Less than an hour ago, my stomach turned to ice. Joy Ann Reid of MSNBC was interviewing long time GOP strategist Rick Wilson, one of the founders of The Lincoln Project, on her show, The Reid Out. And Wilson dropped a bombshell, and one that floored me.
Wilson said that he had been at the capitol earlier today, and had talked to at least two sitting GOP Representatives, neither of whom voted to impeach Trump. And in talking to them, they both told him privately that the reason that they voted against impeachment wasn’t that they were uber Trombies or anything, but that both of them were literally terrified that if they voted to impeach, Trump’s crazies would come after them or their families, and kill them!
Which led Wilson to continue, Look, the whole point of domestic terrorism is to inspire terror. And by that matrix, the storming of the US Capitol was a wild success, Mission Accomplished. People who are not Trump loyalists are now living in mortal terror.
I must admit, my initial response was much less charitable than it should from an Irish Roman Catholic. Basically, it came down to, Oh well, you lie down with wolves, and you wake up with tooth marks. These same people have spent the last 4 years, if not slavishly devoted to Trump, then meekly standing by and voting in lock step with him while the atrocities piled up. And now they find themselves at the mercy of an insane mob.
Which puts an exclamation point on something I just said on this site yesterday. I wrote that in encouraging and courting these violent extremists, Trump had finally let the genie out of the bottle, and good luck in stuffing it back. These groups weren’t looking for leadership, they already had that. What they were looking for was permission. And once Trump gave them that, he immediately became irrelevant. Let me put it this way, a pit bull doesn’t really need his owner once he’s off of the leash, does he?
But it also puts an exclamation point on something that I’ve been saying for months now. And that is that the Republican party, in it’s current iteration, must die. For a long time now, there has been an active and thriving discussion on the mainstream media about the impending mortal warfare for the soul of the Republican party once Trump is out of power. And there are any number of honest, well meaning, traditional conservatives out there, from Mitt Romney to Jeff Flake, to Ben Sasse that want to purge the party of the influence of Trump once he’s gone, and resurrect the party to it’s previous glory. But that is a moot point now. The RNC literally capitulated to trump during the primaries, when he threatened to bolt and form a 3rd party that would have crippled the GOP. How far are these people going to get when they start getting visits at home from camo clad morons toting AR-15’s show up?
There is a perfectly good reason why there has never been a successful third party in this country The Founding Fathers set it up that way. They set our democracy up as a two party system to avoid the nightmares of parliamentary rule, with it’s constantly changing power structures and shaky alliances in order to govern. But both Death of a Salesman, as well as Glengarry Glen Ross graphically depict what happens when a man becomes totally subservient to his master. And the master of the GOP is now Trump, and his terrorist army. The sooner true conservatives begin constructing a new party, the better for all of us.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like to check out President Evil, and the sequel, President Evil II, A Clodwork Orange . They comprise a pretty much daily report from the front of the 2016 GOP primaries, as well as the general election
Follow me on Twitter at @RealMurfster35
I love ya Murfster but you’re using the wrong metaphor. Genie in a bottle? Nope. This isn’t a case of being unable to get a genie, even a bad one back into the bottle (or urn), but of the impossibility of stuffing the shit back into the (fake) golden goose! Trump covered his Party with his orange, burnt steak and fast food shit and his followers have spread it all over the country. And we now know quite literally on the wall of the Capitol. Sorry to be so graphic but, to channel Clarence Darrow the English Language doesn’t contain enough words so if you have to use some nasty curse words to accurately convey what has to be said then use every word at your disposal. If ursula thinks I’m out of line I’ll apologize and understand if this comment is removed. But I had to say it.
My preferred metaphor is Pandora’s box, the Spites rushing out to cause harm to the world while the Spirit of Hope remains.
Two parties in Congress. But can’t there be regional powers? These parties then form groups or alliances with the major parties. The Republican Party is on the ropes but not out. Inertia. Maybe if Murkowski breaks with Mitch and Senate becomes 51-49 before January 20 then things might go differently.
Then maybe Chuck Shumer decides can have Democrats with Independents caucusing with Dems, then truly Independent, and then Republicans and R-Independents.
The fracturing is going to happen then make it formal. D’s, R’s, and I’s. No filibuster.
In other words, it sounds like they imitated Trump and took their anger out on the nearest targets in reach. I’m not afraid of them. I’m pissed at them. But then, I’m not a Republican who was stupid enough to think he could ride this wave to “permanent Republican majority” status.
From what I’ve been reading it would seem that the requirement for conviction is that “…no person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present…”.
Now if those who are afraid to actually be seen to vote for the motion just happen to be ill that day, the actual figure is reduced and it would be possible to reach the required number of votes
The only problem is that there also needs to be a quorum present and those members “who are afraid to actually be seen to vote for the motion” and “just happen to be ill that day” are going to be just as much targets of their constituents’ outrage as if they show up and vote for the motion. (One or two “absent” members is one thing, six to twelve “absent” will definitely be suspicious but forty-plus “absent” members? The only ones who could possibly get away relatively unscathed will be the ones who don’t face re-election until 2026; the rest of the bunch will definitely face primary challenges in 2022 and 2024–some possibly for the first times in their careers. And, even the ones who don’t have to really worry until 2026 may find themselves facing calls for removal but that’s a real long shot since few states allow for a recall process involving US senators. But you can be sure they won’t be facing their constituents without a LOT of security.)
Daithi, that would be my suggestion as well!
Please do not push the fantasy that pit bulls are by nature vicious. They are wonderful dogs who, if trained badly, will be that way, but that is only because of their training. Properly brought up, which 99.99% of them are, they will be loving pets who will die to protect their owners if necessary. My oldest granddaughter had one who was one of the best dogs I have ever known.
Second that one…Dobermans get the same undeserved rep for having the virtue of a long memory when it comes to being beat on. They eventually do something about it…like the asshole in question deserved. Rabid animals of any kind, human included, are a better analogy.
Surrounded by dumb ass trump signs for a long time, I have never felt safe enough to put out a Biden sign or a sign for local democrats that were running. I am sure glad that Josh Harder won the seat here in CA. My husband & I have lost a lot of long time friends and family members. Oh well, at least we know where their values lie & we’re better off in the long run.
Those cowardly Repugnicans scared of being home-invaded by angry Trump thugs have made damn sure that they, like every other red-blooded American super-patriot, can own a private arsenal of NRA-approved weaponry, so now’s their chance to justify it.