In Donald Trump, the Republican Party elected a thrice married, serial philanderer who was caught on tape bragging about sexually assaulting women but claimed to be a God fearing born-again Christian, a ridiculous claim endorsed by the spineless likes of Franklin Graham. This same candidate mocked a disabled reporter and has repeatedly maligned "the fake news," itself an adaptation of the tried and true right wing scapegoat, "the liberal mainstream media."
Riding the coat tails of the right's shameful decline of conscience is Greg Gianforte, who last night was elected to serve the people of Montana in the House of Representatives, despite having been charged with assault for physically attacking a reporter the night before, which took place in front of three eyewitnesses and was caught on audio--and both accounts were widely disseminated and clearly incriminating. The truth is, most Republicans did not care. It was an acceptable lapse in judgement triggered, Republicans reason, by the fact that both liberals and the media are intolerable. As far as they are concerned, their is no loyal opposition--and given their fair-weather value system and growing affection for Russia, I'm inclined to agree with them, though I do recognize Senators Burr, McCain, and Graham, as well as a handful of other elected Republicans like John Kasich as a principled bunch of patriotic conservatives. But they are no longer a party. They are now just a moderate and sensible caucus within the party.
The Republican Party has reached a point where there is nothing more shameful and unacceptable, in their minds, than being a liberal. In the name of expediency, they are willing to muffle their conscience, discard morality, part ways with all manner of tradition and custom, and, apparently, elect violent criminals. They will align America and her prestige with authoritarian kleptocrats and despotic tyrants, if it means unseating Democrats.
The new Republican Party--and that is what this is, the dawning of a new right wing political faction--is guided by nothing but expediency. It is morally bankrupt. Any means is justified by the end goal of destroying liberalism for the likes of Trump, Sessions, Hannity, Limbaugh, and Franklin Graham. They are willing to partner with Russia, set aside the constitution, manufacture pure fiction, fear monger, race bait, and mortgage the very soul of their faith to prevent Democrats from winning an election. And that is dangerous. The Republican Party is heading down the road of tyranny.
The rhetoric of Trump and the election of Greg Gianforte in Montana shows us that Republicans have reached a breaking point where they believe it necessary to attack basic American freedoms, like the freedom of the press, in order to preserve their brand of freedom, which upon analysis is revealed to be no freedom at all. It is anarchy and rage.
Republicans are blinded by hate, not driven by principled conviction. They are a mob, not a political party. Republicans do not want compromise; they want a single party system or a white, despotic state characterized by Dixieland Christianity and the conspicuous absence of a welfare state.
This is the New Republican Party.
*Just to be clear, I don't care that has been Trump married multiple times. That is a point made in contradistinction to a group of people, evangelical Christians, who parade the sanctity of marriage around as a defense against same-sex marriage, which Jesus said nothing about, while ignoring Trump's own infidelity and philandering, which Jesus did talk about. I did this to point out yet another example of the New Republican Party's preference for expediency over values.
