Four Years a Slave (And Counting)
Just over four years ago, this was a meme.
It was a meme of a defeated Ted Cruz, completely capitulating to Donald Trump by making phone calls on his behalf. Despite a heated primary where Trump emasculated him multiple times by insulting his wife and offering an outrageous conspiracy theory regarding his father, Cruz ultimately wound up supporting the GOP nominee, selling his soul and his conscience in the process. Trump never did apologize for belittling Cruz, but why should he? It was his brash, arrogant campaign rhetoric that GOP primary voters fell in love with and it helped create the aura that this wasn't your typical politician, but instead was someone who "told it as it is." Trump's vulgar debate performances and his penchant for mocking his fellow primary candidates only helped bolster his made-for-television persona that Trump had accrued over the years. At the end of the day, it was the authoritarian streak in Trump that Republican voters found most convincing over any other part of his presidential campaign.
Yet as emasculating as this was for Rafael Eduardo Cruz at the time, it was ultimately a calculated political move. Cruz was banking on the fact that the swallowing of his pride would be praised in GOP circles and would keep him in Trump's good graces. Over the next four years, Cruz would become a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, going so far as offering to argue the Pennsylvania election case before the Supreme Court in December of 2020. This past week, we saw Cruz huddle with Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee to provide counsel for the Trump defense team in what can only be called the Senate Sedition Caucus. Even with Donald Trump becoming a private citizen and the leadership of the Republican Party up for grabs, Ted Cruz still felt compelled to let the world know that he was still soundly in Trump's corner. It was a message that we all heard loud and clear.
And it was a message that reverberated throughout the political world.
Because Ted Cruz is not unique. Sure, he's one of the most visible Trump sycophants, but he is by no means the only one. Fellow belittled primary opponent Marco Rubio is also all-in on the Trump agenda. So too is Lindsey Graham, who with the death of John McCain has shown himself to be the ultimate GOP political parasite, latching onto whoever happens to be in power at the time. This past week we also learned that Trump conveniently ignored House Minority Leader Kevin "Steve" McCarthy's pleas for help during the January 6th insurrection only to have McCarthy bend the knee at Mar-a-Lago three weeks later. Yet, as bad as all that was perhaps nothing was worse than Vice-President Mike Pence idolizing Trump for four years only to have Trump's mob unleashed upon him, skating by with his life being spared by mere minutes, if not seconds. For every loyal act Mike Pence committed in the name of Donald Trump, the only thing Trump ultimately cared about was his refusal to reject his constitutional duty to help keep Trump in power. Mike Pence sold his soul and didn't even get a lousy t-shirt on his way out the door.
Yet, these are just the GOP headliners. This list doesn't include the other 39 seditious Senators or the other 196 corrupt Congressmen and women who lacked the spine to convict Donald Trump. How much of the kool-aid do you have to consume to completely absolve the man whose actions put your life in danger? This was the political equivalent of not convicting a serial killer because he didn't actually succeed in killing you and your family. Ninety-three percent of the Republican Party saw its figurehead unleash an unruly mob that would have kidnapped or killed all of them and at the end of the day voted that the man who instigated this act should not face any consequences for his actions. The world's greatest democracy saw 240 of its members witness firsthand an attempted insurrection against themselves and still let the perpetrator off scot-free. It was unequivocally the greatest dereliction of duty by any major political party in our nation's history.
But this is exactly what the Republican Party has become. They are the Party of Trump. Republicans sold their souls for 4 years of tax breaks and judges. They're full of Mitch McConnells who will provide scathing indictments of Trump mere moments after publicly voting not guilty. Ninety-three percent of them nearly died for Donald Trump and would gladly do so again if it meant illegally installing him for another 4 years. That's not political conviction; that's a political cult. A cult with a figurehead who left office with the worst jobs record in modern history, a historic rise in the national debt, and the worst average presidential approval rating since polling began. A figurehead whose foreign policy empowered Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia to undermine our national security. A figurehead who caged children, abandoned Puerto Rico, and whose border wall did nothing to fix our broken immigration system. And a figurehead who completely botched the response to a global pandemic, leading to the death of 400,000 Americans under his watch.
This is no longer your parents' GOP. Hell, it isn't even John McCain's GOP. Donald Trump is the culmination of the southern strategy and 93% of his party is firmly on board. Last week's impeachment vote showed that the GOP is pot committed to the conman from Queens for the foreseeable future. And that's their choice. But we, the voters, have to hold them accountable for making that choice. A choice that last week showed that this party no longer believes that blue lives matter. That this party no longer is the party of personal responsibility. That this party no longer is the party of law and order. That this party no longer believes in scandal-free government. This current iteration of the Grand Old Party is one that is beholden to a Supreme Leader who is above the law. Once upon a time, Republicans stood up to a corrupt and immoral president in Richard M. Nixon and convinced him to step down. Forty-five years later, Republicans cowered to a corrupt and immoral former president in Donald J. Trump because they need his voters. All because they're too spineless to let go.
And all because they're too afraid of the monster they've willingly placated over the past four years.
It was a meme of a defeated Ted Cruz, completely capitulating to Donald Trump by making phone calls on his behalf. Despite a heated primary where Trump emasculated him multiple times by insulting his wife and offering an outrageous conspiracy theory regarding his father, Cruz ultimately wound up supporting the GOP nominee, selling his soul and his conscience in the process. Trump never did apologize for belittling Cruz, but why should he? It was his brash, arrogant campaign rhetoric that GOP primary voters fell in love with and it helped create the aura that this wasn't your typical politician, but instead was someone who "told it as it is." Trump's vulgar debate performances and his penchant for mocking his fellow primary candidates only helped bolster his made-for-television persona that Trump had accrued over the years. At the end of the day, it was the authoritarian streak in Trump that Republican voters found most convincing over any other part of his presidential campaign.
Yet as emasculating as this was for Rafael Eduardo Cruz at the time, it was ultimately a calculated political move. Cruz was banking on the fact that the swallowing of his pride would be praised in GOP circles and would keep him in Trump's good graces. Over the next four years, Cruz would become a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, going so far as offering to argue the Pennsylvania election case before the Supreme Court in December of 2020. This past week, we saw Cruz huddle with Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee to provide counsel for the Trump defense team in what can only be called the Senate Sedition Caucus. Even with Donald Trump becoming a private citizen and the leadership of the Republican Party up for grabs, Ted Cruz still felt compelled to let the world know that he was still soundly in Trump's corner. It was a message that we all heard loud and clear.
And it was a message that reverberated throughout the political world.
Because Ted Cruz is not unique. Sure, he's one of the most visible Trump sycophants, but he is by no means the only one. Fellow belittled primary opponent Marco Rubio is also all-in on the Trump agenda. So too is Lindsey Graham, who with the death of John McCain has shown himself to be the ultimate GOP political parasite, latching onto whoever happens to be in power at the time. This past week we also learned that Trump conveniently ignored House Minority Leader Kevin "Steve" McCarthy's pleas for help during the January 6th insurrection only to have McCarthy bend the knee at Mar-a-Lago three weeks later. Yet, as bad as all that was perhaps nothing was worse than Vice-President Mike Pence idolizing Trump for four years only to have Trump's mob unleashed upon him, skating by with his life being spared by mere minutes, if not seconds. For every loyal act Mike Pence committed in the name of Donald Trump, the only thing Trump ultimately cared about was his refusal to reject his constitutional duty to help keep Trump in power. Mike Pence sold his soul and didn't even get a lousy t-shirt on his way out the door.
Yet, these are just the GOP headliners. This list doesn't include the other 39 seditious Senators or the other 196 corrupt Congressmen and women who lacked the spine to convict Donald Trump. How much of the kool-aid do you have to consume to completely absolve the man whose actions put your life in danger? This was the political equivalent of not convicting a serial killer because he didn't actually succeed in killing you and your family. Ninety-three percent of the Republican Party saw its figurehead unleash an unruly mob that would have kidnapped or killed all of them and at the end of the day voted that the man who instigated this act should not face any consequences for his actions. The world's greatest democracy saw 240 of its members witness firsthand an attempted insurrection against themselves and still let the perpetrator off scot-free. It was unequivocally the greatest dereliction of duty by any major political party in our nation's history.
But this is exactly what the Republican Party has become. They are the Party of Trump. Republicans sold their souls for 4 years of tax breaks and judges. They're full of Mitch McConnells who will provide scathing indictments of Trump mere moments after publicly voting not guilty. Ninety-three percent of them nearly died for Donald Trump and would gladly do so again if it meant illegally installing him for another 4 years. That's not political conviction; that's a political cult. A cult with a figurehead who left office with the worst jobs record in modern history, a historic rise in the national debt, and the worst average presidential approval rating since polling began. A figurehead whose foreign policy empowered Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia to undermine our national security. A figurehead who caged children, abandoned Puerto Rico, and whose border wall did nothing to fix our broken immigration system. And a figurehead who completely botched the response to a global pandemic, leading to the death of 400,000 Americans under his watch.
This is no longer your parents' GOP. Hell, it isn't even John McCain's GOP. Donald Trump is the culmination of the southern strategy and 93% of his party is firmly on board. Last week's impeachment vote showed that the GOP is pot committed to the conman from Queens for the foreseeable future. And that's their choice. But we, the voters, have to hold them accountable for making that choice. A choice that last week showed that this party no longer believes that blue lives matter. That this party no longer is the party of personal responsibility. That this party no longer is the party of law and order. That this party no longer believes in scandal-free government. This current iteration of the Grand Old Party is one that is beholden to a Supreme Leader who is above the law. Once upon a time, Republicans stood up to a corrupt and immoral president in Richard M. Nixon and convinced him to step down. Forty-five years later, Republicans cowered to a corrupt and immoral former president in Donald J. Trump because they need his voters. All because they're too spineless to let go.
And all because they're too afraid of the monster they've willingly placated over the past four years.