GOP’s Reactionary Rhetoric to FBI Raid Reminds Us of Their Threat to Democracy
We must not be cowed by violent threats of Republican insurgency
Today’s MAGA Republicans do not represent a traditional political party. They are increasingly a violent insurgency that supported a coup to stop the presidential transfer of power in 2021. They disdain democracy and want to live in a religious autocracy. This malevolent movement works to undermine institutions, obliterate norms, attack police authority and strategically deploy an armed wing of thugs to terrorize anyone who speaks out against their plot to hostilely overthrow America.
The contemptuous, over-the-top reaction to the FBI’s raid on Donald Trump’s criminal compound is illuminating. It illustrates total disregard for the rule of law, disdain for “the blue”, which Republicans previously claimed to worship, and fealty to a cult-like leader who demands absolute loyalty to his perverse cause of establishing a right-wing dictatorship.
“I’ve seen enough,” Trump lackey Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, wrote in a statement that he posted online. “The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.”
McCarthy then hypocritically vowed to weaponize politics, if the GOP regains control of the House, and punish those who try to hold Trump accountable, adding, “Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar.”
This wasn’t an idle threat, considering McCarthy previously abused his perch to attack Hillary Clinton with his embarrassing Benghazi show hearings. In 2015, McCarthy lost his bid for speaker by stupidly admitting on FOX News that his hearings were a politically orchestrated charade.
He explained: “Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable. But no one would have known any of that had happened, had we not fought.”
Florida Republican state lawmaker Anthony Sabatini, went further, ominously hinting at secession.
“It’s time for us in the Florida Legislature to call an emergency legislative session & amend our laws regarding federal agencies,” Mr. Sabatini wrote on Twitter. “Sever all ties with DOJ immediately. Any FBI agent conducting law enforcement functions outside the purview of our State should be arrested upon sight.”
As a native Floridian, I see this as an illegal rebellion analogous with the quislings who launched the Civil War. I’m an American first, and a Floridan second, who will defend my state and my country from seditionists. Severing Florida from the United States legal system will not be tolerated, nor accepted by millions of residents. If lawmakers, such as Sabatini, move forward, they will be vigorously countered and treated no differently than Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. Contrary to their recent actions, these right-wing crackpots do not own Florida, and they must quickly sober up from their power drunk escapades before they thrust our state into a political abyss.
Sadly, we all know what is coming next. Republican blowhards will bluster and bully on their insular media platforms. They will threaten our families with guns and promise retribution – all because the Department of Justice did its job to rein in Trump’s criminality. The DOJ is upholding the principle that no person, even a president, is above the law. The GOP base, which clearly favors a fascist dictatorship, believes that their Dear Leader is special, and the rules don’t apply to him or his ass-kissing minions.
Do not be surprised if Proud Boy mobs and right wing militias commit organized acts of terrorism in the coming days, months and years. Just as MAGA Republicans agitated for Jan. 6 violence and succeeded in instigating a treasonous coup, today’s overheated, reactionary rhetoric is actively fomenting a fresh round of rebellion. The American majority is clearly being warned by MAGA Republicans, that we must back off their orange king or things may turn bloody.
“There is suddenly a very real risk of violent political instability in this country for the first time in more than 150 years,” Joel B. Pollak, a senior editor at the Alt-Right propaganda outlet Breitbart News, wrote on Twitter.
Obviously, we know what’s going on here. Right wing Republicans are no longer participating in democracy. As the saying goes, “war is the continuation of policy with other means." The armed wing of the GOP has already moved on from voting to violence, as witnessed on January 6, as well as armed rallies at state capitols, most notably in Michigan.
The time for denial has long passed. We are dealing with a malignant movement that is agitating for revolution and must be stopped at all costs. Their ugly words are meant to menace, their aggressive actions intended to undermine stability, and their poisonous politics are designed to create widespread fear and confusion.
While we are working to improve America, they want to generate chaos and paralysis, so our nation will cease operating and crumble. Only through national collapse, can this broadly unpopular collection of religious zealots, fascist whackos and anti-government conspiracy nuts seize the reins of power and remake America in their sick image. Once you understand what is going on it all makes sense.
If you think I’m blowing this out of proportion, consider that authoritarian Hungarian dictator Viktor Orbán was the star speaker at last week’s CPAC rally in Dallas. He received a standing ovation from the wild-eyed extremists in attendance. This is the model of authoritarian government most Republicans now favor, and it should scare the hell out of anyone who loves democracy. They are proudly telegraphing their designs for America, and you better be listening before it’s too late.
“I’m here to tell you that we should unite our forces,” Orbán bellowed to thunderous applause. Politico reported that he said that the “West is at war with itself,” describing an ideological “battle for Western civilization”. He belched from the stage, “The globalists can all go to hell, I have come to Texas.” Ironically, it never dawned on the obtuse crowd that hosting a Hungarian dictator made them globalists.
Prior to speaking at CPAC, Orban said on July 23 that Hungary must not become a “mixed-race” country. A top aide quit after hearing his remarks, comparing them to propaganda from Nazi Germany. Apparently, the racism was better received by CPAC Republicans who seemed agog over their European hero. Obviously, this pathological party is based on bigotry and specializes in scapegoating. They refuse to respect democracy and reject religious pluralism, sexual and racial diversity, as well as the U.S. Constitution – which protects the rights of minorities they despise.
If you want your children to grow up in a free country, you must lose your fear and prepare to fight. With luck, this will occur through ballots, not bullets. The midterms are crucially important, as we are threatened with undemocratic Big Lie promoters winning GOP primaries in several key swing states. If they win governorships or occupy Secretary of State offices, they will be well-positioned to end democracy in 2024.
Imagine a scenario where American voters choose a Democrat for President (including wins in the Electoral College), but Republicans refuse to certify the results. Instead, they falsely scream “fraud” and throw the legal votes of millions of Americans in the garbage. Then, they empower right wing Republican legislatures to choose the winner in these “contested” states – potentially Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
This would amount to a coup, and it should not be accepted nor tolerated under any circumstances. What comes next is unthinkable. The media will euphemistically call it a “Constitutional Crisis”. But given the reality of a heavily armed wing of the Republican Party itching for conflict, it’s more like a “Constitutional Conflagration”. No one knows where this ends, but it could make Jan. 6 look like a warmup act.
The only question remaining is whether the American majority will be intimidated and cowed, or will they fight back to save our country? Tragically, there are some Democratic politicians that seem resigned to appeasement. Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang tweeted after the FBI raided Trump’s “corruption castle”: “Unfortunately, I fear we will look back on this as a day that activated extremism and not the opposite.”
So, Yang blames the Department of Justice for enforcing the law? Is he suggesting that we cower under Republican threats of violence and allow them to run roughshod over the Constitution? Are we going to next allow the GOP to declare that only Republican electoral victories are legitimate, and Democratic wins are the result of fraud? Are or we going to hand over our country on a silver platter for fear of the next right wing tantrum?
Maybe Yang is prepared to live in a Handmaid’s Tale nation, but I’m not. The recent abortion referendum results in Kansas are encouraging and remind us that our radicalized foes do not represent the majority of the American people. They are a bitter, dangerous fanatical minority exploiting fear to impose their archaic beliefs on all of us. These traitors will only succeed if we let them – so we must vow to rebuff them at every seditious turn.
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On today's show, I argue that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made the right move in visiting Taiwan. At a time of rising authoritarianism across the globe, including America, she made a strong stand in support of freedom and democracy. Then I interview Nancy Thompson, founder of the organization Mothers Against Greg Abbott. She discusses her campaign to defeat the extremist Texas governor, who she says is harming Texas families.
Next, we pay homage to my friend Jerry Stephenson, who passed away this week. He was the father of the Ex-Gay Survivor’s movement and dedicated his life to fighting conversion therapy and exposing religious hypocrites. To discuss the topic of conversion therapy, I have a conversation with Matt Ashcroft, a survivor of the ex-gay group Journey in the Manhood.
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