The GOP has become the Grievously Offended Party

The GOP has become the Grievously Offended Party (GOP); the party of pearl clutchers who are offended by the corporate decision to rebrand a line of plastic toys. Offended by athletes taking a knee in silent protest against police murder and violence. Offended by a family trust removing outmoded children’s books from circulation. Offended by Meghan Markle’s assertion that the British Royals are racist. Offended by the decision of a major motion picture company to exclude a minor cartoon character from an anticipated sequel. Offended by the intimation that some of their members are racist, homophobic or misogynistic when in fact they clearly are; often all three at once. They are offended by nearly everything that does not underpin the narrow, nay-saying, ninny-hammered nonsense that they claim as their ideology.

What they are not offended by is the destruction of the environment by rapacious corporate greed. They are not offended by the vast number of children living in poverty. They are not offended by the starvation wages of ‘essential’ workers. They are not offended by white nationalists carrying the odious flag of the Confederacy into the Capitol. They are not offended by the thousands murdered by gun violence in America. They are not offended by an ignorant, racist grifter who bragged about sexual assault. They are not offended by QAnon knuckle-draggers spouting gibberish on the floor of Congress. They are not offended by preposterous conspiracy videos accusing a wide swath of Americans of pedophilia and cannibalism. They are not offended by Nazi flag-wavers chanting for the death of the sitting VP while storming through the corridors of the Capitol complex.

There is a word for people like this. There is, in fact, a whole lexicon of words, phrases, euphemisms and synonyms relating to insanity. They are, in sum, nuts.