Let the record show that on Tuesday Jan 26th, 2021 the “Grand Old Party” officially ceased to be when 45 of 50 Republican Senators chose to stand with an autocrat instead of government by the people. Instead of defending the Constitution they chose to cower in fear and watch it go up in smoke. The new nickname for the Republicans should be the Grand Tyranny Party.
This painful death march has been happening for decades now. The final gasp came when Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced a motion in the Senate to declare Trump’s second impeachment “unconstitutional” and all but five Republicans voted “yes”. By doing so, they declared that protecting party power is far more important to them than preserving the rule of law.
This particular vote is more cowardly than when they actually acquit Trump again. This was a strategic move by the Republicans to avoid having to take a stance on democracy vs. authoritarian rule. Republicans argue since Trump is no longer in office, it is not the Senate’s place to act. Of course, the Senate could have – and should have – taken action while he was still in office. The House was ready to impeach days after the Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol, but then majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to allow it to come to the floor until Trump’s term ended. McConnell’s stall tactic created a trap door for his party to escape accountability for the coup attempt. Instead of standing up to the monster they created, they can tuck their tails between their legs and say it is not their job. This was McConnell’s parting gift to his party, and a way to keep the promise he made to campaign donors in 2019 that he would personally make sure Trump would not be impeached.
Republican motives are perfectly clear. They are afraid of Trump. They are afraid of his supporters. Republicans are trying to walk a razor thin line. A police officer was murdered by Trump’s supporters, yet they refuse to attack Trump’s lawlessness because Trump courts law-and-order conservatives. They do not want to appear weak on terrorism, but they don’t want to offend the domestic terrorists that support Trump. Yet this is exactly how terrorism works: creating an environment of fear that causes inaction. The Republican party has surrendered. Trump has threatened to start his own party and take the insurrectionists with him. The Republicans prefer to relinquish their party to the terrorists rather than risk losing power.
Make no mistake, Republicans know Trump is a criminal and a traitor. None of them honestly believes that Trump won a fair election in 2020. The modern Republican party doesn’t believe in fair elections. Ever since they were able to use the courts to back-door George W. Bush into office in 2000, they stay on the lookout for loopholes. This is the dilemma that Trump has created. The party prefers to operate in the shadows, keeping its voter suppression subtle, like passing voter ID laws and closing polling places. Trump operates in broad daylight, openly attacking our laws and our system of government. He has painted his Republican enablers into a corner where they must choose: Blatantly engage in the destruction of democracy with him or stand up for our Constitution as they swore an oath to do. Senator Paul’s motion to dismiss was a last-ditch effort for the party to remain in darkness, to continue to aid in the dismantling of America without actually admitting to it.
Of course, the ploy will still be partially successful. Once the impeachment trial starts in earnest, each Republican Senator will stick to the shady logic that the Senate has “no grounds” since Trump is no longer President. They will try to wash their hands of the situation. But when the votes are cast, they will have to go on record as saying Trump is either “guilty” or “not guilty” of sedition. They will be forced to say, in no uncertain terms, that they believe it is acceptable for the loser of an election to try and violently overthrow the government. Afterward, they will retreat to their defense that Trump is a public citizen and not their jurisdiction, as the mudslide of corruption buries the GOP once and for all. And in 2024, when Trump is back on the ticket, the transformation of The Party of Lincoln into a totalitarian oligarchy will be complete.
The GOP thought they were the ones playing Donald Trump as a patsy. They thought they could use him to push their corrupt agenda and then let him take the fall. But he has turned the table on them and now they must do his bidding or risk dividing the party. They could go against Trump and rebuild the Republican party. They could return their original value system and be honest with voters again. They will not do this because they are cowards. It is easier to lie down with dogs and scratch the fleas. Taking a bath is too much work. My great hope is that rest of us are strong enough to fight this tide of tyranny and that the cement shoes of the Grand Old Party don’t pull us all down.
3am Cynic 