GOP misses yet another off ramp to ditch MAGA, speeds towards disaster.

The right wing embrace of totalitarian autocracy has created in opposition the largest political coalition our democracy has ever seen.

One year away from the next Presidential election and by now, anyone paying attention to politics has heard that Donald Trump not only quoted Adolph Hitler, he also adopted the NAZI political strategy of promising to rid the country of political enemies and outsiders who are in their words, “vermin.” Mr. Trump promised to open concentration camps to make his so-called purification of the nation more efficient.

What are we supposed to make of this disgusting, dangerous, and deeply un-American promise?

The answer should be simple. The press should report it. Everyone should condemn it. That should be it. But we aren’t that country anymore. So, let me first ask, what should Republicans make of this kind of talk?

Well, if they do not want forever to be known as the Party that fought to end the American democracy and the protections generations of heroes died to preserve, then they should take these terrible comments as yet another off ramp available to them. They failed to take the opportunity to walk away from this stuff after January 6th when they had the chance. They failed again when Trump was indicted for stealing and misusing national secrets. They failed a third time when he was indicted for conspiracy to overturn the election. Now Trump’s going forward promises are so appalling that GOP Senators and Governors, House members and state legislators across the country have another chance to denounce Mr. Trump’s plans and support someone else as their nominee.

A few Republicans have done this. They launched No-Labels, which pretends to be non-partisan but is in fact an effort to create a new right of center alternative to today’s GOP. They’ve attracted a lot of former Republican money and talent. It would help if they were honest about their goal. The effort to play pox on both your houses is not honest- but, well, you have to expect these new Republicans will inherit some of the DNA from their defunct parent.

Most Republicans, radicalized as they are, will stick with the Party through well into its fascist incarnation. Let’s be entirely clear what that means.

Trump’s planning a dictatorship

Mr. Trump’s promised concentration camps, his vow to politicize the bureaucracy to carry out his will, his pledge to use law enforcement as a tool to punish his political enemies is a promised dictatorship. The GOP has been preparing for this moment. Look at Ohio. There, voters won a huge victory last month by overwhelming passing a referendum that enshrines abortion protections in the Ohio Constitution. In Ohio, voters have the right to petition and to vote on constitutional amendments. Now, however, the radically gerrymandered legislature says they will strip the courts from any ability to enforce the state Constitution, rendering themselves above any law- including their constitution. In Wisconsin, that radically gerrymandered legislature attempted to overturn the election of a Supreme Court judge because they fear how she might rule on their maps. Again, the rule of law as well as the will of voters, matters less to these folks than the power they hold. I could go on. The picture is dire- no rights but what the folks in power think it is in their best interests for you to have.

Already, the apparatchiks of this new regime are being identified. Mr. Trump is sourcing loyalists to fill his government and to provide the storm troopers he needs to round up millions into his camps. This is not fantasy- it is fact. Leonard Leo, the man who did more than anyone to corrupt the Supreme Court, is using a nearly $2 billion contribution to build out what he calls the TENEO network—basically the HR department for the coming tyranny.

To sum up the GOP, a few will form a new right of center party, but haven’t the guts to say so out loud. Most will follow Mr. Trump in his mad effort to regain power by destroying those of us who think he is unfit.

There’s an epic coalition forming to push back

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

That leaves the rest of us. How should we react to this moment? 

The very good news is that we are already on the march. The right wing embrace of totalitarian autocracy has created in opposition the largest political coalition our democracy has ever seen-

• people who care about women’s reproductive freedom,

• people who care about labor, people who care about civil rights,

• people who care about economic fairness,

• people who care about climate change,

• people who care about sensible gun laws,

• people who care about the freedom to read,

• people who care about LGBTQ rights,

• people who don’t like bullies,

• people who prefer truth to lies,

• people who used to be Republicans,

• people who do like to vote…

It’s a long list. Today’s GOP has made a lot of enemies, and our common cause has led to one electoral victory after the next. We will keep winning until the threat is gone.

Democrats keep delivering

Oh, and while we are at it, we are supporting some of the most effective, forward-looking governance we’ve seen in decades. The accomplishments, from the brilliant foreign policy to the major domestic accomplishments, is like nothing any young American has ever seen. And in states run by Democrats, rights are protected, economies are growing, and workers are better off.  No-one thinks we are close to done, because the damage we inherited was so deep, but we are showing that we can make life better for Americans and save our democracy at the same time.

Meanwhile, the GOP can’t confirm a military appointment, can’t pass a budget, can’t pass a continuing resolution, can’t govern, and can’t walk away from the poisonous cup they hope to fool the rest of into drinking with them.

One year to go. See you on the front lines.