The Trump wing of the Republican Party (and by “wing” I mean three-quarters of the bird) has continued its post-election vengeance tour apace, stopping recently at the Republican National Committee (RNC) to pummel two of the party’s far right congresspeopleDonald Trump’s insufficient loyalty. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney of Wyoming have been dealing for some time with this Trumpian agita. But, the RNC forced it into a whole new gear.
“Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel saidIn a statement condemning the recalcitrant duo. “They chose to join Nancy Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol.”
…and all manner of cats came blasting from the bag. That 1/6 horror show, the one that killed five people, is “legitimate political discourse?” Starting now, or is this retroactive back to, say, Appomattox? The RNC issued a non-reversing reversal — “We didn’t mean the violent protesters!” — while no lesser light than Minority Leader Mitch McConnell came down with both feet on the idea that the attack on the Capitol was anything other than “a violent insurrection.”
So it came to pass that the violence at the heart of Trump’s crusade has finally split the party most visibly in two. The most powerful Republican congressman, and the most powerful Republican, are, respectively. at each other’s throatsWhile the partisans on each side assemble to denounce the other. The ultimate irony of the Republican Party splitting, and not just in a momentary pique or cosmetically, will be McConnell and his ilk being primarily responsible for creating, caring for and feeding the violently racist horde that he has gated.
Faced with this context, I can’t help but be surprised to hear those I keep company with describe the Republican Party as “anti-American.” “Really?” I ask myself. “Since when, exactly?” Because while some immigration activists and many others within the big tent of the left have valiantly sought to stake a claim to the word “American” and give it a positive meaning rooted in democracy and inclusion, the cynic in me always returns to the fundamentally violent and racist roots of the United States, which was formed through a crucible of genocide and slaveryby white supremacists who believed God had placed them there to plunder, conquer and destroy. The butchery was still highly lucrative and attractive even without the God part.
At its peak, slavery was this continent’s first billion-dollar industry, containing the original nucleotides of American-style capitalism, right down to the concept of a thoroughly fungible, eternally replaceable and therefore cost-efficient workforce. This peerless crime — still bereft of justice save for the easy cracking of statues — is the banner to which the modern Republican Party has flocked to.
The party has adopted brazen racism, and its right-wing militant banner carrier-carriers have done so with a level of gusto that is unmatched since. George Wallace stood before the Alabama State House bleating about, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!” It is no accident that the scaled heart of the party burns brightest in the presence of its father/kinga cartoon character who is egotistical and would gladly torch half of the country if it received positive coverage Fox News.
People want to know what Donald Trump was up to while his minions occupied the Capitol, attempting to murder his vice-president. I can only imagine that he was laughing. He was laughing from the inside out, as well as the outside. January 6, 2021 was his best day.
Simultaneously, in 20 years the Republicans have never missed a chance — by way of war, legislation or both — to loot the Treasury and enrich their wealthy friends. Trump pulled it off in December 2017 to the tune of nearly $2 trillion. Speaking of history, some of the people who get a slice of that Treasury pie go on to fund increasingly violent right-wing groups and their protests, which like Trump’s rallies serve to make “the movement” seem larger and more menacing than it actually is.
This is the Ottawa truck strike. It was originally intended to focus on vaccine mandates. But it has become a boiling pot of conspiracy theorists from all corners of the galaxy. This truck protest is supposed to look organic. sui generis and therefore troubling to the status quo… except for the fact of the millions of dollars flowing into the protest across Canada’s southern border. You can expect similar protests to begin popping up on the other side of these lakes very soon. I strongly suspect and fear that Ottawa was a test bed for a new level right-wing hostility. Cops do fine against unarmed protesters. Do you have to face a wall made of snarling Macks, Peterbilts, and other snarling people? I mean, assuming they don’t agree with the ones behind the wheel.
These are some boxes to check. Racist? Yes. Violent? Yes. Organized? Yes. Yes. Yes. Shock troops (i.e. Are shock troops (i.e., similar to KKK cells spreading nationally)? Yes.
Anti-American?
Well… one may sugarcoat history until the cake collapses on itself. This country was built in violence. The fact that a second amendment exists at all speaks volumes about the passion with which some feel they have the right to kill as they wish. Violence is and has always been the “American” way, a truth that has inspired millions of others to oppose it and its racist peddlers at all available turns.
It’s all out there now; a majority of Republicans aren’t interested in even pretending to be anything other than exactly what they are. The racism, mob mentality, and denial of barefaced fact: Since 1964, when the North & South exchanged political parties over basic human worth and dignity, the Republican Party has been actively feeding this beast. The party’s final ownership could be decided by a reckoning for all the years spent fanning hateful flames to keep its base engaged.
And that’s the best part of all: This is Mitch’s Republican Party as much as it is Trump’s. They believe in racism, violence, plunder, fear, and in the end they are the same thing. That is as American as a Freightliner 18-wheeler gleaming in the conquered desert sunlight. Call them “anti-American” if you need the sugar, but the taste of it won’t change.
