The Republican Party, at least the segment that is currently ascendant, is at serious risk of becoming “the dog that caught the car.” In the furious chase to stick it to the libs, the GOP has surrendered reason and competence in service of a mission to maintain minority control of a rapidly changing nation.
Minority control is not an ambition. It is a reality. The Senate is currently evenly divided, 50-50. The Democratic senators represent 41.5 million more Americans than the Republican senators, who have sworn to block any and all legislation proposed by the Biden administration.
Some 47 states have introduced more than 360 bills aimed at making voting more difficult for likely Democratic voters. According to The Washington Post, 53% of Republicans believe that Donald Trump is still the legitimate president of the United States.
These breathtaking shenanigans are executed by Republican leaders, many of whom know better. Scores of court cases demolished the Big Lie and the majority of GOP legislators know there is no evidence of election fraud, yet they embrace nutty theories and bizarre activities like the “audit” in Arizona conducted by “Cyber Ninjas.” The Ninjas esteemed leader is a devotee of QAnon, a cult that believes Democrats are pedophiles, Jewish space lasers start forest fires and that Trump will be reinstated to the presidency in August.
The current GOP headliners are Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., barnstorming the country with an “America First” message based in complete lunacy. Gaetz is under investigation for sex trafficking, allegedly paying a 17 year-old for sex and other tawdry deeds. The gun-toting Greene is so outrageous and outrageously incompetent that she has been stripped of all committee assignments and is left free to roam the halls of Congress threatening her colleagues like a demented adolescent bully.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., described the Jan. 6 insurrectionists as “tourists.” Republicans, once the law-and-order party, refused to honor the Capitol Police, even after heart-wrenching pleas from families of deceased officers. I could go through a long list of Republicans who have sold their souls, if they ever had them.
But as to these dogs catching the car. Republicans seek power, at any cost, but what precisely will they do with it, however deceitfully gained?
Political ideology aside, the Trump administration was utterly incompetent. Hundreds of critical functions of government were neglected. Other than an unnecessary tax cut for the wealthy, virtually nothing was done except a slew of executive orders to undo any and every remnant of the Obama presidency. Of Trump’s “Promises Made,” nearly all were broken.
He promised to end “offshoring.” Nothing done.
Promised an infrastructure bill. Nothing done.
Promised “school choice” and “education opportunity.” Nothing done (thank goodness!). Promised to repeal and replace Obamacare. Nothing.
Child care and eldercare? Nothing.
The “End Illegal Immigration Act”? Nope.
“Restoring Community Safety Act”? Nothing.
“Clean Up Corruption Act”? Very funny.
For the eight years of the Obama presidency, the GOP, led by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., promised only to stand in the way of everything. Then, when they caught the car and put the inarguably most corrupt, dishonest and incompetent president in American history in the driver’s seat, nothing was accomplished other than dismantling a significant part of government function. Now, having temporarily lost control, they’ve reverted to doing nothing but blocking every Biden initiative.
All of this is the cartoon version of Ronald Reagan’s disdain for government. His anti-tax surrogate, Grover Norquist, recommended shrinking government until it could be drowned in the bathtub. Now the GOP wants to drown democracy itself in the bathtub.
The future of the country is best served by healthy debate between two legitimate political parties. Now we have only one. The awful confluence of Donald Trump and the opportunist enablers in right wing media has made it virtually impossible for a reasonable conservative to win an election. It is a bed they made, but it must be a very uncomfortable place to sleep.
Many media reports make it clear that most traditional Republicans see Trump, Gaetz, Greene, Johnson, Reps. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and others as the buffoons they are. But they can’t say it or they will lose their own places. Every current sign indicates that more and more members of the lunatic fringe will make their way into the halls of Congress.
And what then, my Republican friends? Are these the kinds of people you want determining the future for your children and grandchildren?
Steve Nelson lives in Boulder, Colo., and Sharon. He can be reached at stevehutnelson@gmail.com.