If the funding is the issue, then we could just end that. That could be done without selling out Ukraine and rewarding Russia for invading neighboring nations.
> it's obviously not treason
I suspect he meant morally, not legally. The present administration appears to be doing everything possible to destroy the US from within. Call that what you will.
It outwardly manifests as hate, but most people don't think of themselves like that. People generally view themselves as the star of the story. We have subcultures that make people drift towards certain beliefs and outcomes, all the while with those people largely being unaware of their course. You are noticing that there is a dominant subculture that indoctrinates with hateful beliefs.
I think this sentiment gets at a more interesting idea, which is the increasing convergence/conflation of government and society in the minds of participants. That is to say, government is the primary, if not only avenue for voicing and acting on personal/cultural values.
So they became demons and proved the progressives correct. Or more realistically, they took the masks off.
I've seen this argument a few times and the utter lack of self-awareness behind it always amuses me. It's literally the logic of comic book supervillains. "They call me a racist, so I'll became the most racist racist of all time, that'll show them!"
Not a strawman. Your thesis is that progressives "went around demonising everyone and everything," that includes racism and racists. And progressive anti-racism is a common source of contention right-wingers have about progressives, so it is also clearly relevant to the context of your comment.
But feel free to substitute whatever progressive thing it is that progressives complain about that you prefer to wrap into the right-wing persecution complex, it's all the same.
How about this, in general terms: "They called me x so I became x" isn't a reaction which people who don't already possess x as a trait generally have, for some anti-progressive values of x that include but are not limited to "antisemitic," "racist," "sexist," "fascist," "homophobic" or "transphobic."
You're getting downvoted, but I think that's sort of the same effect that you're describing.
Demonizing (or behavior on that spectrum) isn't unique to any side. It draws one side together but repels rather than converts the other side. Not demonizing creates a lot of what is considered "PC speech".
Which demonizing quotes from progressives do you remember hearing/reading? Not any vague retellings of something someone else heard. You do recall how Springfield immigrants' pet eating was not real.
Downvoting is about strongly disagreeing with the parent's point. It is not demonizing.
Hell, I got downvoted for suggesting that hate was a motivator for a subset of people. I'm sadly confident in that assessment but such is life on teh interwebs.
There's very effective messaging that bends the perception of "progressive" values to be a literal attack on those who don't share those values. It's a strong disagreement and nothing more.
I would be classified as a progressive (but it's not my identity) -- I don't hate people "on the other side". I have not-positive feelings about them (puzzlement, frustration, sadness, and unfortunately, fear), but hate is not part of that equation.
One of the most frustrating things about this situation is that real dialog across the aisles is no longer possible. I could elucidate on why I think so but I don't need more angry downvotes today. Just note that the person you're commenting to will likely avoid sharing anything other than grievances.
I can speak about europe, but I don't think that that the US started on a serious downward trend until nationalism started rising.
But let's say that the US was really on a downward trend -- it's still a big logical leap to say that it's because of some sort of lack of nationalism, especially because whatever downward trend there was has been sped up a lot with the rise of nationalism.
Nationalism of the sort we're seeing now is correlated with the collapse of nations, not with healthy ones.
Although I agree, a culture that allows companies like Palantir to be successful has indeed lost its way.