In
an essay written by a weekly columnist for the publication Salon,
longtime White House correspondent Brian Karem wrote—in tone
and in terms very much like those in these columns—his assessment
of ReSCUMlickan prospects for November and the reasons why. Herein
his essay in its entirety:
“One
afternoon in college I found myself picking up trash at a Wendy's
parking lot on the Business Loop in Columbia, Missouri.
I
can't remember what happened the night before — no nefarious story
there.
I
simply cannot remember the mundane routine of most days compared to
the shock of that one. It began as a beautiful sunny day. Warm. Calm.
Nice. I picked up the trash as part of my employment requirements
that afternoon and glanced up to enjoy the sun. I looked toward the
horizon and in the sky saw what looked like a fat dark purple line
drawn by a Sharpie marker.
I
wasn't sure what I was looking at.
In
a short time I found out. The squall furiously assaulted Columbia and
sent the outdoor garbage cans I had just emptied, flying into the air
like rockets.
Rain
and hail exploded onto the ground; the combination caused
near-immediate flooding and was responsible for broken windows,
dented cars, downed trees, downed power lines and many damaged
roofs.
As
a lover of big weather, it was memorable.
As
strong as it was, that storm is nothing compared to the political
storm brewing this fall.
The
future of the country is in the balance. Vegas oddsmakers could go
either way. The latest polls, current conventional wisdom and some
cautionary words for the GOP from Mitch
McConnell (who
stands out not only for his narcissism but also because he's one of
the few Republicans who can count) suggest that the GOP may recapture
the House while failing to take the Senate.
Trump
followers, who've evidently studied the Beer
Hall Putsch,
believe the Trumplican party will be victorious and consume its
enemies in hellfire, congressional hearings and a never-ending
belittlement on conservative media. Some Republicans with gavel envy
and a lust for power are reportedly looking at swatches for their new
offices.
They
preach civil war and destruction should they not prevail, or if Trump
is denied a return to his golden throne. They say those things even
as they drive their SUVs less than a mile to go grocery shopping,
visit their doctors and hit the drive-through for their favorite
cholesterol burger and then a convenience store for smokes and
liquor.
No
one's going to risk a real civil war while those things are readily
available — not for a period of time longer than it takes to march
to the Capitol and get arrested.
A
recent NBC poll reports that "persuadable" voters — which
means registered voters who are not core Democrats or Republicans —
are "breaking toward the party controlling the White House and
Congress," which would be the Democrats.
The
Hill recently published an opinion
piece that
said the GOP's embrace of extremism has dimmed its midterm hopes.
Perpetual Republican cheerleader Anne Coulter just announced the
political demise of Donald Trump, using the words millions have
already mouthed: "Trump is done."
Maybe
she's right. Of course, we've heard all this before and that's part
of the problem. When it comes to Trump, there's nothing new. It's
just reruns and Trump's ratings are wearing thin. People are sick and
tired of his pre-pubescent drama.
Every
single person I spoke with in a month-long trip across the country
said they'd "had enough" of the ongoing Trump melodrama.
They want it canceled.
In
a recent month-long trip across the country I visited 15 states and
cities, from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. Some were large, and
some were as small as Millersburg, Missouri. Everywhere I visited,
and every person I spoke with — more than 100 in 30 days —
expressed exhaustion and frustration with politics. And while
registered voters of both major parties blame both parties for the
sorry state of affairs in this country (while failing to place the
blame on themselves), every single person I spoke with said they've
"had enough" of the ongoing Trump political melodrama. They
want it canceled.
Finally,
at a Mexican restaurant in Fulton, Missouri, I met a woman who said
she was afraid there is no "United" left in the United
States. She had spoken recently with a close relative in Kansas City
and that relative was apparently equally fearful about the
future. "I'm just so tired of it all," she said to me.
She blamed Trump for a lack of civility, as well as other politicians
and, of course, the media.
Progressives.
Conservatives. Black. White. Immigrant. Hispanic. Male. Female. Gay.
Straight. Trans. Rock n' Roll. Country. Bib overalls, G-Wagon,
homeless or anything else. Everyone is tired of it. Well, except the
ultra-rich. They're fine with it, since it doesn't adversely affect
the bottom line, at least so far. But the rest of us are seriously
exhausted by the vitriol in this country — vitriol we've all been
intricately involved in creating. OK, some of us more than others.
Inflection
point: Now.
The
disgust with the lack of civility has converged with a growing anger
brought about by the recent Supreme Court case reversing the
50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision. "The Catholics did that to
us," one conservative Baptist told me in West Virginia. (Five of
the six justices who voted to overturn Roe are conservative
Catholics.) In Los Angeles, a rabbi told me, "I don't need to be
preached to by other faiths about morality."
A
"devoutly" conservative woman I spoke with from rural
Kentucky was most poignant. Her niece had an abortion because of a
life-threatening condition. A "close" family member had an
abortion because of an unwanted pregnancy from an abusive common-law
husband she later left.
"No
one should tell us how to lead our lives," she explained to me.
"That's what the Republicans used to be about. It was my body
and my choice not to get vaccinated. The Republicans wanted
government to leave us alone to make our own choices. But they don't
want that anymore."
A
"devoutly" conservative woman in rural Kentucky told me,
"No one should tell us how to lead our lives. That's what the
Republicans used to be about: Leave us alone to make our own
choices."
A
growing number of people now understand the Republicans as a brazen
group of feckless bullies. Welcome to the party. The woman I spoke
with in Kentucky said something echoed by at least a couple dozen
others I spoke with in the last month: "I don't usually vote. I
am this year. I've already registered — and I'm not voting for a
Republican."
That
continues to be the key for the Democrats. If the voter turnout is
large, then the Republicans are done, since there are more registered
Democrats. Issues? The Republicans have already conceded on the
issues. All the Republicans have left is fear — and that, like
Trump, grows wearisome.
Elie
Mystal, a writer for the Nation, said on Mary Trump's livestream show
Tuesday that it comes down to whether or not white women have "had
enough" with the Republican Party. He's not wrong. But it's not
just white women who are ready to flee the GOP. It turns out people
don't like it when a civil right they've taken for granted for the
last 50 years is suddenly yanked away. Ironically, it is the
Republican Party's greatest victory — the Dobbs decision, delivered
by a politicized Supreme Court — that may prove to be its undoing.
Bottom
line: Any person
capable of cogent thought is fleeing Trump and the Republican party.
Anne Coulter proves that even those not capable of cogent thought are
fleeing Trump.
Trump is done.
Trumpism? Well, waiting in the wings is Ron DeSantis, who already
prides himself on limiting access to the media. Even those who love
him hate him. Fortunately for the rest of the world — that is, the
world outside Florida — DeSantis currently has the popularity of a
malignant tumor. Of course, that's never stopped the Republicans.
They excel at finding malignancies and helping them metastasize in
the body politic.
*
* *
I
finished my travels this week with a visit to Annapolis.
There
I saw the Reflecting Fools, the new political satire theater group
that sprouted from the ashes of the Capitol Steps. The show left me
feeling nostalgic for a future filled with education, science and a
sense of humor.
I
wasn't alone. One line delivered in a skit was met with thunderous
applause. "Pay teachers more and Congress less" nearly got
a standing ovation. It gave me hope that the United States may yet
endure — if we can laugh at ourselves.
Trump
can't do that, though he'd probably watch the show — he'll take any
attention you throw his way — even when he's being mocked. DeSantis
may be the true menace. He struggles to control media access with an
il Duce like focus. Hell, when DeSantis frowns, he looks like
Mussolini with hair.
A
racial skit by the Reflecting Fools, featuring a Kermit the Frog
impression, ended on a hopeful note: "We can all talk to each
other civilly." It struck a resonant chord among the audience —
a diverse, packed house with an average age of around 45, and at
least progressive enough to laugh.
The
show also featured a skit that posited that Democrats will prevail
this November but still, somehow, find a way to "muck it up."
It's long-running conventional wisdom that the Democrats will find a
way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but this year it's in
vogue to believe that Democrats, despite their propensity for
self-immolation, have a real chance to win and solidify their
majority in both houses of Congress. If that's what happens, Trump is
done and the GOP is screwed.
If
the Republicans could only understand that they did this to
themselves. In the end, history mat note it was the compulsive need
for self-gratification that ultimately soured the most zealous of the
Trump Republicans. It's one thing to get screwed. It's quite another
to watch someone who wants to screw their own side more than they
want to screw their supposed enemies; that's when it becomes too
kinky.
There's
little hope for what's left of the GOP. We're watching it die, in a
coming tempest that will reshape the political landscape for a
generation. It looks to be Ron DeSantis' party now — and he's a
true menace.
There's
little hope for what's left of the GOP. Lindsey Graham will probably
soon be an inmate in a rubber room or wearing orange. Mark Meadows
has gone MIA. Jim Jordan was recently seen on television sporting so
much flop sweat that he looked like he just walked out of a college
locker room. Jeffrey Clark got dragged out of his house in his
pajamas. Rudy Giuliani is the target of a criminal investigation in
Georgia. A 23-year-old assistant turned the tables on the former
president in a highly publicized edition of the Jan. 6 hearings, and
Donald Trump is apparently so upset that he's painting his walls with
ketchup after being stupid enough not to return government documents
— and lying about them repeatedly while also saying they were
planted by the FBI and he declassified them anyway — maybe after he
traded them for favors.
We
are watching the Republican Party in its death throes.
That
death is the nexus of a tempest that will reshape the political
landscape for the next generation, and perhaps beyond. Whatever is
left of the GOP looks to be DeSantis' party, and he's one of the most
vile pieces of political excrement ever flung onto the scene.
So,
yes — there is a storm coming. It's not a civil war. It's a
reckoning — and I reckon the GOP would rather not face it. All the
Democrats have to do is show up and vote, and the Republicans'
beloved Supreme Court gave them an excellent reason to do so.
The
FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home was merely an affirmation that
those eager to flee the GOP needed, to let them know their instincts
were right. When the facts are understood, Donald, it turns out that
nobody likes a traitor.” (1)
As
if to drive home the point tRUMPist Sarah Palin the disgraceful
half-term former governor of Alaska lost last night in her bid to
fill the vacant seat of the state's sole congressman. In a ranked
order voting process she finished three points behind her Democratic
competitor. Yes, Alaska now has a Democrat holding state wide
office. This morning Palin, like Caesar Disgustus, whines about the
outcome complaining that it was the process not the outcome
that ran afoul. It's always the process. In an effort to discredit
the process and, therefore, the legitimacy of the outcome, Palin
refuses to recognize that yes the good people of her state had more
choice in who to vote for but in exercising that choice they didn't
pull the lever for her.
This
is the second special congressional election that the ReSCUMlickans
have lost in a week. The storm is coming and, perhaps, it's not
blowing in the direction the scum think it is.
Indict.
Convict. Imprison
________________
1.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/a-storm-is-coming-it-might-sweep-trump-and-the-gop-into-history-s-dustbin/
