Did any of you ever have a lifelong friend? Even more than that. Your Dad or Mom grew up with their Dad or Mom. Sure, every once in a while, they could get a bit squirrely, but you’ve been thick as thieves your whole lives. Until now. Lately they have started to seriously slide off of the rails, and as painful as it is, you’re seriously considering ending the relationship.
That’s where the GOP is right now. In a poll released today, the Democrats enjoy their widest edge in party affiliation in almost a decade. In the poll, 40% of registered voters affiliate themselves with the Democratic party, or independent leaning Democratic, as opposed to only 40% that affiliate as Republican or GOP leaning independent. The normal spread has been 44-46%.
Little wonder. As Trump continues to maintain his choke hold over the GOP, and yet still has trouble getting his message out, they are being left to try to guess what Trump would want them to do. And as a result, they are completely bollixing it up!
For starters, there’s Moscow Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell, who literally personally argued in the US Supreme Court against the McCain-Feingold law, begging the justices to allow the unrestricted of budget busing amounts of corporate dark money to flow into the US political system, is now basically telling major US corporations to, to borrow a phrase from Laura Ingraham, Shut up and dribble! Don’t actually get involved in national US politics! But don’t stop sending in those campaign checks!
A large part of the problem for the GOP is coherent messaging. As I wrote recently, for generations the GOP maintained mastery over the battle of messaging, both in governing, as well as in political campaigns. But the 5 years of the Trump debacle tore all of that asunder. Trump ruled by asinine bromides and bumper sticker logos. Everything was a hash tag with him. And it worked with his dim bulb supporters. And now, it’s the coin of the realm in GOP messaging.
Here’s a perfect example. Every time that a Democrat criticizes a GOP lawmaker, or a GOP proposal, the immediate battle cry from the GOP is that they’ve just become a victim of the cancel culture! Personally, I don’t honestly believe that the GOP has a fucking clue as to what the cancel culture actually is. Somebody is going to have to explain to me, very slowly, and with really small words, how a member of congress can make an impassioned 10 minute speech in the well of the House or Senate, and then appear on four consecutive FUX New programs to hurl his shit balls around, and then scream about how he’s being canceled out! It seems to me that cancelling someone out means that you prohibit their opportunity to express themselves.
The problem with this whole slogan, hash tag way of communicating is that the messaging must be aimed solely at the deepest part of your base. Because they’re the only ones who will believe this whole bullshit. And nowhere is this more obvious that in the Covid response. Suddenly, every single governmental regulation, proposal or request regarding such mundane things as mask wearing, social distancing, and vaccinations are now suddenly a grievous government intrusion on my personal liberties and freedom! They have to do that in order to rally the faithful sheeple in the holy quest against the apostate Democratic gubmint!
The problem is that now they’re trying to do it against what has been historically been their strongest allies, small and mid size business. For decades the GOP has been aggressive in attempting to lower federal regulations in the way that businesses do their business. A prefect example is the meat packing industry, which the Trump administration made exempt from OSHA and Covid safety rules to assure that we all got our hot wings and baby back ribs, while line workers got Covid and died. But not now.
As the Biden government gets a better and better handle on the coronavirus, and more and more people are vaccinated, more and more companies and businesses, both small and medium, are starting to look at ways to reopen their businesses, but safely. Not only for their valued customers, but more importantly for the safety of their own employees. Remember, Moscow Mitch failed to get corporate legal indemnity for safety violations into law.
And one of the ways that private businesses and industries are looking at to help to protect both their customers as well as their employees is vaccine passports. This would give people with proof of complete vaccination a leg up on admittance to things like sporting events, concerts, night clubs, and other large crowd venues, because they pose no risk to either each other, or employees of the establishment.
And the GOP is literally losing its shit! Because we are now in the era of GOP sloganism, the only thing that they can rally around is that small and medium sized businesses are violating the personal rights of freedom and liberties of American citizens! Pardonez Moi? When is the last time that you walked into a retailer, especially one with any kind of food available, that didn’t have a sign on the door that said, No Shirt. No Shoes. No Service. Nevada is an open carry state, but Teri’s store has a sign in the window that says No Open Carry Allowed On The Premises. And they enforce it. These are private companies, and they have the right to regulate the activity that does on on their premises.
The GOP has lost its way. It is so busy trying to adhere to the Philosophy of Trump, as incoherent as it is, that they are dynamiting their decades long relationship with the sectors that were their post supportive. Here’s the kicker. It’s these local, small and mid size businesses that GOP House members count on for donations to their own reelection campaigns. What could go wrong?
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Acting? Methinks not. They are dicks.
Conservatives tend not to travel much outside the major-hotel-chain countries, so they don’t know about the vaccine records (passports) needed for travel to a lot of other countries. They also don’t seem to understand the vaccine requirements for school.
I got my first shot day before yesterday. They gave me a card that said when I got it and what it was.
Gee, guess that’s too hard for the Repukes to understand.
It requires being able to read, and to remember where you put the damn card.
Hint, a$$hole, it’s in your wallet.
Right next to your drivers license and Social Security card and medical card.
Oh, NO! Intrusive govt…!!!
Got my shot this morning too. I suspect that there’s a surplus in my town due to all the anti-vaxxers. Fine by me…those are the same fools who’d give me hell when their favorite targets (and you all know which ones) were unavailable. I intend to outlive and be far healthier than every…last…one of them.
As rethugs ban “Vaccine Passports,” it made me think. I STILL have my yellow, multi-page International Shot Record, received in the military in the 1960s. After it was filled, I put it away, and as time went by, many shots were eliminated as diseases were conquered. Nothing new about vaccine verification, Indeed some parts of the world still require vaccines against yellow fever or dengue, etc. And I got paperwork every time i had a flu shot. There will be no government intrusion about such a passport, but businesses, especially airlines and other transit companies have the right to protect heir passengers. Same with businesses of an kind. And so, DeSantis and Abbott can take a flying leap if they think they can stop businesses from doing what is right to protect their customers and staff from one another, if necessary. The “small government” party surely forgets what it mans to let people live according to the general best interest, when it doesn’t suit the party.