So much for the party of limited government
Whatever you may have thought about Republicans before they became infected with Trump radicalism, they at least had identifiable platforms with recognisable planks. Republicans used to be the party of self-described personal and economic responsibility. They were the “pro-life” party. They were the party of flags and patriotism and — most conspicuously — small government.
Yet it was from within those seemingly harmless ideals that the seeds for monsters were planted. The ideal of personal responsibility grew into a resentment of minorities and the poor. The wholly gratuitous, so-called “pro-life” movement absurdly fetishised a lump of protoplasm and nurtured misogyny. The idealism of small government fostered paranoia about all governments and bred fiends like Timothy McVeigh and Ted Kaczynski.
But as long as the ideals of the Republican Party stayed contained within the framework of democracy the country continued to function. The 247 year old experiment continued to survive. So far.
But cracks began to show as Republicans abandoned their platforms for their current jeering, performative outrage bubble. The party of “limited government” is now insisting on unlimited government. They are showing up uninvited in your bedroom, your library, your doctor’s office and your church. Today they want to control every single aspect of your life. They have publicly abandoned the whole idea of democracy, and they are declaring that abandonment right out in the open.
Republicans could not be clearer that they consider democratic governance fundamentally illegitimate. Republican preference for Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine underscores this. They admire Putin’s dictatorship and despise Zalinskyy”s democracy. It is in the embrace of Trump-style MAGA Republicanism that today’s neo-Nazis find a home.
Hitler got his start this way. He began by focusing Germany’s post-war attention on scapegoats such as the “November criminals,” the Kaiser’s government and generals who surrendered to the allies in World War I. Then he nurtured hatred for the Communists and the Jews. Once he gave Germans enemies to hate he encouraged and nourished that hatred.
Republicans nurture hatred of trans people in specific and members of the LGBTQ+ community in general. They nurture hatred for migrants and the “woke.” Republicans have demonised women who get abortions. They have even revived one of Hitler’s favourite bogeymen, the communists.
It is into this climate of fear, hatred and intolerance that Republicans have injected the thoroughly unAmerican idea of anti-democracy dictatorship. These days the disgraced, twice-impeached and soon to be thrice indicted ex-president Trump is telling crowds that the president needs virtually unlimited power. Make no mistake, Republicans have no intention of sharing that power with democrats.
Republicans have been careful to tread forward slowly with this agenda. They are getting their MAGA followers to agree to be governed by a dictatorship. So far they are getting very little blowback.
After all, democracy has been the biggest hindrance to the new MAGA Republican Party’s most cherished goal of the economic rape of America. Once they have their dictatorship they will no longer be constrained. I fully expect them to call for the judicial murder of all their enemies within the next two years.
This is why the Republican Party must go. It has ceased being a party and has become an organised effort to destroy American democracy and install a dictatorship. The so-called party of limited government has now become the new American Hitler and must be stopped. That job belongs to you and me.
I was going to end there but wish to share something with you, brothers and sisters, something that just happened. This morning I was discussing this phenomenon, the attempt to convert America into a Republican dictatorship, with my English wife. She noted that Republicans have their own flag, the MAGA flag. I observed that Democrats don’t need a flag, which is why we don’t have one. “Sure they do,” she countered, “it’s called the Stars and Stripes.” And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.