What was the single most important turning point in history that led us to this moment?

[Music Man]

I have been thinking a lot lately about the most consequential factor that led us to a Trump presidency and a significant portion of our populace that willfully accepts lies. Every time I think of something, it calls to mind something else that came before it. In reverse chronological order:

*The advent of social media and its penchant for tribalization and the potential for fake news.
*The obstructionism of Mitch McConnell that made Obama's presidency less-than-effective in voter's eyes, and lies about Obama's policies that gave rise to the phony Tea Party movement
*The nomination of Sarah Palin for Vice President, which opened the door to other less-than-serious candidacies
*The Citizens United decision that poured millions of dollars from special interests into the process
*The Bush v. Gore decision and the several years of solid rule by Republicans in state legislatures, governorships, and the courts
*The rise of talk radio and Fox News
*The Gingrich revolution of 1994 that brought a new level of nastiness to politics, demonization of liberals, and years of attention spent on Clinton scandals
*Clinton Third Way policies and a new Democratic Party that aligned itself with Wall Street bankers and big donors and sought to move away from the New Deal Democratic Party
*Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, bringing decades of Reagan worship and a new ethic of selfishness and hatred of government.
*The Southern Strategy of Nixon and Goldwater in the 1960s

I think we have to go all the way back to the Southern Strategy to find the seed of our situation. I believe even Reagan wouldn't be possible without it. It exploited racial divisions, created a new electoral map, and fostered a mistrust of federal programs designed for the poor (to the point where poor white people will vote against their interests because they think black people are abusing aid programs). If I had a time travelling DeLorean and one stop to make, the decisions made by Republicans in the mid-to-late 1960s would be my choice to stop.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Court ruling giving Bush the white house.

[onecaliberal]

23. That

[brush]

42. Yes. This. The forces behind selecting Bush though are the same...

forces responsible for the other things on your list and are descendants of the strain is this country that were responsible for policies reaching all the way back to all the assassinations, coups, occupations and wars the country has blighted the rest of the Americas and the world.

Unfortunately IMO trump is the culmination of all that.

[Meowmee]

46. This was it

Imo. There are many other historical factors leading up to it of course.

[FSogol]

2. Democrats sitting out the 2014 midterms. n/t

[ego_nation]

3. The birth of Fox News

[SeattleVet]

4. Reagan dismantling the 'Fairness Doctrine'...

thus opening the door for the FauxSnoozes and InfoWars of the world to spew total crap, unchallenged.

[YessirAtsaFact]

8. Agreed- hate radio would be impossible to sustain

If 15 minutes per hour of truth is thrown in the mix

[a kennedy]

13. This sure added to it.......

[irisblue]

15. The Fairness Doctrine

From it's wiki article, & there is much more at the site.
" The fairness doctrine had two basic elements: It required broadcasters to devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest, and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. Stations were given wide latitude as to how to provide contrasting views: It could be done through news segments, public affairs shows, or editorials. The doctrine did not require equal time for opposing views but required that contrasting viewpoints be presented. The demise of this FCC rule has been considered by some to be a contributing factor for the rising level of party polarization in the United States.

The main agenda for the doctrine was to ensure that viewers were exposed to a diversity of viewpoints. In 1969 the United States Supreme Court upheld the FCC's general right to enforce the fairness doctrine where channels were limited. But the courts did not rule that the FCC was obliged to do so.[4] The courts reasoned that the scarcity of the broadcast spectrum, which limited the opportunity for access to the airwaves, created a need for the doctrine."

It existed 49-87. I remember my father watching the public affairs shows & explaining the conversations to me.
Also I believe the 'dumbing down' of the American educatipnal system started in earnest in that time span. Less American civics, history & written critical thought pieces in high school years were occurring. The rise of technology classes instead of with the social sciences were happening

[Va Lefty]

32. I think this is where things got exponentially worse

[dalton99a]

65. Yep.

[MrsCoffee]

5. The modern day Pandora's Box. The internet.

[uponit7771]

6. CU, without it the Russians can't fund NRA who's admitted to taking money from Russians(link)

http://www.newsweek.com/nra-admits-accepting-money-23-russia-linked-donors-882310

[BBG]

7. Ford Pardons Nixon

Republicans learned they can get away with it.

[genxlib]

10. This lesson led directly into Iran Contra

To this day, I believe that there was a massive failure in justice for that.

They really had very little consequences considering they violated the will of congress and sold weapons to Iran shortly after the hostage crisis.

[genxlib]

9. I would add the assassination of 2 Kennedys and MLK

For hampering liberal leadership for a decade or more

[shraby]

17. I think it started with the assassinations too.

[zipplewrath]

25. The assassination explosion

There were many assassinations back then, including Medgar Evers. The right wing never paid a political price for them. It was basically all seen as "lone gunmen", not the product of a political philosophy. Conversely, the left was entirely demagogued by the violent actions of people in the '60s that opposed the war and fought the culture wars. The right has been getting away with this for 50+ years, so why would a little lying be a problem?

[volstork]

11. Kennedy assassination

set it all in motion. They saw that they could get away with it.

[leftstreet]

12. Not prosecuting Bush/Cheney for war crimes n/t

[shanny]

14. the Lewis Powell Memo / Manifesto circa 1970

a road map for taking over the country; written by Lewis Powell who Nixon rewarded with a SC seat

[GusBob]

31. Here ya go

[Efilroft Sul]

43. Make it a third vote for the Powell Manifesto.

Runners-up:
• The Southern Strategy
• The influence of the Chicago School of Economics

[shanny]

68. Certainly an honorable mention for them both

especially the Chicago School, which miscreants used to spread the joy around the world.

[pangaia]

60. THIS IS IT!!!

Everything 'started' here.

Of course there was the Civil War,, etc etc... but in 'modern' American history... THIS is it.

[shanny]

69. I used to consider "think tanks" benign.

Now I know what too many of them were really up to.

[FiveGoodMen]

16. The Fundamentalist Takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention

Insuring that nearly all southerners would get horrible propaganda from the pulpits every week.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Baptist_Convention_conservative_resurgence

[DBoon]

18. Reagan/Thatcher

destroyed the Labour and New Deal coalitions

[superpatriotman]

19. 9-11

changed everything

[LeftInTX]

20. I think the Southern Strategy after passing the Civil/Voting Rights Act

It took several decades (the 80s) for the old guard to pass....many Democrats continued to be re-elected because they were incumbents...after they left office, they were replaced with Republicans.

Reagan was rabid, but had a Democratic House.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

21. I gotta go with the "Southern Strategy" as well. nt

[DBoon]

22. "nomination of Sarah Palin for Vice President"

The dumbing down started with Dan Quayle, if not Reagan himself

[oberliner]

24. October 7, 1996

Launching of Fox News.

[genxlib]

26. I would offer an alternate series of events as context as well

It's a little out of the box but follow my train of thought.

-The invention of the automobile

-The dependence on oil

-Meddling in the Middle East

-The rise of radicalism in Islam

-OPEC gas shocks

-Iranian Revolution and Hostages

-Afghanistan / Russians / Bin Laden

-First Gulf War

-9/11

-Irag and Afghanistan Wars

There are other key points along the way but our addiction to the car has driven our policy into some very dark places.

I am convinced that much of what we are experiencing today is a collective PTSD leftover from 9/11.

[dameatball]

54. This effectively hamstrung the Carter Presidency and led to Reagan, eventually Citizens United

Carter actually had the right ideas on energy, but the country chose the less painless route. OPEC was glad to oblige.

[mythology]

27. There isn't one moment

There are thousands.

Trump getting a reality show. Barack Obama being elected. Hillary Clinton using a personal email server. Republicans embracing the extreme evangelical right who seem to value banning abortion over all else. Roe vs Wade. The failing of the Civil Rights era to more fully integrate our society. Putin wanting more global power. The rise of automation harming middle class jobs. Failure to turn out in off year elections. Increased ability to effectively gerrymander. Racism. Sexism. People not coming out in 2016 in response to McConnell not allowing a vote on Garland.

There's no easy to point to thing that if you could change just that, everything would be utopian.

[FarPoint]

29. Deregulation of cable and radio

No longer equal time... permitting corporate domination.

[House of Roberts]

61. Not just equal time,

also allowing corporate ownership of too many radio and TV stations.

[malchickiwick]

30. I'm gonna say it goes back to 1787: 3/5ths Clause; Fugitive Slave Clause; Importation Clause

Let's not pretend that this disease is not rooted in our original sin.

[Sugar Smack]

44. Seconded.

That's what I was thinking as well.

[spicysista]

71. Yes.....

This is what I too was debating. 1787 or the assassination of Lincoln and the forced end of reconstruction. I don't know....I always hoped that reconstruction, if it were allowed to continue, would have set the country on the correct path. IDK. We'll never know.

[genxlib]

74. Can't disagree with you there

As long as we are talking about the original problems that still haunt us, let's not forget the imbalance of power between urban and rural by the Senate and Electoral College

If not for that, Democrats would have held the Presidency for 6 of the last 7 terms. And the only time that the GOP actually got more votes, Bush was the incumbent and likely won due to a war he started. Not to mention the number of Senators that our numbers would actually represent.

Not to mention, the Second Amendment...

[Power 2 the People]

33. Telecommunications Act of 1996

Allowing Rupert Murdoch to infest the nation with Fox News.

[Chickensoup]

37. What an evil man Murdoch is .

[JI7]

34. Never properly dealing with racism and other bigotry in the country

[LisaM]

35. 1979...

When the forces of unfettered capitalism and right wing fanaticism joined forces, and world leaders were zealots of each - Thatcher and the Ayatollah. The capitalists used the evangelicals to win elections. Our main chance is to undo that pairing.

[OxQQme]

36. Gutenberg's Bible-the printing press n/t

[HopeAgain]

38. The election of a black President

America is not what I thought it was 2 years ago. Many Americans are shining lights upon a hill, but too many Americans (in the over-represented parts of America - gerrymandering, Senate and Electoral College) are all in on the Trump thinly veiled racism and the anti-immigrant xenophobia.

Hate and fear is a great mobilizer -- Look at the Nazis if you don't believe me.

[snort]

39. The Pardon.

[Initech]

40. Fox News calling Florida for Gore.

I'll always peg that as the point where our country made a turn for the worst.

[tulipsandroses]

41. I don't think you can pin it on one single thing

The Southern Strategy has paid dividends though
I was going to post this in a separate thread but I think it fits in here regarding Lee Atwater

There was movie made about his life that I posted in another thread

Lee Atwater’s Legacy
https://www.thenation.com/article/lee-atwaters-legacy/
Rebel. Liar. Attack dog. Bigot. Stefan Forbes's Boogie Man assesses the enduring damage Lee Atwater did to our political process.
By Antonino D’Ambrosio


Rebel. Liar. Manipulator. Mastermind. Sprinkle in a bit of hypocrisy and a ton of opportunism, and you have Harvey Leroy “Lee” Atwater, a key player in the transformation of the Republican Party into the political force it is today. His meteoric rise to the upper echelons of political power was cut short by a fatal brain tumor at the age of 40.

As director Stefan Forbes’s smart, revealing new film Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story shows, Atwater threw away the old Republican playbook and wrote a new one full of dirty tricks aimed not just at winning but at annihilating his opponents. His attack dog style, which included some of the worst political smear campaigns in US history, led to the election of three Republican presidents.

Boogie Man is an important film for those who wonder how the political landscape shifted so dramatically rightward over the past three decades. Forbes gives us an engaging look into the psyche of a person driven mostly by insecurity and a manic desire to win at all costs; he also presents a compelling account of exactly how Atwater lied, cheated and stole his way to power. By choosing to straddle this tenuous narrative line, Forbes draws an absorbing portrait. In less capable hands, Atwater could have been a caricature, as he willfully and shamelessly used racial-scare campaigns to get his candidates elected, but denied being a racist because he played blues guitar and “loved blues music because it was real authentic black music.”

Boogie Man mixes commentaries from a range of political perspectives with fascinating archival footage, breathing life into a story that seems to strain credulity. With a steady hand, Forbes seeks to learn what motivated the man Republican strategist Ed Rollins describes as extremely “insecure” but possessing the “eyes of a killer.” Early on, it was Atwater who understood that “people vote their fears, not their hopes”; he did all he could to stoke those fears. The cultural backlash he created wrested power from one party and firmly entrenched it in the hands of another. Look no further than George W. Bush’s entire presidency as one shining, painful example of just how successful Atwater was at devising a whole arsenal of tactics aimed at shifting the political discourse away from substantive issues to visceral ones. These tactics now dominate American politics and have served to distort the democratic process. They include push polling (fake surveys conducted by “independent pollsters”), the use of coded language (i.e., “welfare queens”) and tapping into white Southern and blue-collar resentment. Of the latter, Atwater acolyte and former deputy director of White House communications Tucker Eskew says, “Resentment became the destiny of the Republican Party, and Lee was adept at tapping into that.”

[thucythucy]

45. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln's version of Reconstruction included the seizure of lands owned by Confederate leaders (and hence the permanent loss of their wealth and power) and distributing it to freed slaves and poor whites. This was the "Forty Acres and a mule" option that southern apologists so like to ridicule. And while Lincoln wasn't as "radical" (meaning anti-racist progressive) as Thaddeus Stevens and other "radical Republicans" he was far more progressive than Andrew Johnson, who was forced on Lincoln as his vice presidential candidate at a low point during the election of 1864, when the support of Border State "moderates" seemed crucial.

The breakup of the old South "slave power" would have gone a long way toward empowering African Americans and preventing Jim Crow. An actual "reconstruction" in the 1860s might well have made a "Southern Strategy" in the 1960s moot.

Never forget that Lincoln was murdered by a white supremacist. John Wilkes Booth was on the White House lawn when Lincoln delivered a speech calling for enfranchising at least some Black voters. Booth turned to a co-conspirator and said, "That means n-r citizenship. That's the last speech he'll ever make." Booth shot Lincoln only a few days later.

Racism is this nation's original sin. Unless confronted and contained and ultimately expunged from our society it will inevitably lead to the death of our democracy.

[PJMcK]

57. I agree

In addition, thucythucy, please see my post #55 below.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

47. Harry Truman, Doris Day

Red China, Johnnie Ray.

[Vinca]

48. Hate radio and Fox "News."

[bottomofthehill]

49. I am going to have to go with the Over Sized Ego of St. Bernie

He lost the primary by over 3.5 million votes and is still trying to dictate how things should be done.

[BootinUp]

50. When man evolved from apes. Nt

[DarthDem]

51. The Assassination of RFK

Not JFK, but RFK. If the second tragedy hadn't happened, the world would be quite different. It's not even a close question in my opinion.

[Still In Wisconsin]

52. In my opinion an easy answer: Reagan's removal of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" for mass media.

That's what gave rise to Rush, and Hannity, and Beck, and countless other purveyors of right-wing hate radio/TV. Without this, there would be no Fox News as we know it today, nor would any of these right-wing shills have the power they do.

[Brainstormy]

53. The election of Ronald Reagan. n/t

[PJMcK]

55. The Civil War

After the Union prevailed, it was a disastrous mistake to not try the Rebellion's leaders for treason. They were let off on their best behavior and were revered by the "South" for more than nearly 150 years after their efforts to destroy the United States.

Had they been prosecuted and punished, much of the division that has cleaved our Nation ever since would have been diminished.

[dameatball]

56. The deep state plot to not admit enough Norwegians

[JNelson6563]

58. Death of the Fairness Doctrine

[fleabiscuit]

59. 1966, California Governor Ronald Reagan started cutting state funding for higher education.

[aikoaiko]

62. Legal slavery in the US.

[heaven05]

63. I agree, Nixon-atwater 60's

was a modern catalyst for today's woes. Showed the fascist anew the lesson of using racist hate primarily in the south, civil war and all, in suppressing/confusing the vote.

Southern Bluedog Democrats, repthugliKKKan leaning democrats pour salt in the well by basically sitting out. No loyalty/allegiance to either party, yet commanding a huge voting block, that's poisoned that well for now. Look who we have as a potus. America could have done better than this bullshit. 30-43% of hardcore repthugliKKKan base ruling the land, the others are too cowardly, complicit to speak up against the crooks and cons like trump and mitchieboy. "what a revolting development this is". Let me see some action Democratic Party leadership!

[dhol82]

64. Fox 'news' and right wing talk radio

Thirty years of hate propaganda.
No question.
Everything is ancillary.
24/7 hate x 30 years = crazy voters.

[VOX]

66. The assassinations of JFK, MLK, Jr., and RFK.

An entire generation of liberal and Democratic leadership was eradicated in less than 5 years.

JFK’s murder engendered a distrust in the federal government (the Warren Commision); MLK’s murder rubbed out the concept of effective non-violent resistance; and RFK’s murder gave us Richard Nixon. And Nixon and his acolytes embodied the worst kind of paranoid hatred and hubris— all of which still reverberates today.

[DrDan]

67. Gingrich elected Speaker

[RGinNJ]

70. I think it was the mainstreaming of the moral majority.

[musette_sf]

72. i vote for

*Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, bringing decades of Reagan worship and a new ethic of selfishness and hatred of government.

[Hekate]

73. There is never a single turning point. WWI was not caused by an assassination...

The archduke's assassination was only the match that lit the powderkeg.

Here in the US we have experienced a virulent wing of the Right Wing that operated for at least 40 years with a long view. Look up Christian Reconstructionism. Go to Right Wing Watch. Examine the sources of the home schooling movement that has so many people convinced pblic schools are the devil's work.

This took a long long time.