Today's GOP

Thought for the day

Every time I hear the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the world say the "Biden Regime" is responsible for targeting Donald Trump, my stomach flips.  This is how propaganda spreads.  Left unchecked, these kinds of false, unsubstantiated statements give people permission to eventually act out violently (thinking this is what true patriots are supposed to do).  

Sadly, so many people believed Donald Trump's claim that the 2020 election was stolen, they felt it was their duty to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.  (If any of this reminds you of "Kristolnacht" in 1938, when Nazi storm troopers and their sympathizers believed that, as a result of Hitler's propaganda, they had an obligation to destroy thousands of Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues from one end of Germany and Austria to the other, it should.)  

In my wildest imagination, I can't believe Barry Goldwater, Howard Baker, Colin Powell, George Schultz or Ronald Reagan would ever agree that Trump's desire to hold onto highly classified documents at Mar-a-Lago is legally acceptable.  But this is exactly what the leaders of today's Republican Party believe.  Why?  Because they have totally signed off on the propaganda that today's mishegas* is due to the dishonesty of Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and the Democratic Party (not to mention Merrick Garland and Jack Smith now).

In a functioning democracy, it is perfectly acceptable -- no, it is necessary -- for people to have different political points of view.  What's not acceptable is demonizing, even hating, people who disagree with you.  This creates a justification for violence.  I know this to be true because my stomach is flipping as I write this.

-DF

*Yiddish for insanity or craziness.