"Official" Beltway Republicanism is a joke. The conservative movement in America, post-1968 (or 1980, if you prefer) is a fraud. The collection of oil men, bankers, military industrial contractors, radical preachers, and gun manufacturers were able to manipulate Republican voters with an agenda of God, tax cuts and de-regulation, war with Middle Eastern countries, and culture wars for four plus decades. Issues like abortion and school prayer were coupled together with de-regulating banks and Wall Street rules in an effort to get rural Southerners to vote for the agenda of CEOs and heirs to fortunes. When they lost in 2008, they let this coalition of conservative voters loose as the "Tea Party." Now they seem horrified that the road from Reagan's moral majority to Gingrich's "revolution," to Bush's cultural conservatism and war, to Sarah Palin's anti-intellectualism, to Ted Cruz, and finally to Donald Trump, could even happen. They don't realize that they created this monster electorate. They are in denial.
Worse yet, "official" Washington is beating up on Chris Christie and other Trump endorsers for supporting Trump. They say this is the end of these guys. History seems to beg to differ. Christie and others endorsing Trump seem to understand that Trump is where this political movement is going. The anger within the Republican base vote, the discontent of receiving nothing for their votes, has taken hold within the electorate. This shouldn't shock anyone who watches the Republican Party. This was the natural outcome.
A cynical, fraudulent political movement often ends up with a cynical, fraudulent leader. The pathway from Nixon's strategy of using a "silent majority" to this point is not hard to draw. Of course it includes jokers like Pat Robertson, hypocrites like Newt Gingrich, unqualified leaders like George W. Bush, ignoramuses like Sarah Palin, empty-suits like Marco Rubio, and con-artists like Donald Trump. Of course it moves from anti-busing, to anti-science, to anti-government policies.Of course it believes in things like walls along the Mexican border and banning Muslims. When you tell people they are under-siege from every "other," that the government does not and can not work, and that the government's spending all goes to lazy people who don't work, you end up here.
The Republican Party sold their voters a false platform for years. They hoodwinked their voters. Now they have to deal with the angry masses of their own party. I can't feel bad for them. They made their voters this way. Now they can't understand why these voters demand the actual coded meaning of their "small government" that they never wanted to say. They don't understand why these voters want to build walls, ban Muslims, and deport millions. They don't understand why these voters are responding to the most vile, sexist, racist, or otherwise deplorable rhetoric possible.
The Republican Party created these conditions. They deserve this outcome. They deserve Donald Trump.
No comments:
Post a Comment