House and Senate Republicans are all complicit

[DonViejo]

By Jennifer Rubin
Opinion writer
August 23 at 12:15 PM

The #NeverTrump Republicans who warned that President Trump would lead to the debasement of the right underestimated the speed and extent of the moral and intellectual decay. Sure, talk radio, Fox News and right-wing outlets (which managed to justify Jim Crow back in the 1950s and anti-immigrant hysteria in the 2000s) could always be counted on to excuse-monger or change the subject or simply mislead.

Whether it was loopy conspiracy theories or the morally vacuous “But Gorsuch” argument, the Trump faithful adeptly crafted arguments that required deliberate ignorance of reality. They had a single mission: Defend Trump at all costs. The willingness to make any argument, no matter how absurd, hypocritical or self-contradictory, became the predominate mode of discussion in the right-wing echo chamber.

The intellectual rot quickly took root in both houses of Congress and among right-wing groups. From rationalizing a vote for a racist, misogynistic and habitual liar to dismissing and rationalizing racist, misogynistic rhetoric and habitual lies once he was in office didn’t require much effort. Republicans learned to ignore Trump’s remarks or feign lack of interest or reinterpret his inanities to make them seem less inane. Invariably, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) would say he hadn’t seen the latest tweet. He and others were happy to repeat false talking points (e.g., the tax cuts pay for themselves, the administration never intended to separate families at the border).

From there it wasn’t a stretch to justify whatever false, loopy or ignorant remarks came from Trump’s mouth, be they about immigration or trade or our allies. Right-wing magazine editors would pontificate that what a president said really didn’t matter. Whataboutism and “But Gorsuch” talking points became ubiquitous. He didn’t really mean that. . . . (we don’t want immigrants from non-white countries, Kim Jong Un loves his people, Russia should rejoin the Group of 7, really fine people march with neo-Nazis, the FBI is corrupt, etc.)

Then again, they declared, maybe it’s true that immigrants are stealing our jobs (although we have full employment) and Germany is stealing our wealth (although Germany spends U.S. dollars back in the United States to employ Americans). Or something. Maybe Trump knew something none of us did. But in any case, the media is the enemy of the people. Whether it was Matt Schlapp or Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), there was no bottom to the well of self-serving rationalizations. Schlapp and Sarah Huckabee Sanders are easy to mock for their disingenuousness and absurd lies, but how different are they from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) or Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) when it comes to Russia, the Justice Department and the FBI?

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/08/23/house-and-senate-republicans-are-all-complicit

[BSdetect]

1. They knew the score and went along with treason. Guilty.

[volstork]

2. Putin has the goods on them, too.

They are all afraid of getting served a polonium sandwich.

[Cha]

3. Yep.. in your face complicit.. bare

naked complicit.

[yonder]

4. Damn, hit the paywall.

From what I read, republican Jennifer Rubin's editorial reads like a DU post.

Some of them have been, or are starting to, see the light, at least with respect to the current state of republicanism.