“Before the Freedom of Information Act, I used to say at meetings, “The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” Henry Kissinger, March 10, 1975
Ever notice how Republican Administrations have introduced to American politics some of the most notorious scoundrels in American history? If you’re looking for a rogue’s gallery of bad guys, look no further than the Republican Party. From 1961 – 2016, GOP Administrations had 38 times more criminal convictions than Democrats, and that’s not counting the Trump Goodfellas awaiting trial.
Republican scoundrels came to power by throwing a GOP Party to celebrate an orgy of bad ideas:
Nixon’s Southern Strategy set the table for white nationalism.
Reagan’s “Cadillac welfare queens” set the table for Paul Ryan’s “the takers and the makers” rhetoric, while his risible “trickle-down economics” set the table for class warfare and regressive taxation, exacerbating income inequality and fueling social discord.
H. W. Bush’s Willie Horton ad set the table for the vilification of minorities, culminating in Trump’s MS 13 demonization of immigrants.
Grover Norquist’s infamous tax-cut dogma enabled the GOP to maintain a grip on budgetary commitments for low spending on infrastructure and entitlement programs – and big spending on ill-conceived military adventurism.
Newt Gingrich famously said: “One of the great problems we have in the Republican Party is that we don’t encourage you to be nasty. We encourage you to be neat, obedient, and loyal, and faithful, and all those Boy Scout words, which would be great around the campfire but are lousy in politics.” As McKay Coppins wrote: “He [Gingrich] pioneered a style of partisan combat—replete with name-calling, conspiracy theories, and strategic obstructionism—that poisoned America’s political culture and plunged Washington into permanent dysfunction. Gingrich’s career can perhaps be best understood as a grand exercise in devolution—an effort to strip American politics of the civilizing traits it had developed over time and return it to its most primal essence.”
So, while our living rooms have been battlegrounds for 2 ½ years as we argue the best strategy to impeach and remove this depraved and malevolent president, the real question should be how to reverse decades of Republican malfeasance. Decades of betrayal.
The GOP made a deal with its voters: if you vote for us, we’ll deliver on your social issues…social issues that we concocted entirely for your edification. They said:
“We’re Conservatives. If your issue is abortion, we’ve got some Supreme Court Justices made to order just for you; if you’re rich and you really don’t want to pay taxes like some jerk working on an assembly line, we’ve got tax policies that’ll make your mouth water. Hate dark skin unless it’s like the tan you worked on in Tahiti, you can relax because nobody’s going to move in next door and start speaking foreigner – pinkie swear. Memorized the Bible from front to back? Never you mind, we’ve got an Evangelical Cabinet and a Vice-President that’ll get you to the Rapture on time. Just lie back and enjoy it.
We’re Conservatives – so we’re the patriots who are watching America’s security like hawks. We’re Conservatives – so we won’t let the Democrats spend what we don’t have. We’re Conservatives – so we make the jobs that give you cheap washing machines, and so much stuff to buy that you don’t know what to do with it all. We’re Conservatives – so you get to choose whatever doctor you want, if you can find one you can afford.
Yes, the leader of our party is a licentious, greedy, liar who loves to pick fights and threaten nuclear attacks – a prancing peacock who has molted all of his feathers, but doesn’t seem to know it. But don’t abandon ship just yet. Trust us, our jobs depend on standing tall behind this president – no matter what he does. And when it comes to our jobs, we’ll lie back and enjoy whatever he hands us, too, because we’re Conservatives.”
Image: Philip Absolon, Wikimedia Commons
Deborah Long is a Principal at Development Management Group, Inc. and founder of several non-profit charitable organizations. If you find her perspectives interesting, provocative, or controversial, follow her at: https://www.facebook.com/debby.long.98499?ref=br_rs
Deborah Long is a Principal at Development Management Group, Inc. and founder of several non-profit, charitable organizations. If you find her perspectives interesting, controversial, or provocative, you can follow her at: https://www.facebook.com/debby.long.98499?ref=br_rs