CommentsMY TURN-It doesn’t seem like the Republicans can find a “low” that is low enough for them. Every turn they take is designed to undermine the very heart and soul of the country, removing the ability to have equality in voting so that they can be guaranteed to win each time.
This accusation is a completely realistic one, as there are fewer people registered Republican than Democrat or Independent. Yet here we are, battling their constant gerrymandering and voter suppression, while the constituents remain spinelessly silent. If any Democrat had even thought of doing something like that, the conservatives would be running down the street screaming and pulling their hair out while they threatened to burn down the White House. If you didn’t see it before, the Republicans and Trump have blatantly plastered the fact in front of everyone that they have no interest in supporting a Democracy. They want total control with a dictatorship.
If you doubt this information, just take a look at how the Republicans reacted in various states where their representatives were voted out and Democrats were voted in. Vox covers this topic in their article: The Republican Party versus democracy:
“In the wake of a midterm election where the Republicans lost 40 House seats, Republicans were willing to call perfectly legitimate election results into question simply because they didn’t like the outcome. President Trump spread wild conspiracy theories about “forged” ballots in the Florida Senate race and of undocumented immigrants voting en masse for Democrats in California House contests. We heard similar sentiments from establishment figures like Lindsey Graham, Paul Ryan, and Marco Rubio.
Some state Republicans have even decided to nullify the results of this year’s elections. Last Friday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill that seizes key powers from Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers, who defeated Walker in November. Michigan Republicans are currently weighing a similar bill, and both are following in the footsteps of North Carolina Republicans, who passed a power-stripping bill after a Democratic victory in the 2016 governor’s race.
These acts go well beyond the normal democratic give and take, where parties battle over the rules of elections at the margins. They violate basic democratic principles, revealing the modern GOP to be a threat to the American political system itself.”
The screaming accusations of the GOP against Democrats in tight races such as Florida and California for voter fraud was the rallying cry of yet another propaganda campaign led by Trump. In each and every case, they yelled without a single bit of proof. No, illegal immigrants weren’t voting in California (they said the same thing during the 2016 Presidential race), and no there weren’t any illegal ballots in the State of Florida.
However, what SHOULD be noted is that in the past the then Gov. Rick Scott had numerous mail-in ballots thrown out because the signatures didn’t seem to “match” the originally signed copies. The litmus test that they used included whether someone signed with or without a middle initial and suspiciously seemed to be a huge number of votes for Democrats.
Let’s face facts and call it what it is: Republicans cheat to win.
Conservatives are specifically unhappy that the 2018 mid-terms overturned so many of their representatives and Trump and his Orc administration are trying to shove through as many extreme right-wing judge appointments as their little grubby fingers can sign. The reason for this is so that they will have carte blanche ability to write and pass any legislation that they want, including those that could cross the lines against our Constitutional rights. When that happens, it is turned over to a judge for a final decision and…you guessed it! Their handpicked judges will side with them.
Dictator and Fascist Behavior: Old White Guys Trying to Rule
The absolutely nauseating actions and rhetoric of the Republican Party is only worsened by the extreme TrumpTrolls who seemed to have oozed out from under the rocks to spew their vile hate of everyone and everything that isn’t like them. This is the same thing that has happened every time fascism has reared its ugly head around the world. The characteristics begin with extreme disdain of particular people or cultures while carrying Bibles and participating in hyper-nationalistic flag waving. The one area that is an absolute must as a “take down” is the media, who will call them out at every turn. This is why each fascist regime includes propaganda against the media, and in Trump’s world, this means every source except Fox.
An article in the Columbia Journalism Review covers the start and continuation of the Republican hate for the media:
“THE SEEDS OF THE REPUBLICAN MEDIA prejudice were planted in the 1950s, when Republican senator Joe McCarthy launched a campaign to discredit the US government as an institution infested with Communist spies. The press dutifully gave McCarthy a platform for his populist conspiracy-mongering until at last CBS’s Edward R. Murrow exposed his lies, in a program in 1954. Afterward, in an attack that presaged the Trumpian line, McCarthy lashed out at Murrow, accusing him of Marxist affiliations, which were nonexistent. But McCarthy’s fervent supporters were nevertheless livid that the media had dragged him down.”
Each succeeding Republican running for office always included an attack on the media, and over the years, the brainwashing effect on their lame constituents took its toll.
The “white guys” who think they are the only ones with the God-given right to rule the country are indeed members of the Republican Party. There is now diversity whatsoever, and this is the very thing that will ultimately take them down.
The Republicans have followed Trump’s lead in becoming the “party of hate.” Various organizations that track hate crime and rhetoric around the country, including the Anti-Defamation League an Southern Poverty Law Center, have reported an increase in both beginning with Trump’s Presidential campaign and specifically in areas where he held rallies.
When the Democrats introduced an anti-hate resolution in March, 2019, two dozen House Republicans voted against it. Information covered by the Intelligencer included:
“Possibly their actual gripe was that the resolution noted, “On August 11 and 12, 2017, self-identified neo-Confederates, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and Ku Klux Klansmen held white supremacist events in Charlottesville, Virginia, where they marched on a synagogue under the Nazi swastika, engaged in racist and anti-Semitic demonstrations and committed brutal and deadly violence against peaceful Americans.’
The House resolution vote had good people on both sides. But all the bad people were on the Republican side.”
The article continued with:
“Republicans may be offended that the resolution mentions a Nazi rally. But the fact that Trump is the first president to inspire Nazis to rally to his side is hardly irrelevant to the issue of bigotry. And their objection to its inclusion highlights the bad faith of their whole effort. Their real goal is not to oppose dual-loyalty smears. It’s to focus single-mindedly on this one form of bigotry as a way of excusing the bigotry on their own side.”
Teetering on the End of the Country
Hate is the catalyst that has sparked each and every fascist dictatorship throughout history. The Republicans sit idly by as Trump and his so-called “administration” spews lie after lie, stirring up his followers to believe some of the wildest conspiracy theories imaginable. This is exactly the same actions that were used with other fascist dictators: Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile).
The United States cannot survive with all of the benefits going to the top 1%, leaving a majority of the people poor, unhealthy, and uneducated. This top-heavy philosophy only lasts so long, and the economy then tips over and begins to collapse. The rest of the world is turning its back on America, yet as long as the supporters of Trump have their own coffers filled, they could care less.
Nothing that Trump or the Republicans do or say is bad enough or low enough for the base to turn away. They have become the party of absolute evil, and Trump’s idiocy, second grade rhetoric, hate-filled speeches and rallies, vindictive and childish behavior, and name-calling is completely acceptable to them.
The only way to fight this is for liberals of all philosophies to rally around candidates who will return the country to some state of balance. The founding fathers assumed that there would be disagreements; they did NOT figure that one Party would take over, try to rig elections, arrange interference with hostile foreign nations, and line their pockets all the way.
Our Democratic experiment is going to end if liberals don’t come together. This means the extreme left must set aside their ridiculous litmus tests for purity and understand that their ideologies may not be shared by the majority. Stop attacking Democrats and focus on getting more liberal candidates in office. It also means that those closer to the center must embrace some of the left-of-center philosophies.
No one will walk away with 100% — but everyone must have a win. We already saw what happened when extreme left and those who simply “didn’t like” a candidate decided not to vote.
The choice is ours — you either stand up and work together, or the country will collapse.
(S. Novi is a journalist who worked in the media and continues to seek out truth and integrity. A liberal and one who is suspicious of cults and empty promises. She is a member of Medium.com and a contributor to CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
