Opinion: Republicans Are In Thrall Of A Demented Madman

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:51 pm

It is likely no American will ever fully comprehend why Republicans pledged their fealty to a nasty incompetent fool like Donald Trump, but it is clear that they have a good reason to remain loyal to a demented madman who hates them as much as he hates America. 

History will not be kind to Donald Trump whether it is as a business man, a second-rate game show host, a fake big-time wrestler, or as leader of the right-wing fascist political party.  However, it is crystal clear that history will not be kind to the sycophants in the Republican Party either; because they are, at least, cognizant of the kind of tyranny Trump attempted to unleash on the American people as well as his gross incompetence as the occupant of a place he had no right occupying.

One can understand why the ignorant racist and religious fanatic class of America love Trump, but it will forever remain a mystery why Republicans abandoned any semblance of loyalty to the U.S. Constitution or the nation they claim to love to serve an honest-to-dog maniac.

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It is safe to say that except for a minuscule number of Republicans in Congress and the states, Republicans willingly fell in line to support anything Trump dreamt up in his egomaniacal mind. Now that he is no longer in charge of decimating everything good about America, one might think Republicans would shake the putrid Trump stench off their pathetic selves and return to just being dirty conservatives; but that simply isn’t the case.

Despite supporting Trump like devoted puppets for four years and continuing today, Trump lashed out at 35 House Republicans he claimed were “wayward” for not following his direct order to vote against the bipartisan commission to investigate Trump’s attempted coup d’état on January 6. As usual, the tyrant issued a not-so-veiled threat against the “wayward” Republicans saying:

“See, 35 wayward Republicans — they just can’t help themselves. Sometimes there are consequences to being ineffective and weak. The voters understand! Republicans must get much tougher and much smarter, and stop being used by the Radical Left. Hopefully, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are listening!”

Of course McCarthy listened and despite saying that Trump “bears responsibility” for the attack on the nation’s Capitol, and receiving concessions from Democrats on his demands for the proposed commission, he opposed the commission because he is nothing if not an obedient dog.

It is highly likely that Senate Minority Leader McConnell is listening as well because he, like McCarthy, opposes a thorough investigation into the deadly insurrection. However, that opposition is not nearly enough for the tyrant Trump who lashed out at McConnell during an interview on OAN. During that interview, Trump said McConnell was the lead character in “the weak [Republican] leadership” on Capitol Hill. He went on to say:

“I’m watching the negotiation — which is a one-way negotiation in Congress. They get whatever they want approved. McConnell is hopeless, and he can’t stop anything.”

After that remark, OAN’s Chanel Rion gave Trump an opening to unload on McConnell. She asked the fascist:

“Is there any real difference between Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer, from your experience?”

After feigning hesitation to lay into McConnell, Trump replied:

“I’ll tell you this, if Chuck Schumer were there on the day of the vote counting, he would have said there’s no way we’re going to approve this. When our people stand up, they get scolded, and they immediately fold — Mitch McConnell is an example.

But Chuck Schumer never would have accepted the result of that election. Never would have accepted. They would have been out in the streets. They would have been marching. And Mitch McConnell says, ‘Well, we have to get down to business now.’ We need much sharper, much tougher leadership.’” 

The kind of leadership Trump refers to is fascist tyranny and nothing else. McConnell could not deny the results of the election and the world witnessed precisely what happened when Trump sent his angry insurrectionists to march in the streets straight to the Capitol to “fight like Hell.”

The prescient point is that despite an insurrection directed by Trump that threatened the lives of Republicans, including his Vice President, and a staunch Republican opposition to a commission to determine what happened so it can never happen again, Trump still tears into Republicans and they willingly take it.

It cannot possibly be that all Republican voters approve of an insurrection against the government of the United States, so the oft-mentioned fear of the base just doesn’t make sense. And it’s not that Trump has any executive power to damage Republicans like Mitch McConnell and his leadership position in the Senate or Kevin McCarthy in the House. Still, they serve Trump as if he is a god with the power to snuff the life out of them.

 It is likely that Republicans in Congress, and the states for that matter, agree with everything Trump did while in the White House including inciting a rebellion to install Trump for a second, and likely third term. As this column has repeated ad nauseam, Republicans support Trump not because they are afraid of him, but because they support every bad thing he stands for if it means they get to hold on to power. And if it means being publicly condemned as weak and hopeless, they will take it as the price they have to pay to continue advancingtheir fascist agenda.

Rmuse

Audio engineer and instructor for SAE. Writes op/ed commentary supporting Secular Humanist causes, and exposing suppression of women, the poor, and minorities. An advocate for freedom of religion and particularly, freedom of NO religion.

Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn’t look good.

Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.