The Party of “Law and Order” Has Become the Party of Anarchy and Nihilism

….as they follow Trump’s lead and try to shield him from consequences

Adam Schiff and the rest of the managers in Trump’s first impeachment trial made an iron-clad case that Trump had tried to force Ukraine to launch a sham “investigation” of claims that his likely opponent in the 2020 election had been influence-peddling on behalf of his wayward son. Seems Trump would have been happy simply with an announcement of an investigation, even if it never occurred. The testimony was devastating. No republican in the House – not even Cheney or Kinzinger – voted for the impeachment to proceed. In the Senate trial only Mitt Romney had the backbone to vote to convict.

In Trump’s second impeachment proceeding – for his actions and inactions on January 6 – there was progress, but still only ten GOP House members voted to impeach Trump. However, after the Senate trial, seven GOP senators (Romney, Murkowski, Collins, Bill Cassidy, Ben Sasse, Pat Toomey, and Richard Burr) acknowledged the obvious – and finally stood up for the rule of law.

And now, after a woefully late (but better-late-than-never) indictment of Trump for his orchestrating of a multi-faceted bloodless coup, what is the GOP doing?

Attacking the judge. Attacking the FBI and DOJ. Vowing to defund their budgets, fire – and perhaps prosecute – their leadership, clean house, and stock the government with Trumpist sycophants. With the exception of Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, the rest of the Republicans vying for their party’s nomination are kowtowing to the “base” (has any word been so descriptive of these despicables?) of their party and aggressively attacking the pillars of justice, law, and order.

And they haven’t stopped there in their attacks on the institutions that they somehow see as threatening to them, or as fertile ground to feed the suspicions and prejudices of their “base.”

Experts are “elitists.” Hard-working reporters and the editors who uphold standards are “the lamestream media,” “fake news,” or, most ominously of all – “enemies of the people.”

Elsewhere….

Fitch downgrades US credit rating, citing “deterioration in governance”…Last week “…Fitch Ratings lowered the credit rating of the United States one notch to AA+ from a pristine AAA….citing a ‘deterioration in governance’ along with America’s mounting debt load, [Fitch] suggested that it could be a long time before that decision was reversed.” (NY Times, Aug. 2).

While the “mounting debt load” can be blamed on both parties, as well as taxpayers who want government programs and services but don’t want to be taxed for them, the “deterioration of governance” can be laid almost entirely at the feet of the GOP. See “government shutdowns” from Gingrich to Cruz to McCarthy.

Even red-drenched Ohio rejects GOP effort to disable democracy…On Tuesday Ohio voters soundly rejected an attempt by the GOP-led legislature to make it more difficult for voters to amend the state constitution. In an initiative that the NY Times said “was widely seen as a test of Republicans’ efforts nationwide to curb the use of ballot initiatives…the ballot measure would have required that amendments to the State Constitution gain approval by 60 percent of voters, up substantially from the current requirement of a simple majority.”  

Voters in Ohio – who went for Trump with more than 53% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020 – defeated this measure with more than 56% voting against it. What was really on the ballot was an upcoming vote this fall on a proposed amendment to the state constitution to ensure the right to abortion. The measure defeated Tuesday would have made it that much harder to pass the abortion amendment. Whenever they get the chance, voters around the country – often in red states – are resisting Republican legislatures’ attempts to take away their rights, and substitute their Christian Nationalist agenda.

Perhaps it’s time to recognize that the “R” brand = authoritarian tendencies? And take that out on their candidates, from dog-catcher on up the ballot.

DeSantis blames everyone but the guy in the mirror…And finally, Governor DiSaster (or is it DeFascist?) followed last week’s downsizing of his campaign staff by replacing his campaign manager. Of course it was her fault, not his war on Disney for lobbying against his “don’t say gay” legislation, his cruel recruiting of asylum-seeking refugees to  dump on Martha’s Vineyard…his “slavery-as-vocational education” curriculum…or his promises to “slit throats” of “deep state” bureaucrats when he’s elected.