Barbara Comstock is an old-school Republican. In yesterday's New York Times, she wrote that it's time for her party to abandon Donald Trump, whom she called a "dangerous and diminished man:"
When Donald Trump, the patron saint of sore losers, appeared at a Republican event on Saturday night and compared the 2020 election to a “third-world-country election like we’ve never seen before,” it wasn’t just another false rant from the former president. His words also described his attempted subversion of democracy in the run-up to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Trump keeps repeating the trope that the election was stolen from him -- something that has repeatedly been proven false. Nonetheless, huge swaths of Americans keep believing the lie:
Mr. Trump’s lies are red meat to those in the conspiracy world who have already demonstrated what they are prepared to do. The danger also extends to states, as Mr. Trump tells people that election outcomes in Georgia and Arizona will be overturned, and he could be reinstated as president in August. How will QAnon followers or Oath Keepers respond when that does not happen?
Many Republicans rationalize ignoring his rhetoric: His speech on Saturday wasn’t even aired live on Fox or CNN, and he may end up being indicted in New York and occupied with legal and financial problems. So, this thinking goes, what’s the harm in humoring the guy a little longer?
The harm is that the lies have metastasized and could threaten public safety again. The U.S. Capitol Police report that threats against members of Congress have increased 107 percent this year. Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican, has noted, “There’s no reason to believe that anybody organically is going to come to the truth.” Representative Liz Cheney, another Republican, said, “It’s an ongoing threat, so silence is not an option.”
Unfortunately, Kinzinger and Cheney are crying in the wilderness. And the lie goes marching on.
Image: twitter
10 comments:
I recently returned from Illinois(quarantining right now despite double vaccine) where I was able to see firsthand Rep. Kingsinger in day to day news. He is one of those true American people who believe in representing his constituents to the upmost of his abilities. I have heard him interviewed as well as his lifelong friends who actually sit on the other side of the floor speak highly of the man. He believes in People and Country and has served in the military, A far cry from some of the dirtbags that he has to account too.
Trump's lie goes marching on because he remains at liberty to tell it. Garland's DOJ will not prosecute the crimes Trump committed in office - incitement to violence, obstruction of justice, election fraud and the myriad other crimes are off the table. In fact, Garland continues to adopt the ludicrous Barr position that the DOJ's role includes defending the president in a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman he allegedly raped before becoming president.
The US has descended into a soft fascism and Democrats are not up to the task of defending democracy. There's just too much money to be made pretending to defend it while allowing a lawless president to escape consequences. They're laying the groundwork for hard fascism. Unfortunately, where US elites go, Canadian elites soon follow.
Cap
It's encouraging to know that at least a few members of the Republican Party can tell the truth, zoombats -- despite the slings and arrows that will come their way.
The United States is a cautionary tale writ large, Cap -- for those who are paying attention.
tRump is only a symptom of a diseased country that argues over minor difference about the best way to preserve elite power at home and abroad.
tRump is just another Rethuglican but without the good manners of the Bush/Romney crowd.
Point well taken PoV. The Republicans haven't changed their policies. They've only changed their manners. Trump has no manners.
A number of old school Republicans have mused about taking back the GOP. Most of them seem to eventually resign themselves to the reality that their party has been captured by extremists such as Trump's "base" and legislators cowed into submission lest they be primaried.
As their prospects of retaking the party wane, some of the old guard (Boot,Frum,etc.)are talking about burning the GOP to the ground as their last best hope. Some talk about forming a new party to split the Right vote. Others suggest working with the Dems. If they could shift the vote by as little as 5 per cent this might be enough to cripple the Grand Old Party.
The number of registered Republicans keeps shrinking, Mound. It wouldn't take much of a shift to make them a permanent minority -- even with the newly passed voter restriction meausres.
If they continue lose, and lose by increasing margins, they'll just whine even more about voter and electoral fraud. On the other hand, they might win. Even Spiro Agnew couldn't have foreseen the level of support Trump is retaining, or that such a candidate could have found it in the first place. Americans capable of reasoning must be worried that there is more yet to be found. They're living in a cartoon with real guns and bombs. There may be no escape.
American politics has become a cartoon, John. But there is little to laugh about.
Post a Comment