Columnist Josh Barro changes his party registration from Republican to Democrat, and summarizes in Business Insider the status, and the danger, of the current GOP base from the inside:
The Republican Party had a fundamental vulnerability: Because of the fact-free environment so many of its voters live in, and because of the anti-Democrat hysteria that had been willfully whipped up by so many of its politicians, it was possible for the party to be taken over by a fascist promising revenge.
And because there are only two major parties in the United States, and either of the parties’ nominees can become president, such vulnerability in the Republican Party constitutes vulnerability in our democracy.
So long as GOP politicians such as Senator Inhofe (R – OK) think it’s OK to reject the claims of mainstream science on ideological or religious grounds, the base will not only follow right along, but even get on out ahead. The lesson they learn? If you don’t like it, reject it. Don’t figure out what happened, just pretend it didn’t happen – or someone’s conspiring.
Sound familiar?
In other words, the lack of leadership comes from those who prefer to pander to their base and to their backers, rather than embracing facts & truth – a key theme of this blog. We’re now seeing the backside of that failure as a black wave of denial rises up, of people who loathe current and forecasted realities and are now flocking to someone who might be the Great Denier – Mr. Trump. He who denies the polls, will deny the election results if they go against him – and will rail against shadowy forces moving against him, because personal failure is not an option, not a reality.
In a way, it’s playing out like a great work of fiction – those who’ve engaged in a base, immoral search for power or wealth are finding the monsters they’ve invoked are now threatening to eat them alive – unless they play long. Sure, it’s purple prose, but it’s also what it’s looking like to me.
I suppose if I were feeling particularly liverish I’d be muttering about worshiping the false idol of the free market …
