It’s been less than two months since I talked about what appears to be the imminent dissolution of the Republican Party as we know it, but that was before the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and what the days that followed revealed about the GOP. In short, the party establishment, that is Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, have completely lost control of their members, let alone their constituents. McConnell has told his members to “vote their conscience,” but it’s clear that very few of them know the meaning of the word. After flipflopping about Trump’s complicity in the Capitol insurrection, McCarthy took a trip down to Florida to seemingly plead for the former President’s forgiveness. The two Republican “leaders” are both terrified of losing their power and control—alas, nothing but self-delusion—and what remains of their once grand old party. Talk about profiles in Schmuckness!
As I’ve said before, for the longest time the Republican Party has been nothing but a ruse concocted by the corporate power structure (the modern-day version of the “Cotton Kingdom” that I so despised) using contrived “culture wars” (aka God, guns, and gays) to persuade a big chunk of the American electorate to vote against their own economic interests. It was a farce and a sham, the “party of no” that in the name of “limited government” stood in the way of our country making progress on issues that matter—healthcare, climate change, justice reform, and anything that might help us begin to achieve racial and economic equality. Their agenda has focused almost exclusively on deregulation (for business), lower taxes (for business and the rich), and stacking the courts with conservative judges who could be counted on to support their rightwing constituents’ social priorities (the “three Gs” mentioned above along with the ever-popular assault on abortion rights).
The End of the Republican Party as We Know it Will Not be a Great Loss.
Take healthcare, for example. Did the Republicans ever come up with the alternative to Obamacare they promised us for years? Of course not. Not only are they in the pocket of big pharma and the insurance industry, but their overriding philosophy of government is “no government” whenever possible, regardless of whether that results in millions of Americans going without healthcare or the country being ill-equipped to tackle the COVID pandemic.
As terrible as Trump’s “base” may be, the dissolution of the Republican Party as we know it will not be a great loss. Indeed, in the long run, it could be best thing that could happen for the causes I champion—racial and economic equality.
Marjorie Taylor Greene—The basest of Trump’s “base” comes to Washington, DC
I consider myself a strong advocate of free speech and the First Amendment, but what this newly elected congresswoman from Georgia spouts is downright vile and beyond the pale. Have you seen any of her hideous social media posts and video clips? Despite deleting everything she could, the record of her insanity has already been documented, including her support of the most outlandish conspiracy theories and death threats against elected officials, such as House Speaker Pelosi. My honest reaction to her ignorance and atrocious behavior inevitably risks sinking to her level and would hardly be appropriate for a Southern gentleman such as myself, so I will only concur with those who believe she should be expelled from the House of Representatives and leave it at that.