You can stick a fork in the Republican Party – it’s done. Exactly when its ethical decline began is debatable, but Trump’s capture of the party’s heart and soul bankrupted the party morally. Republicans have turned Trump into a golden calf that must be worshipped – or else.
Pillorying Liz Cheney because she dared to refuse to parrot the lie about Trump winning the 2020 election proves the Republicans have zero concern for this country. Only the (no longer) Grand Old Party and its corporate and ultra-wealthy owners are of concern for them. They are hell-bent on defeating every measure that Biden proposes. If Biden signed a resolution condemning Communism, Republicans would all be waving hammers and sickles the next day.
Liz Cheney may be no saint, but anybody who puts honesty and truth over toeing the party line has at least a little integrity. She boldly declared, “Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar.” How true! And she should know. In response, Trump called her a “bitter, horrible human being.” For criticizing Trump, she was booed by other Republicans. And on 12 May the House Republican Conference took only 16 minutes to remove her from her position as the #3 Republican in the House.
What is wrong with Republicans these days? They howl about imaginary voter fraud while doing everything in their power to effect voter suppression through gerrymandering, curtailing mail-in voting, reducing polling places and hours, and forbidding people from giving snacks and water to those in line waiting to vote. They whine about “cancel culture” while they cancel their own. They may very well have passed the point of no return.
Democrats, however, had better not get smug. They need to work quickly in order to get important legislation and programs, such as the Green New Deal, passed while they still control the House and Senate. Rome is burning, so this is no time to fiddle. Time for every Democrat in Washington, as well as in state and municipal governments, to grow a spine.
Even though the Republican Party is effectively dead, Trump’s chumps will do all they can to animate the zombie pachyderm and pretend the GOP is still viable. Millions of knee-jerk right-wingers will continue to churn out brainless Biden-bashing bulls**t and parrot the same old election fraud propaganda. Even if Trump keels over of a heart attack tomorrow, they’ll allow his tiny dead hand to guide them.
What will happen now? Perhaps moderate Republicans, who have somehow managed to keep their heads out of their asses, will flee the party and form a new one; in fact, it looks as though this is happening now. That would be good – the Democrats need some competition, and we cannot have a one-party system. The current GOP has made it clear that they mean to destroy democracy in the United States, and almost certainly elsewhere.
For years I could sense that a storm was coming. Now the storm is here, and it’s building. We must make sure that we get out the Progressive/Liberal/Left-wing vote in the next few elections, because if the Republicans regain control of the House and Senate, as well as the Oval Office, you know what will hit the fan.
