GOP – A PATRIOT'S THOUGHTS

Trump Will Burn Down the GOP

In either case, he will once again bring the GOP to a catastrophe in the 2024 general election.

After all the analysis of the 2022 election cycle, one thing is very clear. The tighter a GOP candidate embraced Donald Trump, the poorer that candidate performed in a contested general election. Those GOP candidates who performed well in 2022, like Ron DeSantis and Brian Kemp, typically kept quite a bit of distance between themselves and Trump. This allowed independent voters to see them as mainstream GOP thinkers, even though both have a strong streak of Trumpy behaviors. While many GOP candidates did embrace Trump and still win they were either in heavily GOP areas, or, as in the case of JD Vance in Ohio, they scraped in while vastly underperforming other GOP candidates in the same geography. There is now a widespread realization that Donald Trump’s focus on the 2020 election is a millstone for the GOP.

As we enter the landscape of the 2024 election, Trump has already announced his candidacy in an ill-conceived attempt to ward off the upcoming indictments from the DOJ. Its still not clear how many GOP candidates will challenge him. It could be as few as two or three, but it could also be as many as six or more.

In Trump’s ideal scenario, numerous weak candidates (everyone except Ron DeSantis) will run, therefore splitting the potential opposition votes and letting him win GOP primaries with his 30-40% GOP base vote. That would make him the 2024 GOP Presidential candidate, and likely put him into a rematch with Joe Biden. It’s also very conceivable that the US economy could be in a long recession for which Biden would receive (fairly or not) much of the blame. So, in that scenario, could Trump win re-election?

The simple answer is Hell No. With Trump at the top of the ticket, the GOP would go down to a massive, crushing defeat across the board in 2024. Leveraging his power as the leader of the party, Trump would use the 2024 primary season to once again pick GOP candidates that would pledge undying loyalty to him personally; such candidates would lose in the general elections in such numbers that the Democrats would win control of both houses of Congress, the White House, and multiple additional statehouses. If Trump is the GOP candidate, he will set the party back for years.

But what if he is not the candidate? This scenario assumes that over time the Trump show becomes less and less attractive to enough GOP voters that they slowly lose belief in him. The GOP leadership, realizing that Trump has no chance to be elected, coalesces around a single alternative (likely DeSantis) who then polls higher than Trump in the primaries and wins a messy battle to become the GOP candidate.

What will Trump do? Will he put the party first and support the GOP nominee? Of course not. His narcissism will never allow him to support another GOP candidate, least of all Ron DeSantis. He will claim that the election was stolen, and tell his supporters that the entire party is corrupt and that they should stay home or vote for the Dems just for spite. He may even launch a third party bid, but that would take a lot of work and he’s not likely to want to bother. His goal won’t be to win, just to extract revenge on those who have wronged him. In either case, he will once again bring the GOP to a catastrophe in the 2024 general election.

What about all the legal issues that Trump faces? What impact will they have in 2024? Other than keeping Trump on the defensive and reminding voters what a menace he is, they won’t be definitive. The legal cases need to proceed effectively to ensure that justice is served. The Democrats must do all they can to stay above the fray, and maintain their integrity in the eyes of voters. Then stand by as the GOP self-destructs.

Is there a third scenario? Yes. If Trump dies before Primary season, the GOP would be free of his narcissism and could win it all. Other that that, it’s a done deal.

How to Save our Democracy

Millions of people will have their rights taken away permanently if the GOP gains control. People MUST stand up. They MUST vote.

The MAGA dominated GOP has no use for Democracy as an institution. As detailed here and here, they fully intend to finish imposing a theocratic autocracy on the United States. We have only a short time remaining to save this country as a Democratic nation based on the rule of law.

The GOP is making no attempt to hide its plan nor its contempt for us, the citizens. Moves are already underway in many states to make abortion (including, in some cases, all past abortions) a crime, to eliminate gay marriage, criminalize LGBTQ behavior, outlaw contraception, and many more. If the GOP gets its way, they will enact laws to make these bans nationwide. And its very clear that the GOP-based Supreme Court will cheer them on and rubber stamp the elimination of any freedom not expressly documented in a Constitution written by slave-holding white plantation owners 200+ years ago.

There is only one opportunity to stop this from occurring. Democrats, Independents, and anyone from any party who believes in freedom MUST organize, turn out, and VOTE in 2022 against the GOP at every level, local, state, and Federal.

While is true that there are some Republicans who still believe in the rule of law, unfortunately they have become a minority in their party, and have no power. Instead, power is in the hands of the MAGA extremists who still spout the Trump lies and have no intent of ever giving up power if they achieve majority status in Congress. Indeed, in many states where they do wield power, they have so completely stacked the deck via gerrymandering that even when their party gets less votes they still retain power in the legislature. This is what autocratic minority rule looks like. The more power they obtain in the next election, the fewer free elections will ever occur in this country again.

The GOP knows that a majority of Americans does not agree with their agenda, but they are hoping that voters aren’t paying attention to what they are really doing. Their plan is that with gas prices up, inflation on the rise, and the stock market in free fall, Americans will blame the President and vote against the Democrats. This cannot happen. People must look beyond the day-to-day and see the big picture. Their very rights are at stake.

Millions of people will have their rights taken away permanently if the GOP gains control. People MUST stand up. They MUST vote.

If you believe in the rights of women – you MUST vote.
If you believe in the right to love anyone you choose – you MUST vote.
If you believe in the right to use contraception – you MUST vote.
If you believe in the right to worship as you wish – you MUST vote.
If you believe in the right to marry anyone of any race, creed, or gender – you MUST vote.
If you believe in the right of all citizens to vote – you MUST vote.
If you believe in the right to be free from senseless gun violence – you MUST vote.
If you believe in America – you MUST vote.

We ARE the true majority in this country. TOGTHER we can all protect our freedoms. Together we can defeat the MAGA-controlled GOP.

Profiles in Appeasement

They KNOW he attempted to destroy our democracy

In 1861, Abraham Lincoln, as newly elected President and head of the Republican Party, swore an oath of office to defend the Constitution of the United States. President Lincoln then led the country into a war to uphold the Constitution and preserve the Union, honoring the oath as he had sworn to do. In 2021, after losing the presidential election, Donald Trump, having sworn the same oath as President Lincoln, set his mob of insurrectionists on a course to prevent Congress from carrying out its Constitutionally appointed task to certify the election of the person legally elected by the American voters. This mob intended to hunt down and kill members of the U. S. Congress and the Vice President. Make no mistake, that was clearly and unequivocally a crime of treason against the United States of America.

Donald Trump was rightly impeached for that crime by the House of Representative and for his complete failure to uphold the U.S. Constitution. His culpability is undeniable. Remarkably, even after committing crimes against the nation, he somehow retains a large number of followers within the Republican ranks. And because these followers dominate local Republican political organizations at the state and grassroots levels, Republican Representatives and Senators were forced to choose between having the courage to uphold the Constitution they are sworn to defend or be obedient to their misguided constituents. By and large, they chose appeasement over conviction. For this failure to discharge the essential duty of their offices, they should be universally scorned and never elected to public office again.

Beyond all of this, there is a greater concern – the Deity-like devotion that a MAJORITY of the GOP still holds for the neo-fascism of Donald Trump. Its not like he ever did anything for them; he didn’t bring back jobs for people in dying industry sectors, nor did he get much of the Wall constructed, nor did he stop any abortions, and even with a disastrous package of harmful tariffs, he was unable to stop China’s industrial dominance. His lack of concern and understanding resulted in a disastrous Covid-19 non- response that has led to more deaths than any other country.

One promise he did keep was to make it acceptable to be a racist and/or a misogynist. No mainstream politician in over 40 years has said it was okay to be a racist. Trump did. Make America Great Again (MAGA) succeeded as intended in being taken symbolically as Make America Racist Again. As hard as is to acknowledge the reality, the truth is that he tapped into the huge but unacknowledged racist core (possibly even the majority) of the GOP voters which carried him to the nomination. And because of targeted strategies in key states and the closet full of skeletons in Hillary Clinton’s overconfident world, he lost the popular vote but garnered enough electoral votes to carry him to the Presidency in 2016.

After Trump won the Presidency, he bullied and blackmailed members of the GOP organization into submission or replaced them with his ‘true believers’. As an absolute fascist ruler of the GOP, he installed grassroots and State level party apparatchiks who are completely loyal to him, rather than to the party or citizens. They then locked-in the next level of Trump-loving loyal MAGA followers. This core of today’s Republican party will not permit criticism of their Emperor-Deity — even though they KNOW he attempted to destroy our democracy. Although he has shown himself to be dishonest, incompetent, narcissistic, and totally uncaring for the people who voted for him, a large base of voters is still in Trump’s thrall. Why?

Could it possibly be because Trump’s base voters know he is the only leader who allows them to be their true bigoted selves? It appears to be so — that his people reject the reality that we live in a multicultural and diverse country. Instead, they want no part of a world in which all differences are accepted; a society where people of all genders/races/colors/religions/sexual orientations are treated with equality, dignity, and respect.

It’s true that the Republican Party is hemorrhaging voters who are unwilling to buy into unmasked Trumpist fascism. But the core of Trump loyalists – 10s of millions of voters and thousands of elected officials – no longer support the concept of American Democracy. And nothing being done today is addressing the lingering but real danger to the Republic.

Lincoln’s Inauguration Again

In the months between Abraham Lincoln’s election and his inauguration, seven states seceded from the United States, and five weeks after the inauguration the shots were fired on Fort Sumter. The leaders of the Southern states spewed fury and hatred that drove their people to make war on their fellow Americans in the deadliest four years of our history.

As Joe Biden is about to be inaugurated, we again stand at a crossroads in America. A significant percentage of Americans have followed a leader who spews fury and hatred and has whipped many of his followers into a murderous frenzy via a big lie. Thousands of the Trump mob invaded the US Capitol on January 6 with the goals of staging a coup and kidnapping and/or killing numerous members of Congress and the Vice President of the United States. A number of the participants will undoubtedly be imprisoned for their crimes, but thousands of domestic terrorists remain. These include white supremacists, Boogaloo Bois, NeoNazis, Proud Boys, QAnon believers, Oathkeepers and hundreds of other militia groups who were present at the Capitol but will not be arrested. Behind them is a much larger group of like-minded domestic terrorist wannabes (the American equivalent of the Taliban) that are all well armed and intend to desecrate our State and Federal buildings and anyone who doesn’t follow their chosen Leader.

They have made no secret of their goal to start another Civil War in America. Donald Trump has not and will not back down in his support for the overthrow of the elected leaders of the country and placement of himself as the supreme, unchallenged Leader. His followers will accept no other alternative. At this point there is no middle way. Either Trump’s terrorist followers succeed in installing him as a Dictator, or we root them out and destroy their movement. The coming quasi-Civil War is inescapable – the only question is which side will win. We are past the point of where words are enough to heal America. We need decisive action.

Republicans hold the key – they MUST help in convicting Donald Trump of impeachment and ensuring that he can never become a force in politics again. Following Impeachment, Donald Trump needs to be charged, arrested, and imprisoned for his many crimes. There is plenty of evidence to put him behind bars for many years.

Cutting off the head of the terrorist movement will be a necessary start, but it won’t be enough. The leadership of the Republican Party must acknowledge Donald Trump’s lies, condemn them, and disown him. With enough consistency and repetition, this will bring many of his followers back from the brink and persuade them to join mainstream society (and it is the only chance to salvage the Republican Party).

But there will still be many domestic militia members who are beyond the reach of rational thought. Those who have joined the ranks of the domestic terrorists must be exposed, prosecuted, and jailed. This includes those currently serving in police forces, the US armed forces, and in all other positions of authority. It is not enough for them to lose their jobs, they must lose their freedom and their guns. This process will take many years – but, like Reconstruction after the Civil War, it must be undertaken. And unlike reconstruction, it must succeed. If it fails, America will degenerate into a failed state.

This is the test of our generation. Will America continue to be the land of the free and the brave, or will the Domestic Taliban tear us apart and turn us into another Afghanistan?

The Coming Coup

The Coup is coming. If it succeeds, It will destroy everything we love in America. Forever.

Its no secret that Donald Trump intends to be President for Life, e.g Dictator. But he lost the election – of that there is no doubt. And he’s exhausted all of his lame attempts to have multiple courts or Republican-led State Legislatures overturn the results. The Electoral College has cast its votes – confirming Joe Biden’s win. But Trump still has a plan. It involves three players: The US Legislative branch (House and Senate), The Homeland Security apparatus, and the Proud Boy/Fascist shock troops.

We all know that both the House and Senate meet on January 6 in joint session to officially count the votes as submitted by the states. Trump is expecting his allies in the House and Senate to challenge the votes of individual states, and so they will – even though there is no basis for their challenges. This will cause great disruption, as each challenge can be considered for “not more than two hours”, then voted on separately by the House and Senate. Assuming that challenges are raised for at least five states, the process will take ten plus hours – maybe double that. But even Trump knows that this process will fail as both chambers need to agree to change the votes and the Democrats who control the House will never vote for him.

But what happens inside the Capitol is just a sideshow. The main event will be outside. On December 21st, a mob of over 300 armed Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer fascists stormed the Oregon Statehouse in Salem, and entered the building. Oregon State troopers defended the building, and using teargas, were able to remove and disperse the crowd without bloodshed. This was a practice run for the real thing. Donald Trump has tweeted his supporters to descend on Washington DC on January 6 telling them to “Be there, will be wild!” He intends that tens of thousand of his armed supporters storm the Capitol in an attempt to stop the democratic process. But he doesn’t expect them to actually succeed. He just expects them to die in sufficient numbers.

Here’s where Homeland Security comes into play. In anticipation of potential trouble, the Capitol will be well defended by officers from multiple Federal agencies. This will result in a huge battle on national TV. It will make the 1968 Chicago convention riots look like a Boy Scout meeting. Many will die – primarily the Pro-Trump protesters, but some of the defenders will undoubtedly perish also.

The chaos will be unparalleled in US history. The voting process within the chambers may be disrupted or halted. But even if it isn’t the public will be appalled by the spectacle and driven to panic with the help of Fox News. The next few days will see the chaos spread across the country as the Proud Boys finally know that they don’t have to “stand down” any more. Then, when Trump declares Martial Law and suspends the election, Fox News and all the other Pro-Trump media will applaud his decisiveness. Few will connect the dots that show how Trump has orchestrated the whole thing.

If his plan works, Trump consolidates his power, and quickly takes complete control of the security apparatus, then brings the military along. America will never have another free election again.

American Freedom is in grave danger. Trump is a traitor to the Constitution, and the members of the GOP who grovel at his feet are not worthy of of the awesome responsibilities of their offices. Those Americans who love this country MUST stand up to the Dictator and his minions.

Trump belongs in Prison. All those who will choose support his attempted Coup must be stripped of their offices and permanently barred from ever holding political power again.