For the last couple of decades, I’ve had a lot to say, most of it not flattering, about the GOP, certain Republicans, and eventually, their voters and Trump. I’ve expressed concern and worry, and yes, anger, over racism, misogyny, homophobia, isolationism, anti-Semitism, White nationalism, and the anti-democratic processes and gamesmanship that the GOP repeatedly employed to exert an increasingly authoritarian, minority rule.
Over the last few years, I noted that all those things paved a road—a direct line from the Reagan era’s embrace of the “moral majority” and dog whistle racism, to less subtle Tea Party bigotry, and ultimately, to Trump. If the Reagan era’s point was to use those means to revitalize the Republican party— after the losses they had when the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts were signed, and the corruption of Nixon—the ensuing years, despite shifting national demographics, resulted in stagnation. Instead of increasing their base, and truly becoming the big tent party they claimed to be, the GOP instead doubled down on racist policies, on anti-immigrant sentiment, on Evangelical moralism, and on a brand of social conservatism, that was increasingly at odds with the beliefs of the majority of the nation, and the rights of many. Hell, even some in the GOP recognized a few elements of this in their own 2012 post-election “autopsy.”1 Back then, I despaired of those I cared about, who were trying so hard to cling to what they believed, in spite of changing winds, that they grew complacent within their party.
Until, finally, we reached this point in our history. This point, where a president who openly campaigned on racism, nativism, ableism, and divisiveness—and whose populism and personal life, were often in direct contravention of supposed conservative values—was elected by people, many of whom then felt emboldened to be openly racist, bigoted, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, and cruel, but who clutched their pearls and cried that they were being persecuted and silenced, when confronted about that ugliness. Trump, and this iteration of the GOP, was an inevitable result of what the Republican Party had embraced for years— condensed, refined, distilled, and with the ugly parts being said out loud. And those ugly parts? They became a feature, not a bug.
And through all of this, I was condescended to.
In my twenties I was told I was simply expressing the passion of youth, that I’d “grow up” eventually. In later years, that I was being unfair and “mean” to people with different opinions. I was told I was being hysterical, and called “Chicken Little.” I’ve been admonished for making any comparisons to Nazi Germany—because, apparently, unless something reaches genocidal levels, it cannot ever compare—which, of course, entirely negates the years of anti-Semitism, Nazi governance, and laws, that preceded and enabled the ghettos, the camps, and the Final Solution. Even well meaning, generally like minded people, told me “that can’t happen here.” My parents would tell me over dinner that friends of theirs asked why was I so angry (to which my response was always, “why aren’t they?) I’ve been told by some to spend my time more productively, or that I should relax. I’ve been yelled at, and told off, for offending people who, “just see things differently” from me. I’ve been told I need to “understand the other side,” and been treated to ridiculous moral equivalencies, and flaccid whataboutisms. For the last four years, this condescension has been exponential.
I kept warning that Trump and his enablers have been attacking our democracy and our elections—the cornerstone of our democracy—with a congressional GOP that was complicit in dismantling our constitutional guardrails, aided by silent co-conspirators in the White House that anonymously told the press they were some kind of buffer against Trump’s worst excesses, while silently, cravenly, permitting those excesses to continue. I specifically noted the fascistic and authoritarian maneuvers, and verbiage. I begged people to please stop making excuses for Trump’s incitement to violence, and his weak, obviously forced walk backs and platitudes against bigotry and White supremacy, such as the events surrounding Charlottesville. I tried to reason with people about the propaganda that Trump and his administration were spewing, which was spread by outlets like Fox News and their mouthpieces—Hannity, Carlson, Dobbs, Pirro, and Ingraham—and enabled—either by amplification, or failure to criticize—by nearly the entire GOP. To say that my exhortations fell on deaf ears among those who supported Trump, would be an understatement. Even among some of those who never supported Trump, or the GOP, there was a sense of complacency, that somehow, some way, there would be a peaceful transfer of power, despite all evidence to the contrary, and these four years of direct assaults on the guardrails and norms of our democracy.
Watching the events that unfolded today didn’t make me sad. I didn’t shake my head in shock, or surprise. Instead, I’ve spent the day shaking with incandescent rage, because to anyone paying attention today’s events were absolutely not a surprise, and this was entirely predictable. No, I didn’t foresee these specific events, on this specific day, but Trump and the GOP have been fomenting this violence for years now—whether intentionally, or by cynically fanning the flames for their own agendas—and anyone paying attention saw it coming.
This isn’t an “I told you so.” Or, I suppose, not entirely an “I told you so.” Rather, this is me being fucking furious at your condescension, and your willful denials. I’m livid at the intentional obtuseness, refusal to speak out or criticize any part of what’s been happening, and the general disregard, the sheer lack of empathy, for the damage being done to anyone who wasn’t you. I am over your fence sitting, your non-voting, your third party throwaway votes, and your pathetic bleats over being forced to pick the lesser of two evils. You were never asked to do that. You were asked to choose the greater good. You were asked to stand up for those who needed a voice. You were asked, at the very least, to stop the bleeding.
And you failed. Miserably.
This is NOT an invitation to debate me, or whatabout me, or “not all Republicans” me. I’m not here for your racist “but Obama’s”, or your intellectually dishonest claims that Democrats hate Israel, or “but Antifa” bullshit, or your privileged panic over BLM. I am quite aware of the issues within my own party. I have criticized members, and disagreed with policies both during the Clinton era, and Obama era. So, if after all this, you feel compelled to “whatabout” me and in any way wish to remain a friend? I highly advise that you don’t.
Perhaps in a few days, a few weeks, or months, I’ll have a better handle on what I might want to hear or discuss. Perhaps, when I see this collective insanity subside, and see people acknowledge that they were wrong, that they were mistaken in their support, or that they were admittedly foolish for believing any of it. Perhaps, if I see even a glimmer of the soul searching we were asked to do after the 2016 election, a tiny measure of accountability, and humility, I’ll be able to calmly discuss these matters with someone else’s perspective.
Perhaps.
But not today.
Musings of a Restless Mind 