What Would Nellis Say?

Is There an Adult in the Room?

 

 

A barrage of recent headlines quote members of the vocal far-right white-nationalist base who support anti-Semitism, racism, demonization, intimidation, violence, and a slew of mass murders of Jews, people of color, and LGBTQ citizens. Combined with the former impeached and disgraced president’s desire to “terminate” the Constitution so he might reclaim the office he lost in a free and fair election, these outrages have garnered the typical Republican response…a party-wide yawn.

 

Not one elected Republican official has had the courage to denounce the endless stream of hate, lies, and bigotry that has become the only “platform of policies and principles” the party endorses.

 

Kevin McCarthy, who is under the delusion that he “deserves” the Speakership of the House of Representatives, keeps proving that he was born a man with no spine by groveling to right-wing extremists who hold the votes to support or deny him the gavel. 

 

He has offered no programs or legislation that might solve the problems our nation is facing. Rather, he endorses “revenge” investigations and defunding and dismantling government agencies including the FBI, the IRS, the EPA, Health and Human Services, and the CDC, to name a few. 

 

In a last desperate gambit to secure the necessary votes for his new office, he will be compelled to install the most radical members of the Freedom Caucus (which only supports freedom if you happen to be a heterosexual, evangelical, white-nationalist male) as chairmen of the most critical committees. 

 

All of those potential nominees have made no secret of their intention to rescind most of our rights and benefits (including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and support for Veterans) by holding up negotiations on the Debt Ceiling. They believe that by threatening to trash our status as the economic anchor in the world and dump the economy into recession, the American people will volunteer to give up vital programs that a vast majority of our citizens paid for and rely on.

 

Our nation depends on the balance of two parties competing, arguing, fighting, and ultimately compromising to solve our national problems. Unfortunately, we have two political coalitions…one that defends a democracy for all of our citizens and the other that proposes a future dominated by a tiny minority of white-supremacists whose only goal is the possession and defense of absolute power over everyone else.

 

The Republican Party has not proposed or passed any meaningful national legislation in more than a decade but instead has packed national and state legislatures with fanatics who advance laws to limit or extinguish voting rights for minorities, eliminate abortion without exception, defund public education by deflecting tax dollars to “evangelical” charter schools that value profits more than educating the next generation, and make guns available to any fool without requiring training or license.

 

Nearly half the voters in Georgia’s recent runoff for the Senate voted for an illiterate, immoral, and totally unqualified token-black candidate who is a resident of another state. He is famous for a stellar football career thirty years ago, that resulted in severe brain injuries, and producing lots of bastard children who he refused to raise or support. 

 

Those voters assumed that he would spend the next six years saying, “Yes, Sir?” to his white handlers, so the Republicans could hang on to power and block any legislation that might address the many challenges our republic is facing. Their support for a complete moron leaves little doubt that the goal was simply a desperate attempt to hang on to white-power and privilege.

 

In the post-mortem of Walker’s loss, Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind., who is retiring, is quoted as saying, “If there’s not a clear plan for what you’re for…we (The Republican Party) are basically for nothing and complain about it along the way.” Senator Richard Shelby, R-Ala., added, “This was no surprise.”

 

Meanwhile, since the last presidential election, the Democrats have passed a bi-partisan infrastructure bill (remember the countless “infrastructure” weeks during Trump’s reign?), lowering prescription drug prices, modest gun reform, the Covid-19 relief package – the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Act, the CHIPS Act to promote domestic production of semiconductors, a postal reform bill, substantial military aid to Ukraine (which the incoming Republican representatives want to cancel – this the party that touts patriotism and defending democracy?), re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, and pardons for federal marijuana convictions…to name a few.

 

In considering every elected Republican official in the country, I can’t name one that I would point my grandchildren to as a “great leader” or a “true defender of our democracy”. My generation grew up with many admirable trailblazers, whether Democrat or Republican, who represented the best in us by promoting the nation over their party affiliations. The same cannot be claimed today.

 

So, my question is…is there an “adult” anywhere in this Republican Party who has the guts to stand against the hypocrisy, lies, bigotry, and hate that are the only principles offered by their leaders? Is there anyone with the strength and determination to confront the dominant faction of hateful fanatics who hold the reigns of the party, before the zealots devour what’s left of its soul?

 

Or, is the entire caucus so terrified of their radical racist base that they cannot and will not defend the foundations of our democracy against the very real threat of American fascism?

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