It’s taken several years, but the Republican Party’s imminent death awaits on November 3, 2020. It took a malignant narcissist pathological lying president of the United States to do it, but it’s almost time to issue last rites.
When a political party embraces an accomplice to negligent manslaughter/murder, they must have calculated that it was better to stick with roughly 40% of the voting public, rather than stand up for principle and honor. We’ll never know the real reason, but the GOP’s complete fall from grace is upon us.
We can argue about the true origins of the demise if you wish. I could easily surmise it began nearly 50 years ago when President Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace in 1974, only to be pardoned days later by President Gerald Ford.
I could also make a case that the fall began when the Party decided to embrace Supreme Court decisions in 1976 (and 2010). Those decisions essentially laid the groundwork that corporations were people, which unleashed the billions in dark money contributions we’re now seeing in our political campaigns.
But for today’s post, let’s go back to the year 2000 and the debacle election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Of course, Bush was declared the winner when the Supreme Court halted the recount in Florida, which happened to be where his brother was Governor, by the way. Indeed, nothing to be suspicious about there, right?
There were also shenanigans surrounding Ohio in 2004, where the state purged thousands from the voting rolls in the race between Bush and John Kerry. Kerry, to the chagrin of many on the Democratic side, decided not to pursue a judicial remedy. Thus, Bush won a second term, setting the stage for the worst presidency in history, until now, of course.
The Bush-era gave us 9/11, the disastrous war in Iraq, and the worst financial recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The American people had enough of Bush and decided to elect the first African-American President in our history in 2008 and again in 2012.
Unfortunately, the election of Barack Obama didn’t sit very well with the Republican Party. They set out from day one to try to stop every meaningful piece of legislation they possibly could, as well as hold up Obama’s nomination of federal judges. I guess they didn’t like his tan suit?
But perhaps the worst ramification of Obama’s two victories has been the overt voter suppression and gerrymandering they’ve perfected. The surgical precision by which they manipulated voting districts, reduced polling locations, and initiated substantial roadblocks to voter registration, must make them proud.
And then came the election in 2016 between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Not only did Trump win, but in turn, became the current face of the Republican Party. During the campaign, many party leaders questioned his temperament and qualifications for office. Since his victory, though, their silence and complicity to his disgraceful presidency will be impossible to ignore.
We’ve seen them capitulate. We’ve seen them squirm in every way imaginable when reporters ask them to respond to one of his tweets, racist statements, or other insane behavior. You’ll get a few “concerning” words or “inappropriate” tone condemnations, followed by quick exits and “no further comments.”
It’s as if they’ve resigned themselves to the current president’s imminent defeat, as well their own Senate majority. Their dogged pursuit of confirming Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court says it all.
One way or the other, they’re going to get it done. Senator Ron Johnson – yes, Covid infected Ron Johnson, who went to Moscow in 2018 with some of his fellow Republican colleagues – put it best when he said he’d gladly put on a “moon suit” to vote for Ms. Barrett.
That seems to be the mentality of most of them. Senate Republicans will jump over the moon to confirm a radical right-wing justice. Still, they can’t seem to find the time to pass meaningful pandemic relief legislation for the American people.
The events in the past week have laid bare, for the world to see, a political party and a United States president, who’ve decided to punt the football when it comes to helping the rest of us. Let them all fend for themselves; they surely must think. We’ve given them enough crumbs, and it’s not the government’s job to keep you safe from a pandemic. Mask? What mask? Be a man and go about your life.
After all, look at the current president. There he was on the Truman balcony yesterday, in Mussolini-like fashion, declaring victory over his Covid infection and ripping off his mask, a signal to the cult that this whole thing is a big fat nothing. Surely the Party he leads would condemn this behavior. Again, the muted response is more than telling.
The US president and the Republican Party are now inexorably linked forever. The Party decided long ago that they would tie their fate to his, unwilling and unable to speak out (other than a few), for fear of alienating his base they so desperately need to keep power.
After years of drifting further and further to the right, solidifying their support for corporations and the wealthy, and ignoring the regular folk in America, the moment of truth has arrived for this once respected political Party. The Trump Titanic is going down, and they’ve decided to go down with the captain of the ship.
The only possible silver lining is if the Party decides to change course in the face of an embarrassing defeat. Maybe the leaders get together and decide it’s time to moderate their views and reach out to the growing culturally diverse American society.
We shouldn’t hold our breath. Remember that Mitch McConnell is still around, and will most likely win a sixth term to the Senate. The ancient relic seems to realize what’s in store, though, so he’ll make sure he gets the 6-3 majority at the Supreme Court he most desperately wants to secure. That way, he keeps the wealthy, the corporations, and the evangelicals happy. The rest of us, the majority, can kiss his ass, I suppose.
After all, it’s about solidifying judicial power in order to keep them from ever giving in to the “liberal mob.”
Final Thought
After the horrific Parkland High School mass shooting in 2018, I got a phone call from my good friend Greg. He and I were both beyond angry. He suggested we do a blog together, and I couldn’t agree fast enough. Soon, On The Fence Voters would become our platform to speak out against injustice, political matters, and other newsworthy events.
But I’ve always kept in mind what one of our main goals has always been: to factually show where our two political parties stand and why we believe one is better than the other (Read Why We’re Here in About Us).
We both agreed that we have one party that believes in government and helping the people in our two-party system, while the other party does not. Time and again, the Republican Party has demonstrated their extreme ways. Whether it’s blind allegiance to the NRA, tax cuts that benefit the one percent and corporations, the lack of belief in science and expertise, or trying to keep people from voting, this party has failed spectacularly.
The Democrats are not perfect, nor will they ever be. But I’ll gladly defend their policies against those of the other party any day of the week.
And now, by refusing to hold the current president accountable in any serious manner, they deserve to go the way of the Whig Party back in the 1850s. Ironically, it was back in those days that the so-called “party of Lincoln” was born.
Yes, Abraham Lincoln is undoubtedly turning over in his grave.
But if the polls are correct, and right now I’m cautiously optimistic, a stake is about to be driven into the heart of this GOP, and their disastrous leader of a president. Here’s hoping the defeat is so massive and so enormous, we’ll scare them into actually giving a rat’s ass about the American people for once.
On The Fence Voters 
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