Dying at the altar of Trump

Former one term President Donald J. Trump cost the GOP the White House, the House, and the Senate.

 

Over the past several months, Trump has hinted that he is considering running again in 2024. 

 

From a political standpoint, it would appear that backing away from Trump would be advantageous for the party. But instead, they seem to be doubling down on the nonsensical and unproven claims the election was stolen from them. So much, so that states like Arizona have hired yet another company to complete ballot checks looking for fraud. This recount will be the 3rd time ballots were meticulously checked for Arizona. Of course, there is no evidence discovered of fraud in any other state either. But lack of evidence has never stopped the GOP before; let's all remember Benghazi or the Hillary email "scandal". The absence of proof works better for the GOP because their base has mainly become one that believes in many conspiracy theories. And the best thing about a conspiracy theory? You got it: zero evidence is needed. And if you present evidence contrary to the conspiracy, well, obviously you are "in on it".

 

Mitch McConnell, who seemingly couldn't decide if Trump was good or bad for the party, floated the idea of holding Trump accountable several weeks before Trump's impeachment trial. And the New York Times reported that McConnell seemed pleased with impeachment proceedings. McConnell's office did not confirm nor deny the claim. However, several weeks later, McConnell was one of the 45 senators who voted the opposite, declaring the impeachment "unconstitutional." While there is some speculation as to why McConnell would appear supportive of impeachment but then back down, we should understand that he is a politician; he will sway in the direction of public opinion. He needs to appeal to his base, and let's not forget, 74+ million Americans voted for Trump in 2020. So, where does leave the GOP? It means they will sacrifice themselves upon the altar of Trump. Trump is stating he will be re-instated to the White House in August, and very few Republicans have gone out of their way to state the obvious: this is demonstrably false. Short of a military-style coup, Trump will remain outside of the White House for the foreseeable future. That is a fact.

 

An opportunity was given to the GOP after the insurrection and death of 5 Americans as pro-Trump supporters stormed the capital looking to overturn the election results. But, for 45 republican senators, that wasn't enough to denounce Trump and his alleged role in the insurrection.

 

And now the Senate is refusing to open a bipartisan commission to investigate the capital riot. However, I find this fascinating because the right has claimed this riot was ANTIFA disguised as Trump supporters. And if that was true, why wouldn't you want to hold a thorough investigation and prove it once and for all? But, of course, we all know the answer to that.

 

Amongst the many unanswered questions surrounding the deadly capital riots, one remains extremely important: What if they were successful? What if someone didn't have the foresight to remove the electoral ballot boxes, and they destroyed them? What if the man walking around with zip-ties had captured several members of congress? What if a pipe bomb exploded and burnt the capital down? Where would republicans stand at THAT moment? Would they genuinely support an authoritarian-type takeover of our democracy? It appears that yes, yes, they would.

 

The point is this: a violent mob attempted to use intimidation and violence to overturn the election results in a democracy, and that's horrifying. So the GOP found itself walking a fine line between supporting democracy and the fascist tendencies of Trump and his authoritarian leadership style. And that tight rope walk ended with the GOP falling into the worst economy America has seen in a decade, an uncontrolled raging pandemic, racial tensions higher than we've seen in decades. Not exactly a promising outlook for the Grand Old Party.

 

In the aftermath of the insurrection, the FBI has made nearly 250 arrests, and the DOJ has charged them with various crimes. So why would we not hold our leaders who incited this mob by continuing to perpetuate the "big lie"? The lie that somehow, someway, even with zero evidence, this election was stolen from Trump and the republicans. Truth matters. And facts matter. At this point, even Vladimir Putin has expressed his opinion of the capital riots, taking a very republican stance stating that people were "justifiably upset about the election results" and claiming that the punishments handed out to some of the rioters were "too harsh." When you can't tell the difference between your political party and a tyrannical dictator, it might be time to take a closer look at what you are supporting.

 

And now the republicans are using the big election fraud lie to introduce legislation to make it increasingly difficult for American's to vote, especially in marginalized communities. Currently, nearly every republican state has introduced legislation to reduce voting hours, locations, enforce strict rules for mail-in ballots or eliminate them, and various other tactics to reduce voter turnout. Let's not forget one straightforward fact; the 50 democratic senators represent 11-million more Americans than the 50 republican senators. So the minority party representing a smaller population has been able to block several critical pieces of legislation early in a new administration, one that won the election by 7-million votes. But still, because of voter suppression, gerrymandering, and the filibuster (the trifecta of the GOP), they have managed to remain politically powerful instead of what they should have been after Trump's defeat: politically irrelevant. With many criminal cases looming around, Trump could very well see the inside of a jail cell before he ever sees the inside of the oval office again.

 

The GOP has a choice to make; they can disavow Trump his complete lack of character, apathy, leadership, and personal responsibility, OR they can continue down this path, and eventually, it will lead to sacrificing themselves, and their party, on the altar of Trump.