Since Trump started his absorption of the Republican Get together, a metamorphosis within the GOP that started many years in the past has accelerated to a radical stage. And indicators counsel that it’s turning into an apocalyptic dying cult (figuratively talking, not less than, and possibly actually).
With the torrent of draconian strikes to obliterate core companies and buildings of our authorities — with nary a peep of protest from any present Republican official — we now clearly see the trail we’re all on.
The outdated Republican Get together is useless and gone and democracy itself is on life help.
Most of the telltale indicators main so far have been broadly mentioned individually. Allow us to take into account a few of these in mixture and as proof of the demise of the outdated GOP.
Republicans have at all times proudly claimed to be within the celebration of:
• Household values. But, they’ve twice elected to the presidency a person who has an extended historical past of philandering (together with having an affair with a porn star shortly after his spouse gave beginning to their son), along with his a number of marriages and his assortment of other sex-related scandals going again many years.
• Fiscal conservatism. But, Trump — in his first time period and with wholehearted GOP help — added $7.8 trillion to the nationwide debt, primarily via tax cuts that favored the ultra-rich.
• Regulation and order. But, Republican leaders have managed to stay mute (besides to criticize regulation enforcement officers) when confronted with info associated to a wide array of serious crimes dedicated by their chief, each nicely earlier than he first turned president and afterward.
Above all, the GOP has at all times emphatically styled itself to be the one true patriotic celebration and stalwart defender of our democracy. And but, Republican officers remained silent when Trump — on a number of events — displayed extreme carelessness concerning categorised data. They’re nonetheless silent as he continues to repeatedly disparage and alienate our allies and to flirt with our main adversary.
Most not too long ago, they’re cravenly supporting his demonstrably unqualified and/or extremely suspect nominees to key Cupboard positions. These folks all have excessive potential for inflicting irreparable harm to the applications and companies they’ll oversee, leading to penalties that may span the globe. (That is the place a literal side of the dying cult idea begins to overlap with the figurative.)
Take into account two of those Cupboard picks that may have direct bearing on life and dying issues.
Marco Rubio, who’s now secretary of state, has jumped enthusiastically on the Musk/Trump juggernaut to destroy the U.S. Company for Worldwide Support (USAID). USAID was established by Congress in 1961 and actually saves lives by offering meals and medical help to tens of millions of individuals in underdeveloped nations around the globe.
(Be aware: Except for the dire actuality posed by this termination of help, there’s one other issue to acknowledge. This drastic departure from what’s been a key ingredient of U.S. international coverage is a large propaganda reward to Putin and different dictators who’d like nothing higher than to see America’s standing on this planet diminished. Which is able to precipitously occur, particularly when folks in massive numbers start to die.)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now head of Well being and Human Providers. He has no medical credentials and has espoused a lot of unfounded medical conspiracy theories — significantly about vaccines. (In 2019, as chair of an anti-vax group, he headed a “natural experiment” to see what would occur over time after a measles vaccination program in Samoa was suspended. The outcome? Eighty-three folks, largely younger kids, died of measles.)
He’ll now oversee Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, the Nationwide Institutes of Well being and the Meals and Drug Administration.
Looming over all of this, after all, is the upcoming final disaster: profound local weather change. The U.S. isn’t alone in dragging its ft towards fixing this dire problem. Many of the different industrialized nations share on this failure. Nevertheless, having our nation abdicate its management function on this emergency (once more) will solely serve to hasten the arrival of the purpose of no return for all times on Earth as we all know it.
So, what to do? If there ever was a time to face up and converse out, that is it.
A loud and sustained groundswell of rebuke from everybody who has had sufficient of those traitors to the American ultimate and to the Structure could also be our solely salvation.
As Margaret Chase Smith — a real Republican patriot (and purported hero of Sen. Collins) — as soon as mentioned: “Ethical cowardice that retains us from talking our minds is as harmful as talking irresponsibly.”
