The Republican Party Is a Threat to Democracy.
Let me be clear. This is about the Republican Party, not about Trump.
During the campaign, Trump made clear who he is - a racist misogynist sexual predator, a crude vulgarian who embraced the anti-democratic behavior and bluster of a Third World Would-be Strongman. He incited violence among his supporters, was contemptuous of the First Amendment and of journalists, threatened to jail his opponent, and suggested that he might not accept the election results.
His scorn for the rights of individuals (sample, Jeff Zucker, Alec Baldwin), of companies (CNN, Boeing), and institutions, including our Intelligence Agenciesand the Presidency itself, has continued since Election Day. 3 instances come quickly to mind: his rejection of the CIA report which has concluded that the Russians interfered with our elections, his continued refusal to release his tax returns, and his refusal to make time for Intelligence Briefings.
More subtle and perhaps equally painful and unthinkable is the behavior of the Republican Party, even before Trump became its leader.
First, during the election cycle, again and again, it was the Republican Party which gave Trump legitimacy. They gave him a place in their debates and then on their ballot - thereby providing him with brand identification, which normalized him as a candidate for voters to consider.
Trump's astonishing rise was abetted by a Republican leadership which took a strange and illogical middle ground on his positions and behavior.
Yes, Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House, refused to stand on the same stage with Trump after the "Pussy" Tapes were aired, but then also said that he would continue to vote for him.
Yes, he's a racist, said Rubio. Yes, I am voting for him.
During the campaign, party loyalty and the lust to win guided party leadership more than the values of our Democracy. Republicans in power refused to denounce Trump definitively.
This continues. Democrats and some Republicans - McCain, Graham - have called for investigations into Russian attempts to influence the election. Republican Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell reluctantly did so. He asked only for a Congressional investigation, not a Special Committee. Party precludes patriotism, as does the lust for power.
The lust for power can make strange bedfellows, and our Democracy is more fragile than we knew.
Remember back to the Republican Convention itself, with its menacing militarism.
Lt. General Mike Flynn (since named Trump's proposed National Security Advisor) led Party "regulars," ordinary delegates: "Lock her up."
It was Republican delegates, not street rally Trump supporters, who threatened the Democratic candidate and made clear that their opponent was not a legitimate rival deserving of respect. There were no keepers of American Democracy in the Republican house, to define appropriate behavior toward a political opponent in our Democracy.
The normalization of Trump followed by the embrace of Trump started at the top but soon spread.
With no serious pushback from their leaders, in 2016 Republican Party voters sank to the lowest level, cheering for bigotry, laughing at sexual assault, and accepting a crude champion because he had a Republican imprimatur.
Now they are admirers of a former KGB Russian leader – a murder and despot, - never mind that he led cyber-warfare during an American Presidential election. A major poll in December found that 37 percent of Republicans view Putin favorably.
Patriotism be damned. The Republican Party chooses power.
Republicans view Putin favorably but only 17 percent of them view President Obama favorably. This is the result of the scorn and insults hurled on him not just by Trump but by the Republican leadership.
In our Democracy, the goal of a Party cannot be permanent control.
Do you remember Newt Gingrich and his self-defined "Revolution of 1994" when the Republicans won the midterm election? Party leadership leapt to their feet, proclaiming they had won themselves a "permanent majority."
"A permanent majority" is not a proper goal for a party in a democracy. Rivals must accept that their opponents will sometimes win elections and lead. Yet, this theme has been restated again and again by the Republican Party,during the midterms 2014 and now in 2016. In our Democracy, rivals of different parties with differing views must accept that their opponents are also loyal Americans, and that they have right to exist, to compete and to govern. The Republican Party has rejected these ideals.
The Republican Party quest for a permanent majority - a one Party Solution - has played out in many ways over the past two decades.
For the past 20 plus years – from the Republican Revolution of 1994 through the impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998 and on - we have had forewarning that the Republican Party was no longer a party willing to let the opposition govern.
By their Birther claims, Trump and his fellow Birthers rejected that President Obama was a legally elected and therefore legitimate President, with the right to govern. Republican leadership - Ryan, McConnell - were not Birthers themselves. But they shared the Birthers' belief that Obama did not have the legitimate right to govern.
President Obama was twice the choice of the American people, but Republican leadership, guided by Mitch McConnell, refused to work to find common ground with him. McConnell's famous remark in 2010 was this - "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." Why? Because they saw to replace the President's right to govern, granted to him by the voters and by the Constitution, with their own imperatives.
Republican Hyper-Partisanship led to a government shut down in 2013 and threats of the same for the next three years.
Now, most egregiously, by refusing to consider President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, the Republican controlled Senate has ignored the right given to The President by his office to fill a Supreme Court seat. This is an unprecedented level of obstruction. No opposition Party has ever denied a President the right of consideration for his Supreme Court nominee. Republican partisanship has been worsened over time.
The right of Americans to vote plays no part in Republican theory or practice. Republicans became the party of gerrymandering and voting rights suppression and obstruction. Not surprisingly, their challenges and their appointees to the Supreme Court even eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was one of the crowning achievements of bi-partisanship of the Twentieth Century.
There are 3 federal branches of American Democracy – the Executive, the Judicial, and the Congressional. When out of Executive and Judicial power, Republicans haven't hesitated to dishonor those branches in order to assert their own power.
They stop voters from voting and then stop those elected from governing.
And this attempt by the Republican Party to stop Democrats when elected from governing is not limited to the Senate.
Last week, in North Carolina, we watched this hyper-partisanship by the Republican Party play out again. In November, Roy Cooper, a Democrat, was elected Governor. Former Governor, Pat McCrory, lost the election, but refused to concede for a month. Once he did, the rest of the Republican legislature took over, stripping the Governor's office of power after power, in order to stop Cooper from being able to govern.
The legislators in North Carolina ignored the will of the people and rejected Democracy. They think only they and their ideas should prevail. They want there to be only one Party. They will not let the opposition govern.
The One Party Solution Party does not believe in American Democracy.
To those who believe in a One Party Solution, power is what matters. The Republican Party sadly has defined itself and like Trump, has shown us who they are. Republicans have scorched American Democracy to take power and now they don't even care who helps them or who they themselves are.
Trump is not an aberration for them. With his authoritarian views and goals, he is now the appropriate leader of the One Solution Party.
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December 21, 2016
Addendum One. Democrats are playing by the old game.
While rank and file Democrats were eager for a fight over the Election results, President Obama was fierce in his determination to hand over the reins of power. Democrats try to find common ground, none more than Hillary herself. They, on the other hand, lust for blood, to lock her up or even to kill her. Remember this. Their leader may try this yet. Be vigilant. Republicans would kill us all, even our Democracy.
Addendum Two. We wrongly thought Gingrich standing next to Trump in 2016 was a throw-back to the past, an act of desperation by an isolated candidate. No, Gingrich stood there as a victorious Party apologist and guide. He was claiming victory for the Republican One Party Solutiongoal. The circle was complete.
