The disintegration of the Grand Old Party continues to take place before our very eyes. Here’s where I see this going: the GOP is going to end up going under and a new conservative party of some kind will rise in its place. Such is the way of history. The present GOP has its roots in the Whig party, which dissolved in 1854, when the Kansas-Nebraska Act (a plan to extend slavery into western territories) destroyed the party and divided the then-Democratic party. A new party, the Republican party, rose from the ashes.
I see the same handwriting on the wall. The tensions which are destroying the GOP may not erupt in a hot war, a Civil War, because the analogy between the politics of the mid-1800’s and today are not exact, but there are similarities that cannot be ignored.
First and foremost, the worst characteristic of today’s GOP is its adherence to a white supremacist world view, despite all reality showing that the melting pot of America continues to bubble and we are a mixed society. We always have been and always will be. Our strength as a nation arises from that, but the GOP of today is run by ideological throw backs who cater to the worst impulses of its fringe elements. Take a look at this.
They're afraid of their own voters. That's the bottom line. They're terrified of the mob coming for them over a basic, common moment of human decency and courtesy.
The MAGA golem destroys its creators a little more each day. https://t.co/KLnBhaa9kW
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) April 7, 2022
This is adding insult to injury. First, Judge Jackson was subjected to Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, John Cornyn, Mike Lee, Tom Cotton and Marsha Blackburn interpreting her voting record in the most negative possible way, accusing her of being “soft” on pedophiles. Cotton went so far as to suggest that Jackson would have gone along with the Nazi cause at Nuremberg, and even Fox News thought that a bridge too far. But there are no bridges that are too far for this iteration of the GOP.
And then Rand Paul had to make a scene, making everybody wait eighteen minutes for his “no” vote and he couldn’t even dress for the occasion. This is childish.
This is apparently what a dying political party looks like. We’re seeing this every day and in real time.
It’s an interesting image, that as Ted Cruz and the rest of them do their best to trash an historic occasion, Mitt Romney stands there and claps. For me, the image represents the juxtaposition of the old and the new. Romney voted for Jackson’s confirmation, along with only two other Republican senators, and he honored the new Supreme Court justice, as is the proper thing to do. Romney is old school, what is left of the sane Republicans.
Cruz and the rest of them are beyond description and beyond hope. They do not represent a new GOP. No political party, or any group of people, can make diversion, deflection and disrespect the order of the day and expect to succeed at much of anything.
I have no idea what will happen to the GOP. I read daily the work of writers labeled as “conservative” for clues as to where the remnants of what used to be the GOP are going to go and what they’re going to do.
I don’t see any form taking place after the destruction of the present day GOP other than fascism. Autocracy is generally the go-to position that a society takes when there is utter chaos for a time and people simply want some control and order so they let an autocrat take power. They want things to calm down.
The election of Joe Biden represented a return to sanity and normalcy and that is wonderful. If the election had gone the other way I don’t even want to think about what would be happening now and the direction SCOTUS might have gone instead with another Trump appointee. It’s too awful to contemplate.
But one election going to the opposition party is not what is needed to fix the GOP, or fix America, or keep our system of democracy going. What is needed for democracy to endure as a way of life in this nation is for there to be two functioning political parties.
Somehow the Republicans have to find their way and forge their identity. Because this is not going to hold water in the long run, this latest daily display of disrespect for out institutions, this utter lack of basic civility not to mention class. Indecency and chaos cannot hold the GOP together and right now, that’s about all that they stand for.
That daines piece of shit had better not have been among these assholes. If he was, he’d better not come back to MT.
Could they just leave and…you know, never come back? They’ve already shown they don’t believe in the government they supposedly serve, so…shrug.
Well, they love Putin so much, so send them all on a one way trip to Russia!
The GOP may eventually self-destruct, but how much damage will done before that happens? Corporate media seems determined to prop up the GOP and treat them as if they’re still a legitimate political party. People seem to worry more about gas prices than the erosion of democracy. I can’t predict how things will turn out, but it doesn’t look hopeful.
I’m sorry but was that a serious question? Having lived through the last five years, the answer should be obvious by now, surely. To paraphrase General Phil Sheridan, God damn you, don’t fret about them, FIGHT! Because just as seriously, that’s the only way we leave this behind ASAP.
Deplorable cowards, every one of them. Eff them. And with McConnell’s statement that if they get back the Senate, he won’t allow Biden another Supreme Court appointment if there’s an opening, he’s railroading the process, the country, the democracy. What a craven, corrupt, worthless POS. He needs to retire before he does more damage.
Well, if McConnell tries that, Biden will simply take him to court (the Supreme Court) and force the conservative majority to go ON THE RECORD whether they really support the Constitution or they don’t.
Article II, Section 2 says the President will nominate candidates for various positions–including judges–with the “advice and consent of the Senate.” There is NO provision that says the Senate can simply obstruct a nomination.
And ANY GOP Senator who goes along with such behavior should be barred from entering the Senate chamber for violating their oath of office (which includes a provision to “uphold and defend the Constitution against ALL enemies, both foreign AND domestic”).
If the GOP wants an autocrat, Biden should give them what they want and start acting like a dictator. Withhold any and all funding to their states and districts; install justices without going through the tedious process of confirmation hearings and votes; executive order everything he wants enacted. And when the GOP starts whining about Biden’s “tyranny,” all he has to do is go on TV (with an address to the nation) and remind the country that this behavior is EXACTLY what the GOP wants in a Republican president so they either come to their senses and act like a responsible party operating under the framework of the Constitution or get used to the new status quo (and, as an aside, remind the country that he might just not allow any future elections since the GOP doesn’t really seem interested in holding fair elections and authoritarian presidents get to rule by dictate–just like the GOP’s favorite Vladimir Putin does).
“The present GOP has its roots in the Whig party, which dissolved in 1854, when the Kansas-Nebraska Act (a plan to extend slavery into western territories) destroyed the party and divided the then-Democratic party. A new party, the Republican party, rose from the ashes.”
We already have a precedent from that same era that we could call the nutty “conservative” party (the potential home for Cruz and Marjorie and Gaetz and the rest of that ilk): It was known as the “Know-Nothing Party” (they were officially named the “Native American Party” till 1855 and after then, the “American Party”). Ironically, the Know-Nothings were progressive on some issues (they actually supported labor rights and more government spending) but they were vehemently opposed to Catholics and immigration (of Catholic immigrants).
And to further tie in the new batch of know-nothings with the party of 2 centuries ago, as noted in the Wiki article on the movement: “Members of the movement were required to say ‘I know nothing’ whenever they were asked about its specifics by outsiders, providing the group with its colloquial name.” Certainly, the modern “know-nothing” caucus “know nothing” beyond their many conspiracy theories.
Funny, mitch knows nothing of his own military service record.