In the best of worlds politics is a dialectical process in search of solutions as opposed to chaos, confrontation and moral contortion for the sake of power. While both parties have historically been guilty of these behaviors today it is the GOP that is the most egregious practitioner of confrontation, chaos and moral contortion for the pursuit of power.
The GOP under its present presidential nominee has successfully created a mirage for its constituents. It has done this by preying on the fact that MAGA republicans tend to be the most intentionally uninformed segment of the electorate. Their unawareness of how much their hero is loathed throughout the nation and the world for his immoral and illiberal behavior is representative of their inability or refusal to recognize reality. Second it recognizes that its constituents feed off grievance politics as they are constantly in search for scapegoats to blame for their own failures. While it can be argued that it has been the dominant Republican mode of operation for some time, it has nonetheless led people to engage in political nostalgia that if you were to step back in time you would find that in fact it is a mirage. The problem is that so-called MAGA Republicans have been convinced by their leaders, who are solely in pursuit of power, to recall and fight for a non-existent past. The constant drumbeat of “I will return to a time when things were so much better” has brought them to a feeling of orgasmic exhilaration that has totally preempted them from engaging in any rational discourse. It is this mirage that has led them to embrace Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban who was feted by the Republican nominee at his Florida residence as well as the 2022 CPAC as he stated Hungary must not become a “mixed race country.” It is this mirage that led them to January 6th. It is this mirage that has MAGA republicans rationalizing the ninety one felony counts and four indictments. It is this mirage that has led them to embrace Vladimir Putin. The yearning for this mirage would lead them to excuse their dear leader if he did indeed shoot someone on 5th avenue.
The party of Lincoln has been corrupted intellectually, politically morally and apparently even financially as the Republican National Committee is agreeing to pay their nominee’s legal bills which are extensive.
In watching the GOP response to the state of the union one could not help but think that Alabama Senator Katie Britt was auditioning for a sequel of the Handmaidens Tale with her over the top vocal theatrics and misleading narratives. Her willingness to diminish herself and the Christian faith solely for the pursuit of power was clearly an example of how power corrupts. What was most egregious was her insinuation about meeting Karla Jacinto, the woman who had been sexually trafficked over twenty years ago in Mexico while George W. Bush was president not in the US during the Biden administration as Britt was insinuating. Despite Jacinto clarifying the story Senator Britt is doubling down on her version. This is the woman who made sure her Christian jewelry was on display as if she were a model from QVC.
It should be no surprise that Republican leaders have endorsed their presidential nominee as Democrats would do the same. That is the nature of electoral politics. Nonetheless what made Mitch McConnell’s endorsement so tragic was the fact that the man he endorsed has belittled and insulted his wife Elaine Chao with racist diatribes but said nothing in response. McConnell who is retiring from his leadership position is worth upwards of thirty million dollars and has no need for the Republican nominee but has nonetheless allowed himself to be emasculated in full view of the American public. The same goes with Texas Senator Ted Cruz whose wife was also insulted by his parties nominee and yet he and McConnell have voluntarily become political cuckolds.
It doesn’t stop there however. South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace who has acknowledged being raped at the age of 16 was asked by ABC’s George Stephanopolous how she reconciles her experience with support of her parties nominee who has been found guilty of sexual assault. Mace turned this around as if she is being shamed. This moronic response obliterates any semblance of integrity that Mace believed she had. Mace has always reminded me of a character in a mystery novel who seems innocent throughout the book but turns out to be the murderer by the end.
The latest GOP example of its willingness to relish chaos over solutions is the recent immigration bill negotiated by a group of Senators led by Oklahoma GOP Senator James Lankford to confront the border crisis. Despite it being a very conservative bill, the Republican nominee told the party to kill the bill because he needs to run on the issue. This act is reminiscent of the 1968 GOP presidential nominee Richard Nixon illegally interfering in the Paris Peace talks to end the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, for GOP Senator James Lankford, a former Baptist youth minister, it puts him in a position where he needs to choose between his own integrity and fealty to a man and a party that threw him under the bus. Lankford was threatened by Conservative radio host Jesse Kelly and has also been censured by the Oklahoma County Republican Party for negotiating the bill obviously at the behest of the dear leader.
Unfortunately, too many within the GOP such as Speaker Mike Johnson as well as Senator Britt will hide behind a faux Christianity which they use as a veneer for naked power grabs. It must be understood that they are not adherents to the Christian faith but rather to a Christian nationalism which worships at the citadel of power. The reality is that it is time for church leaders to call out this blatant and bastardizing of the Christian faith.
The question is how to combat this obvious form of intellectual and political corruption. The courts at this stage are impotent in stemming the tide of this. It must come from the electorate. While a segment of the young vote has expressed anger (albeit much of it is misplaced and uninformed) at the Biden administration because of the Israeli war against Hamas, it must be understood that there is a bigger issue at play. One only has to look at how Viktor Orban has turned Hungry into an autocracy to understand what the Republican nominee is looking to do. It is from sheer ignorance or laziness to express the idea that voting doesn’t matter. This idea which is normally expressed by people who pretend as if they have intellectual superiority is in reality a moronic position worthy of scorn.
To the never-Trump republicans they must get over any aversion they may have at voting for a Democrat. This year the Republican nominee must be defeated along the same lines of Lyndon Johnson beating Barry Goldwater.
Secondly Republican leaders such as Senator Lankford must now choose their God. Fortunately, not everyone within the Republican Party has drunk the Kool-Aid. People such as former Representative Liz Cheney who has some views that I may have issues with is certainly a modicum of integrity as well as former RNC Chair Michael Steele. I must say however that Cheney needs to say unequivocally that she will support the Democrat nominee this time because the stakes are too high. Nonetheless too many have chosen to keep their powder dry and it is time for them to come out of the closet of anonymity and tell the truth. It is time for an Edmund Burke form of politics when he said “your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays you instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.” Third the Democrats need to take a page out of Joe Biden’s state of the union address. It’s time to take it to the GOP and treat them as the pariahs they have become. It is time to stop trying to sound intellectual and speak in terms that the barber shop and beauty parlor can resonate with. For example if those on the right comment on the president’s slow walk, the democrats need to say I rather have a president who does a slow walk than one who does a perp walk.
The current Republicans have shown themselves to be the party that is willing to undermine the governance structure by any means necessary in order to gain power. It may even be said that the present GOP is no longer an American political party but rather a wholly owned subsidiary of foreign interests when you consider foreign campaign contributions that have gone to the Republican nominees campaign as well as Speaker Mike Johnson.
They have shown themselves to be a party willing to corrupt today’s youth by lying and whitewashing history. Whether it’s Florida’s so-called “don’t say gay bill” or the plethora of books being banned in states such as Virginia the desire to create a mirage of past American life will only serve to raise a population of coddled students unable to operate in the real world which is increasingly diverse and global.
Despite its obvious flaws a two party system is a necessary device designed to bring competing ideas to the political marketplace. Unfortunately, the GOP in its present form is a party that has become an anachronism better suited for an earlier time of American history. Fortunately the American populace has within its power the ability to prevent the present GOP from accessing the lever of power that would enable them to dismantle the institutions that men and women have fought and died for. The GOP wants to take the nation to a place where democracy is crushed, political debate is criminalized, women are put back in the kitchen, minorities recognize their place and children are raised as of Leave it to Beaver was real. America has a choice. Hopefully it makes the right one.