Former Milwaukee conservative talk-show host Charlie Sykes writes about the disaster enfolding the GOP in The New York Times:
For many listeners, nothing was worse than Hillary Clinton. Two decades of vilification had taken their toll: Listeners whom I knew to be decent, thoughtful individuals began forwarding stories with conspiracy theories about President Obama and Mrs. Clinton — that he was a secret Muslim, that she ran a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor. When I tried to point out that such stories were demonstrably false, they generally refused to accept evidence that came from outside their bubble. The echo chamber had morphed into a full-blown alternate reality silo of conspiracy theories, fake news and propaganda.
And this is where it became painful. Even among Republicans who had no illusions about Mr. Trump’s character or judgment, the demands of that tribal loyalty took precedence. To resist was an act of betrayal.
When it became clear that I was going to remain #NeverTrump, conservatives I had known and worked with for more than two decades organized boycotts of my show. One prominent G.O.P. activist sent out an email blast calling me a “Judas goat,” and calling for postelection retribution. As the summer turned to fall, I knew that I was losing listeners and said so publicly.
Note another conservative being run out of the GOP by the RINO-wielders, and an acknowledgement of the echo chamber effect. I fear the GOP base will actually have to touch a live wire, i.e., see their fantasies erupt into nightmares, before they’ll begin to question their knowledge-base – and then there’ll be even more uses of RINO, to purify the party. It’ll be interesting to see how long they can live in denial with Trump. Influence peddling has already started, and if the government swamp has been drained, the replacement water has a distinct oily sheen to it. How badly will the next four years hurt? Or will the next election cycle, in two years, already result in a change?
And when will we once again have a sane, valuable conservative party? At the moment, most of the elected officials seem to have sucked down the Kool-Aid.
