristallnacht happened.

It's a bit of a theme in that person's story; the idea that good people in the party thought their membership in it was harmless, or could even help moderate it. Obviously, they didn't. In fact, that same person talks about how deeply he regretted his decision to join. He says the moderates who joined the party ended up making the extremism of the party possible.

Scott sits down, breaks bread, and actively collaborates with Abbott, DeSantis, Noem, and other actual fascists. That's a serious lack of judgement for even a regular person, but it's unacceptable to me in a person in a position of power. When I think about the lessons of history, I just can't forgive that.