Today’s politics has devolved into one side, brainwashing its base, ringing the last drop of truth from a lie, and punctuating what’s left with deceit. No matter how often you hear it, both sides do not do it. Unlike the press reports, it is not a bilateral tactic. Despite the Sunday morning pundits currying favor for access and Republicans looking to misinform and distract, ending each response with the extreme left and extreme right, the GOP is washing, rinsing, and deceiving its voter base as a strategy. Gaslit is no longer just an adjective; it has become a noun, a verb, and the basis of GOP politics.
Spitting in the face of truth has become like cow chip tossing in the GOP; each word is full of it. There are no audiotapes of a Democrat calling Nancy Pelosi asking how to undermine the peaceful exchange of power. No accusations exist of Democrats pointing out the secure hiding place of the House Speaker amid a riot. The current Democratic House Speaker was not recorded using expletives to quell its members’ dangerous and violence-inducing language. Panic buttons were not removed from the offices of Republicans on January sixth.
Even in the middle of an illegal foreign war between Ukraine and Russia, right-wing punditry, which now drives the party, is still searching aimlessly for ways to make Putin a victim and not the genocidal maniac he is. When names like GOP representatives Boebert, Greene, and Louie Gohmert are introduced into a conversation for their racism, absurdity, and incoherent rhetoric, the Republicans counter with names like Cortez, Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. Arguing over policy is fair game, but how does one argue with people who deny facts. Casting “aspersions on my asparagus” does not make Rep. Gohmert credible. Advocating for a cleaner planet is a reasonable stance for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
When Representative John Lewis was alive, he led a sit-in on the floor of Congress—similar to those he had done many times during the civil rights era, protesting this time gun massacres. The absurdity of Republicans equating Lewis and 30 House Democrats with the protest of January sixth defies reality. When the late John Lewis said, “Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary. Sometimes you have to make a way out of no way. We have been too quiet for too long,” is a far cry from a mob erecting a gallows enthralled by Donald Trump and yelling “hang Mike Pence.”
Republicans are not only seeking to erase red lines between warring nations[Ukraine/Russia]; they are also seeking to eradicate red lines domestically. The Republicans made a point of saying Barack Obama backed down once Syria crossed his self-defined redline. Mr. Obama decided not to let false pride rule his thinking, thought better of it, and changed his mind avoiding another long-term engagement in the middle east. Meanwhile, today’s GOP refuses to hold accountable the elements of divisiveness and violence that killed, maimed and tried to destroy the citadel of American democracy—the United States Capitol building. It would be the height of obviousness to compare what the reaction of Republicans would have been to Democratic supporters attacking the Capitol.
One of the most consequential midterm elections looms, and in just over six months, America has the chance to either accept or reject democracy as a continuing way of life; Choose wisely.
Continue to Vote for Change.