Decorum, Anyone?
It is not easy to get gobsmacked by Republican politics these days. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, it gets even weirder. This past weekend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held its annual convention, whose sole purpose is to fawn over their fearless leader, the not particularly conservative or especially religious, Donald J. Trump. That he is neither conservative nor religious is of no concern to this conservative religious organization that is either blind to, or could not care less about its naked hypocrisy.
Jack Posobiec, the One America News Network alum, and current alt-right provocateur, started things off with this stunning version of saying the quiet thing out loud: “Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on January 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this right here,” he said, as he held up a cross. “After we burn that swamp to the ground, we will establish the new American republic on its ashes, and our first order of business will be righteous retribution for those who betrayed America.” (I know we’re all looking forward to righteous retribution.)
This aligns nicely with the Christian nationalist meme, “The next Civil War won’t be between the North and the South, but between Americans and Democrats.” That’s a loving sentiment. I’ve heard it recently from a so-called pastor who, when he isn’t lining his pockets with his parishioners’ money (he demands a 10% tithe of not just income, but assets too), also preaches the “Prosperity Gospel” that relies on rich men passing a camel through the eye of a needle. In person, this guy is nothing but sunshine and love, but online he spews hate like an open hydrant. He claims to be a “bible-literalist,” just like the Speaker of the House, and has it in for the LGBTQ+ community, democracy, Jews, and potentially pickleball (it’s so noisy).
It’s important to note here once again that “Christian nationalism” has as much to do with Christianity as submarines have to do with NASCAR. It’s never been about religion. It’s always been about power.
But I digress, back to CPAC for a minute: that charming opening act calling for the death of American democracy was followed by a really entertaining grudge match between Christie Noem, the governor of South Dakota, and the formerly sane Elise Stefanik, the number three House Republican. It’s funny what a whiff of power does to the mind. These two are trying to out-outrage each other in what could be the next big reality TV show, “Who Wants to be The Donald’s Running Mate?” I say why stop with them? Why not open the competition to all comers? Wouldn’t it be fun to watch current veep front runner Tim Scott take both those ladies on in a cage match, all for The Donald’s entertainment? I’ll bet you’d fill an entire season if you held an open casting call. The ratings wouldn’t just be bigly, they’d be yuge.
And on the subject of His Highness (we might as well get used to that appellation), we’re going to have to find a new word for “unseemly,” as that just doesn’t cut it anymore. “Unseemly” feels too polite; it relates to social faux pas, not out-and-out grifting. Fat cats lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills is unseemly. Donald Trump hawking his new bobble head, “The Trumpinator,” is whatever comes after “unseemly.” Yes, they did glue Trump’s head onto Arnold’s body. At $29.95 it’s priced competitively with the Trump Mugshot Bobblehead. I’m collecting the whole set.
I guess the bobbleheads are companion pieces to the $400 Trump gold lamé high-tops. Highly collectible, you could put them on a living room shelf with your pet rocks. Our transactional ex-president would sell his mother by the pound…or at least his niece, Mary.
As we watch the Grand Old Party descend into this antidemocratic mire, we are forced to wonder what happened to the intellectual offspring of Abraham Lincoln, Barry Goldwater, and William F. Buckley. Of course things change, but the conservative party that honored social justice by ending slavery, lauded our military, loved small government, and proudly beat back communism as fierce Cold Warriors, is nowhere to be found. Isolationism was part of their mix prior to WWII, but leading the world for the next 70+ turned out to be a really good fit. But today, the isolationist strain is back as they again look inward.
The fight in those days was capitalism versus communism. It had us looking outward, and Republicans manned the ramparts. Today, the fight looks inward as Republicans mount culture war after culture war, convinced the new struggle is between the woke and the anti-woke.
©2024 Jon Sinton