It ceases to become patriotism.
As a child, I remember reading about post-revolution farmers laying down their plowshares to serve a year or two in government. It was understood that serving one’s government was a patriotic, albeit temporary, duty, not a career. Growing beans, potatoes, and corn made you a leader in your borough, not mastering the filibuster. As the government got more complicated, it required higher degrees of education, and as it became more litigious came the leather-bound briefcases of lawyers. Naturally, money entered the picture. The bastardization of government service helped lead to conservative gun-toting and Handmaid’s Tale enablers like Dana Loesch.
The Republican party has not only lost its moorings; it has run aground. Loesch went on a revealing clickbait tirade yesterday, dispelling any pretense of conservative values. In an incendiary rant that included calling pregnant women faced with the agonizing decision of having or not having an abortion a “skank,” Loesch was not through. Saying, “I don’t know if he did [Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker paying for an abortion] it or not,” the radio talker concluded. “I don’t even care.”
Suppose one takes a moment to logically examine the wild accusations and accept that fascism is now crewed by the ship of fools for the Republican party. In that case, it is up to Democrats to offer a life raft to the American people. Democrats have problems, as do many governing bodies, but they are not poking holes in the boat. It is not hard to come up with wrong-headed ideas by either the Republican party or its propaganda media outlets. Russian tv is broadcasting clips from Fox News when Tucker Carlson defends Putin. I watched Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), in charge of candidates for the Republican party (NRSC), explain Florida’s insurance problem. “Now Florida has been has had (sic) a problem the last few years with their property insurance market. So hopefully, the insurance companies will be able to, to cover a lot of that,”said Scott. Advice from the man who was responsible for the largest Medicare health insurance fraud in U.S. history was not reassuring. Yet the GOP voters not only made him a Senator, but the GOP hierarchy picked him as the leader of their candidates.
On trial now are Stewart Rhodes and members of the Oath Keepers, described as his lieutenants, accused of viciously attacking, beating, and causing the deaths of police and civilians as part of a seditious conspiracy. Yet Republicans Senators and members of Congress have called them patriots. The former president of the United States pledged to pardon them should he retake the White House in 2024. Yet still, the GOP stands foursquare behind the insanity. Several weeks ago, the Republican party lost its collective mind when President Joe Biden called them “semi-fascist.” What else do you call a party that violently denies election results, wants control over a woman’s privacy, bans books, and seeks to overturn government by force?
Loesch’s attention-seeking tirade got what she wanted; attention. In doing so, she revealed the truth about the party, “I don’t even care.” When winning at all costs is the goal, duty to the country suffers. Maybe a few people in government need to be turned out to pasture and plow a field.
Continue to Vote for Change.