Dan, my friend...you buried the lede. It's time to stop talking about political gamesmanship and strategy. That only helps people feel a little better when in fact we should be f*ing terrified. This is anti-democratic (small d) behavior, end stop. It may not work this time but it will the next if we lose the House majority. The GOP got a taste of it in 2000, Citizens United let big donors put big money behind it, Fox and Trump gave it a voice, 74 million Americans voted for it in 2020.
I am quite frankly terrified but your article gave me 2 big problems to focus on--- blatant political ambition and racial voter suppression. (I will note that sedition and civil war also creep into my nightmares) I also worry psychologically if sometimes the Republicans start to believe their own BS. I don't know if it's more comforting to think they are knowledgeable but evil when doing these things or else they have completely become zombies controlled by right wing media. They are both horrifying scenarios.
The most hopeful part of your piece was the thought that McConnell is furious. That somehow makes me happy.....
Here’s my guess: If it appears that Loeffler and/or Purdue won their runoffs, McConnell finds that he likes democracy and maintains his opposition to Hawley, Cruz and the rest of their band of mad (mostly) white (mostly) men. If it appears that both have lost, McConnell will suddenly become “very concerned” that Hawley, Cruz, et al might be on to something and could even rally the troops to back their effort. An aside - maybe Cruz jumped on the bandwagon but it has got to gall him that he is and will always be playing second fiddle to Hawley on this fool’s errand.
The republican party is ruining every fiction writer. We all thought this sort of thing was unrealistic: No one could be this callously selfish and indifferent to facts, right?
Hawley, Cruz and the others who want to run in 24 are obvious. Those who are clearly obsessed with staying on Trump’s good side for 22 (eg Lankford) are as well. The most depressing part of it is your point re the rest of them creating the circumstances for which this was the likely outcome.
Your point re the pretext for further suppression is the most urgent and actionable. Anyone who isn’t aware of the comparison with 76 - when a similarly manufactured crisis led to a century of black disenfranchisement- needs to read up on it. The best response must be to promote an enfranchisement agenda in opposition to theirs. Fair Votes for All. Accessible in person voting. Automatic registration. Where id is required - then free and accessible.
While Hawley's actions may well be accurately described as a stunt, I believe we should also call it what it seems to be at least from my perspective -- an act of sedition. I believe we are doing a disservice when we sugarcoat with euphemistic descriptions actions that 5 years ago would have been viewed as unthinkable and perhaps even traitorous.
One associated thought about the remnants of the GOP (what I now call the Trumpublican party) -- I'd be interested to hear from a Congressional historian whether there has ever been a more unlikable group of Senators in office at the same time -- McConnell, Graham, Paul, Ron Johnson, Hawley, Rubio, others in the group of 11 and the most unlikable of all (at least to me), Cruz (I'm sure there are others that I've missed)?
Painting them all with the same broad brush, yes! They are all enablers, if not active traitors.
But how do we reach the 70% of R's who believe some (if not all) of this BS? Studying Stalinism in graduate school, I knew that many Soviet citizens didn't actually believe the propaganda, but they were too afraid to go against it. In the U.S. we have a majority of Republicans actively supporting propaganda and believing disinformation of their own free will.
I think back to the fairness doctrine, and again smack my head thinking of the widespread Reagan worship in this country. Not to mention his coziness with the evangelicals and his enabling of the religious right. I digress. . .
If anyone can bring us together, it's President-Elect Joe Biden. He wasn't my first choice, but I worked for his election with everything I had because he's a good person and I want to save our country from the danger of disinformation and hyper-partisanship. But the longer these anti-democratic actions continue for the benefit of the 2024 wannabes, the more I see the damage as irreversible. Yes, Americans have incredibly short attention spans, and those could work to the advantage of our new administration.
We are also a newish country without the lessons of centuries of warfare as part of our DNA; tell me how we make it through this with some semblance of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all?
Excellent piece and well argued. May I suggest a “lens” or metaphor to add to your thinking? While I don’t doubt that many Republican elected officials are high on their own supply, the behavior that you describe reminds me strongly of Western political science studies of the Soviet Union and China under Mao (i am old). The surprising unity up and down the Republican Party is a practiced, proven and enforced “party line”. Local and regional officials in the Soviet Union and China knew that their political future depending on not getting out in front of the party (nor lag behind) because they knew from painful experience that the party line was subject to change without warning. I argue that as the deep Republican strategy is to work out and develop a theory of indefinite minority party rule (see Lawyers Guns & Money)they are becoming, out of necessity, a Leninist party. While the analogy works up to a point, I think the true model is the Democratic Party in the Deep South under Jim Crow. Although a regional party and a large minority of the Democratic Party nationally, the Deep South Senators and Congressman protected violent segregation successfully for generations. This generation of Republicans grew up as legal segregation was ending and de facto segregation was replacing it.
I've just listened to the hour-long call between Trump and Raffensperger. There really can be no doubt now that Trump genuinely believes he won the election (is not just a ruse to grift off the base). But the contents of the call cannot be news to republicans, and therefore they know full well the fire they're playing with. I can't decide if the republicans are genuinely siding with Trump, or just using him as their 'useful idiot' to inflame and entrench the base, after which the likes of Hawley et al think they can swoop in and 'get it right' next time. Dan, it strikes me that there's a dire need for the Democrats to engage in a sweeping public messaging program of reminding everyone what democracy actually is. Not just 'everyone gets to vote' (because that's not strictly true in the US variant of democracy), but the fundamental principles - free and fair elections, the rule of law, legitimacy of the opposition, and the integrity of rights. I can't recommend Mettler and Lieberman's recent book on the threats to democracy highly enough, as a great primer on the backsliding happening right now.
Damn. I just assumed that the reason this was happening was because there was a large section of the Trump cult that was under informed with IQ's below 100. (77 percent of Republicans believe there was widespread voter fraud in the November election.) But you say NO, these guys are trying to reverse a free and fair election for personal opportunities to gain power. And 2021 had so much potential.
These objections serving as an excuse to further voter suppression efforts definitely rings true to me. What's pathetic about this? The GOP definitely benefitted from higher turnout in some districts (Miami area, Southern California) and states (probably North Carolina, Maine, and even potentially for some of the statewide ballot propositions in California). Admittedly,the effect of higher turnout cannot be certain on a district level but a better party at the functional level would see higher turnout helping in Miami for example and see where that can be replicated with candidates elsewhere.
I know that this has no chance of happening but I am really tired of the Republicans in Congress and the Senate who will say that there are those who are doing this who know that this is false and that they have said so. They should call them out on the floor. This talking in confidence and buddying up with each other when the stakes are this high is frankly just as complicit. I am sure that these conversations have been had and they need to be exposed right on the House and Senate floor.
Dan, my friend...you buried the lede. It's time to stop talking about political gamesmanship and strategy. That only helps people feel a little better when in fact we should be f*ing terrified. This is anti-democratic (small d) behavior, end stop. It may not work this time but it will the next if we lose the House majority. The GOP got a taste of it in 2000, Citizens United let big donors put big money behind it, Fox and Trump gave it a voice, 74 million Americans voted for it in 2020.
It's time to tell people to be scared.
I am quite frankly terrified but your article gave me 2 big problems to focus on--- blatant political ambition and racial voter suppression. (I will note that sedition and civil war also creep into my nightmares) I also worry psychologically if sometimes the Republicans start to believe their own BS. I don't know if it's more comforting to think they are knowledgeable but evil when doing these things or else they have completely become zombies controlled by right wing media. They are both horrifying scenarios.
The most hopeful part of your piece was the thought that McConnell is furious. That somehow makes me happy.....
Here’s my guess: If it appears that Loeffler and/or Purdue won their runoffs, McConnell finds that he likes democracy and maintains his opposition to Hawley, Cruz and the rest of their band of mad (mostly) white (mostly) men. If it appears that both have lost, McConnell will suddenly become “very concerned” that Hawley, Cruz, et al might be on to something and could even rally the troops to back their effort. An aside - maybe Cruz jumped on the bandwagon but it has got to gall him that he is and will always be playing second fiddle to Hawley on this fool’s errand.
Yes -- unhappily, the entire Republican Party has made itself a danger to democracy and the republic. And we have to say so, over and over.
The republican party is ruining every fiction writer. We all thought this sort of thing was unrealistic: No one could be this callously selfish and indifferent to facts, right?
This is a terrible way to start the day, Dan.
Hawley, Cruz and the others who want to run in 24 are obvious. Those who are clearly obsessed with staying on Trump’s good side for 22 (eg Lankford) are as well. The most depressing part of it is your point re the rest of them creating the circumstances for which this was the likely outcome.
Your point re the pretext for further suppression is the most urgent and actionable. Anyone who isn’t aware of the comparison with 76 - when a similarly manufactured crisis led to a century of black disenfranchisement- needs to read up on it. The best response must be to promote an enfranchisement agenda in opposition to theirs. Fair Votes for All. Accessible in person voting. Automatic registration. Where id is required - then free and accessible.
Great insights, Dan. Thank you.
While Hawley's actions may well be accurately described as a stunt, I believe we should also call it what it seems to be at least from my perspective -- an act of sedition. I believe we are doing a disservice when we sugarcoat with euphemistic descriptions actions that 5 years ago would have been viewed as unthinkable and perhaps even traitorous.
One associated thought about the remnants of the GOP (what I now call the Trumpublican party) -- I'd be interested to hear from a Congressional historian whether there has ever been a more unlikable group of Senators in office at the same time -- McConnell, Graham, Paul, Ron Johnson, Hawley, Rubio, others in the group of 11 and the most unlikable of all (at least to me), Cruz (I'm sure there are others that I've missed)?
Painting them all with the same broad brush, yes! They are all enablers, if not active traitors.
But how do we reach the 70% of R's who believe some (if not all) of this BS? Studying Stalinism in graduate school, I knew that many Soviet citizens didn't actually believe the propaganda, but they were too afraid to go against it. In the U.S. we have a majority of Republicans actively supporting propaganda and believing disinformation of their own free will.
I think back to the fairness doctrine, and again smack my head thinking of the widespread Reagan worship in this country. Not to mention his coziness with the evangelicals and his enabling of the religious right. I digress. . .
If anyone can bring us together, it's President-Elect Joe Biden. He wasn't my first choice, but I worked for his election with everything I had because he's a good person and I want to save our country from the danger of disinformation and hyper-partisanship. But the longer these anti-democratic actions continue for the benefit of the 2024 wannabes, the more I see the damage as irreversible. Yes, Americans have incredibly short attention spans, and those could work to the advantage of our new administration.
We are also a newish country without the lessons of centuries of warfare as part of our DNA; tell me how we make it through this with some semblance of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all?
Excellent piece and well argued. May I suggest a “lens” or metaphor to add to your thinking? While I don’t doubt that many Republican elected officials are high on their own supply, the behavior that you describe reminds me strongly of Western political science studies of the Soviet Union and China under Mao (i am old). The surprising unity up and down the Republican Party is a practiced, proven and enforced “party line”. Local and regional officials in the Soviet Union and China knew that their political future depending on not getting out in front of the party (nor lag behind) because they knew from painful experience that the party line was subject to change without warning. I argue that as the deep Republican strategy is to work out and develop a theory of indefinite minority party rule (see Lawyers Guns & Money)they are becoming, out of necessity, a Leninist party. While the analogy works up to a point, I think the true model is the Democratic Party in the Deep South under Jim Crow. Although a regional party and a large minority of the Democratic Party nationally, the Deep South Senators and Congressman protected violent segregation successfully for generations. This generation of Republicans grew up as legal segregation was ending and de facto segregation was replacing it.
I've just listened to the hour-long call between Trump and Raffensperger. There really can be no doubt now that Trump genuinely believes he won the election (is not just a ruse to grift off the base). But the contents of the call cannot be news to republicans, and therefore they know full well the fire they're playing with. I can't decide if the republicans are genuinely siding with Trump, or just using him as their 'useful idiot' to inflame and entrench the base, after which the likes of Hawley et al think they can swoop in and 'get it right' next time. Dan, it strikes me that there's a dire need for the Democrats to engage in a sweeping public messaging program of reminding everyone what democracy actually is. Not just 'everyone gets to vote' (because that's not strictly true in the US variant of democracy), but the fundamental principles - free and fair elections, the rule of law, legitimacy of the opposition, and the integrity of rights. I can't recommend Mettler and Lieberman's recent book on the threats to democracy highly enough, as a great primer on the backsliding happening right now.
Damn. I just assumed that the reason this was happening was because there was a large section of the Trump cult that was under informed with IQ's below 100. (77 percent of Republicans believe there was widespread voter fraud in the November election.) But you say NO, these guys are trying to reverse a free and fair election for personal opportunities to gain power. And 2021 had so much potential.
These objections serving as an excuse to further voter suppression efforts definitely rings true to me. What's pathetic about this? The GOP definitely benefitted from higher turnout in some districts (Miami area, Southern California) and states (probably North Carolina, Maine, and even potentially for some of the statewide ballot propositions in California). Admittedly,the effect of higher turnout cannot be certain on a district level but a better party at the functional level would see higher turnout helping in Miami for example and see where that can be replicated with candidates elsewhere.
I know that this has no chance of happening but I am really tired of the Republicans in Congress and the Senate who will say that there are those who are doing this who know that this is false and that they have said so. They should call them out on the floor. This talking in confidence and buddying up with each other when the stakes are this high is frankly just as complicit. I am sure that these conversations have been had and they need to be exposed right on the House and Senate floor.