Republicans Dealt it Because They Smelt It
I don’t know about all of you, but I can barely type this sentence given that I am struggling to keep my head above this drowning red wave from the 2022 election. Suddenly, I know how Detroit Lions fans feel each season as they wait in anticipation for a victory that never comes. Republicans may have been counting on a disappointing economy, flagging inflation, and the historic patterns of mid-term elections to gain wide-sweeping control of the legislative branch, but the American public sent them a strong rebuke instead. While Republicans will take over in the House of Representatives, they failed to secure the majority in the Senate, and their margin in the House was drastically smaller than most Republicans anticipated. Turns out Americans still believe in Democracy and want to keep it around awhile longer, especially in the face of a would-be dictator with ketchup streaking down his wall. Oh and that whole “tell women what to do with their bodies” thing- yeah, in retrospect, that might not have been such a hot idea, given that women make up a majority of American voters. But what Americans voiced even more resoundingly was their deafening refutation of the orange-skinned buffoon, sending a clear message that they want nothing more to do with this human dumspter fire. But try as they might to distance themselves from the dump that is Trump, Republicans are now wedded to the crap with a yap.
In the worst-kept secret since the notion that wrestling is indeed fake, Trump waited just one week after the mid-term elections to announce his candidacy for the 2024 Presidential Race. Turns out, however, that many in his own party may no longer be on board. Right after the election, the New York Post, a formerly reliable Trump bootlicker, ran a humiliating cover labeling him as “Trumpty Dumpty” followed by the tag line, “Don (who couldn’t build a wall) had a great fall – can all the GOP’s men put the party back together again?”. Even Fox News has started to send signals that it would like to start seeing other people, and when even these sycophants stop puckering, you know that no one is left to kiss your pretty, little ass. Republican leadership sees the writing on the wall, and they know it’s not good for the GOP. While some more mainstream, not bat-shit-crazy conservatives secured victories, Trump-endorsed candidates like Mehmet Oz got bitch-slapped all the way back to New Jersey. Shoot, even Kari Lake had to gain some dignity and acknowledge her defeat because even in right-leaning states and districts like Arizona, voters made it clear that MAGA-induced vitriol and wild-spewing conspiracy theories may get you the win in the primary, but it has no chance of success in the general election. And that, my friends, has Republicans backtracking faster than an Olympic cyclist as they now try to distance themselves from the turd they took on America’s doorstep. But we all know that whoever smelt it, dealt it, and this one stinks to high heaven.
Oh, Republicans can say all they want now, about how they were never part of the MAGA cult and how they had always tried to extricate their party from this hostile takeover, but all these assholes are just as complicit as he is in the moral bankrupting of American democracy and must continue to be held accountable for their choices, lest they try to do it all over again. They saw what happened on January 6th, and despite having control of the Senate, they failed to convict Trump during his subsequent impeachment trial. Of the 50 Republican Senators who had the opportunity to join Democrats in holding this Coup with a Doo accountable, only 7 voted to convict, and of those only 2 were up for re-election just a few weeks ago. Fox News and many amongst the Republican leadership have continued to tout these farcical election theories even well after witnessing the consequences on January 6th, as American democracy itself was pushed to the very brink of existence. At every deplorable step of the Trump presidency, from lying to the American public about the dangers of Covid to having protestors forcibly removed so that he could have a photo op to firing the FBI director who was investigating him, these toadies failed to condemn any of his heinous acts and as such only emboldened the would-be autocrat. The Republican Party has shown itself to be the enablers of a wannabe dictator, putting party before country, and as such, cannot be granted the reins until they somehow regain the integrity to know which of those values to put first.
To be honest, I was pooping my knickers going into the 2022 midterms. I was deeply concerned that Americans too would get their priorities mixed, putting economic woes front and center over the potential dismantling of American democracy. But the voters renewed some of my faith in their perspective and sent a clear message to the Republican Party that they would not stand for this type of malfeasance. But now that Republicans are poised to reverse course, we must not allow them to do so without repercussions. Until Republicans are poised to roll back the anti-voting legislation they have passed over the past two years, all in an attempt to enact Coup Part Deux, and join their colleagues on the January 6th Committee in denouncing the anti-American acts undertaken by Trump, Fox News and others in disseminating false information about election integrity, these two-timers simply cannot be trusted. A mea culpa apology doesn’t mean much when it is only done to evade accountability for your transgressions. Americans would do well to remember that when Trump comes up for election in 2024.
Steven Craig is the author of the best-selling novel WAITING FOR TODAY, as well as numerous published poems, short stories, and dramatic works. Read his blog TRUTH: In 1000 Words or Less every THURSDAY at www.waitingfortoday.com
