Opinion The GOP is sick. It didn't start with Trump -- and won't end with him.
https://wapo.st/3BEtRre (no paywall)On Jan. 6, 2021, an armed mob invited and incited by President Donald Trump smashed barriers, overpowered police and stormed the Capitol. The insurrectionists scaled the scaffolding erected for President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration and proceeded to sack the seat of government for the first time since the War of 1812.
Many Americans were shocked that Trump, after first considering a plan to seize voting machines, had orchestrated an attempted coup, knowingly dispatching armed attackers to Capitol Hill and then refusing for 187 minutes to call off the assault. And many Americans have been shocked anew to see elected Republicans, after initially condemning Trumps attack on democracy, excuse his actions and rationalize the violent insurrection itself as legitimate political discourse.
But a sober look at history might have lessened the shock, for the seeds of sedition had been planted earlier a quarter-century earlier in that same spot on the West Front of the Capitol.
On Sept. 27, 1994, more than 300 Republican members of Congress and congressional candidates gathered where the insurrectionists would one day mount the scaffolding. On that sunny morning, they assembled for a nonviolent transfer of power. Bob Michel, the unfailingly genial leader of the House Republican minority for the previous 14 years, had ushered Ronald Reagans agenda through the House. But he was being forced into retirement by a rising bomb thrower who threatened to oust Michel as GOP leader if he didnt quit. My friends, a wistful Michel told the gathering, Ill not be able to be with you when you enter that promised land of having that long-sought-after majority.
Newt Gingrich had almost nothing in common with the man he shoved aside. Michel was a portrait of civility and decency, a World War II combat veteran who knew that his political opponents were not his enemies and that politics was the art of compromise. Gingrich, by contrast, rose to prominence by forcing the resignation of a Democratic speaker of the House on what began as mostly false allegations, by smearing another Democratic speaker with personal innuendo, and by routinely thwarting Michels attempts to negotiate with Democrats. Gingrich had avoided service in Vietnam and regarded Democrats as the enemy, impugning their patriotism and otherwise savaging them nightly on the House floor for the benefit of C-SPAN viewers.
usonian
(9,898 posts)Democracy in Crisis: Weve Been Headed Here for Decades. Part 1of 8
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/6/2044226/-America-2021-The-Good-the-Bad-the-Ugly
Part 4 traces the John Birch era, and the series is more concerned with oligarchy and Christian nationalism than the individuals in front.
ariadne0614
(1,736 posts)PortTack
(32,796 posts)CrispyQ
(36,527 posts)They'd have to find another strongman to coalesce behind. Trump was unique in that he didn't have to compete against everyone's favorite politician because he wasn't a politician & he had national recognition from The Apprentice. If he were to decide not to run & put his support behind someone, that would make it easier for the next guy.
PortTack
(32,796 posts)CrispyQ
(36,527 posts)PortTack
(32,796 posts)slightlv
(2,841 posts)for their turn to lead the party. DeSatan isn't even pretending anymore. He's on the stage doing his best audition for the base. His latest, stripping an elected democrat of their duly elected position, is a custom made demonstration for the republican base. This is what they want to see -- someone who will take out their enemies, elections be damned. Only -their- voices count!
Ron Johnson and Hawley (don't laugh, he's still in this...) are two who are also playing the down low right now. Cauthorn is another one. He of the pornographic video still making the rounds. All he has to do is make a "heartfelt" mea culpa to Gawwwd and he'll be forgiven and have the Dominionists eating out of the palm of his hand again.
There is no limit to the number of idiots that are waiting to lead this idiocracy party should tfg step aside, die, or be thrown under the bus or in jail. They're all evil; they're all fascists', and they all hate everybody not just like them. Heck, they all hate everybody just like them, because truth be known, they actually hate themselves!