Saturday, February 06, 2021

Fearing Modernity

Republicans may not want to admit it. But Marjorie Taylor Greene is now the face of their party. Lloyd Greene writes:

Trump is out of office but his spirit lives on. The anger and resentment of the Republican rank-and-file will likely define the party’s trajectory in the coming months and years. QAnon is now a pillar of the party, as much as the House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, may disavow knowledge of its existence.

Greene’s sins are real, not imagined. Over the years she has blamed California’s wildfires on a Jewish laser beam from space, claimed 9/11 was an inside job, and suggested that school shootings were staged. In 2018 and 2019 she endorsed social media comments that appeared to support the assassination or execution of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi. (Recently, Greene has partly walked back some of her more disturbing past remarks.)

At its core, the Republican Party is driven by fear -- fear of modernity. They simply deny the facts of modern life. Trump is  -- and remains -- the Denier-in-Chief. And, as Greene proclaimed yesterday, the party is his:

Even now, Trump is the top choice for his party’s 2024 presidential nomination. Beyond that, more than three-quarters of Republicans believe there was widespread voter fraud despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. For many, the truth is too much to handle.

Regardless, Trump’s big lie has taken root and will not soon disappear. The demographic tectonics and disparities that spurred Trump to power are still with us. Biden’s election didn’t change that.

Until -- and unless -- Republicans reject Trump, the future of the United States is very dark indeed.

Image: amazon.com


10 comments:

The Disaffected Lib said...

At the risk of repeating myself ad nauseum, this eliminates any chance of healing the fracture in American society, consigning the country to some degree of tribalism. How long can the States last while so deeply fractured across so many fault lines when one group, is belief-based, intent on prevailing over those who cleave to fact-based reality? I wish I could think of a historical precedent for this but I can't.

Owen Gray said...

It's beginning to look like the American Republic will go the way of all republics, Mound.

Trailblazer said...

Regardless, Trump’s big lie has taken root and will not soon disappear

Matched only by Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911.

TB

Owen Gray said...

The Trump virus is more deadly than COVID, TB. And it will do more lasting damage.

Anonymous said...

If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. - Ulysses S. Grant

Nuff said.
Cap

Anonymous said...

Although he apparently beat down Covid 19 infection quickly, decades of drug abuse and junk food will have got to haveclogged trump's arteries to a dangerous level- speculation is already that he's had "mini-Strokes". With that in mind, I don't think he will be in any shape to run in 2024, and nobody will fill his empty shoes. Plus the fact that none of the Trump men have longevity and the heinous patriarch succumbed to Alzheimers. With Trumpism (is that really a word?) gone, a more dangerous and competent version will emerge, not the current wannabes at the trough either, 4 years is a long time but the messiah will emerge during the primaries. Voter suppression is underway to ensure that person succeeds. The fractures will never heal, it will just be a back and forth between the two at least in our lifetimes. BC Waterboy

Owen Gray said...

If there is to be a second Civil War, Cap, it will be between The Enlightened and The Ignorant.

Owen Gray said...

There is not a lot of hope for the United States, waterboy -- unless and until a huge swath of the citizenry gets smarter and wiser. That kind of transformation appears to be very far away.

The Editor said...

An interesting comment on one of the American networks: the recent pro-Trump votes of Republican senators and congresspeople are not simply produced by fear of being primaried out of their careers. These people are afraid of their own voters and their capacity for taking immediate vengeance on turncoats.

Owen Gray said...

Like Dr. Frankenstein, these people have created a monster who has run amok, Ed.