Some Thoughts About Republicans

I am mindful some people supported the policies of the past president. Many claim their support is independent of the fact that he is a racist, xenophobic, narcissistic, sadistic, misogynistic, deluded insurrectionist. They say that as long as he was good for the economy in general and splendid for their 401 k account in particular, they couldn’t care less about his character, ideology, or morals. They claim his views are independent of their own.

Of course, these people are lying. Worse than that – if they do not explicitly denounce Trump or the GOPQ (Grand Old Party QAnon) party he now leads, they support their white supremacist authoritarianism. It is that simple. Why? Because the GOPQ has finally revealed itself as a party that only exits for the pure exercise of power at the expense of governance in the United States, that embraces corrosive lies at the expense of laws, that celebrates cruelty at the cost of justice and basks in the white supremacist glow of animus and self-righteous indignation. I could expound upon these statements with many more paragraphs of supporting fact and reason, but we all understand that fact and reason is not the realm in which Trumpites operate. So I will leave that to the comments section of this post, where others can eviscerate Trumpites.

The question I ponder is the morality of the moment we find ourselves. I do not mean morality in a religious or judgmental context. I offer the following (standard) definition of morality as 1. principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior, 2. the set of standards that enable people to live cooperatively in groups, 3. the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are distinguished as proper and those that are improper, 4. what societies determine to be “right” and “acceptable.” Sometimes, acting in a moral manner means individuals must sacrifice their own short-term interests to benefit society.

Right or wrong actions that are taken according to a set of standards “that enable people to live cooperatively in groups” is the essence of what we are dealing with now. I submit that civilization can only be supported by people acting with good intentions towards that civilization, willing to engage in discourse, and respect resulting polity based upon fact and reason.

It is supremely ironic and sad that the group of people in our society who claim truth, law, and order to be the group that seeks to subvert our society in every way. We all know the Fox News old motto of “Fair and Balanced” is a wink-wink inside joke that burst its putrid bounds in 2017. It was replaced by “Most Watched, Most Trusted” at that time. The “Fair and Balanced” mythology has emerged as a nomer for conservative-think that allows for a constant state of profound cognitive dissonance. This cognitive dissonance explains why so many have embraced the morally indefensible position of supporting the GOPQ white supremacist agenda without denouncing it. How do I dare link the GOPQ to white supremacy? Because the fact is that Trump is a racist, and the policies of his administration reflected his white supremacist views. Again, in the interest of whatever claim I can make to brevity, I will leave that assertion to the comments section of this post, where others can eviscerate Trumpites.

So the question is, “Where do our conservative, maybe not Republican, maybe so Republican friends stand at this time?” Frankly, the word “conservative” has been forever soiled with the taint of Trumpism. It is theoretically possible to hold to a position that espouses traditional conservatism of limited government, “natural law and transcendent moral order, tradition, hierarchy and organic unity, agrarianism, classicism, and high culture as well as the intersecting spheres of loyalty” (according to Wikipedia). Such a position is difficult to honestly hold in the gale-force winds of a world-wide pandemic and wholesale dismantling of economic systems.

As for “Republicans” of any stripe... you face an immediate moral imperative to remove yourself from this shill that has cuckolded a once legitimate political organization. Otherwise, you should not be surprised if your fellow citizens cannot distinguish you from its white supremacist doctrines or its racist, xenophobic, narcissistic, sadistic, misogynistic, deluded insurrectionist leader.