Were it not so vital to a functioning democracy to have two credible political parties, the antics of the current Republican Party hierarchy could be dismissed as entertainment. But it’s neither comedy nor farce; it’s more like tragedy.
The January 6 invasion and trashing of the U.S. Capitol was neither by a foreign enemy nor foreign terrorists. It was by an angry mob of American citizens, some wearing Nazi garb, carrying Trump flags, and even American flags used to beat a police officer, having been incited by a U.S. President while still in office.
The nation’s second most powerful Republican, while not voting to convict Trump during Senate impeachment hearings, immediately followed with a damning speech accusing Trump of direct responsibility for the riot. With no weasel words whatsoever, Senator McConnell laid it at the feet of President Trump.
McConnell’s vote to acquit was no surprise — he needed to hold his Republican caucus together. Nor is McConnell’s dislike of Trump and belief that he is detrimental to the longer run interest of the Party any surprise. The surprise was McConnell’s unequivocal accusation of Trump.
McConnell had already got what he wanted from Trump — three Supreme Court appointments and a loaded conservative federal bench — and doesn’t need him anymore for policy. But to once again become Majority Leader, he still needs Republican senators and the Trump supporters who elect them. So McConnell quickly tacked back. When asked if he would support Trump if he were the Republican nominee in 2024, McConnell, master of the power game, unequivocally affirmed that he would. Again, absolutely no surprise there — what else could he say as he realizes that even though he believes Trump to be detrimental to the Party, he recognizes Trump’s iron grip on the Party.
While McConnell’s ambition is to be Majority Leader once again, other Republicans have higher ambitions. Trump’s game is retribution, and GOP presidential wannabes are frozen as long as Trump talks of being the 2024 candidate once again.
Among this Rogue’s gallery of wannabes is Texas Senator, Ted Cruz, trying to recover from his ill-advised junket to Mexico while the “Energy Capital of the World” lacked heat, power, and water during its recent cold blast.
Cruz claims he was simply trying to be a “good dad,” as his children wanted to be away from the cold. Any responsible presidential wannabe would have used this as a teachable moment. “Hey, kids, as children of a public official, you will enjoy privileges that others don’t have. With privilege, comes responsibility, and now is the time for you to learn it, and for our family to exercise it.”
But nobody familiar with his career would expect that from Cruz. He has impressive mental capacity and a Cadillac education, having exercised it by arguing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. But smart people sometimes do dumb things. And intelligence doesn’t necessarily lead to using it for the greater good.
The same can be said for another wannabe, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley. With his Stanford degree and an Ivy League law degree, he unapologetically refused to certify the results of the election. He is intelligent enough to know the importance of the peaceful transfer of power in a democracy. But like Senator Cruz, he prefers to use his God-given intellect and Cadillac education for attainment of raw power rather than for a higher purpose.
Unlike Cruz and Hawley who know Biden’s election was legitimate and are intelligent enough to understand the importance of the peaceful transfer of power, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson actually believes the conspiracy theories he bandies about. Some right winger told Johnson that the rioting crowd was peaceful until provoked by the Capitol Police. Therefore, according to Johnson, it must be true.
Senator Johnson is too obtuse to realize that he is nothing more than a useful lackey to Trump and his supporters. This brings us to the CPAC meetings, starring an array of presidential wannabes.
CPAC’s most notable curiosity was the bizarre statue of Trump, complete with a head of gold. It was adorned in a freakish set of glad rags, including flip flops; red, white and blue shorts; and a business suit with red tie. Any semi-normal ex-president would be totally embarrassed by such a representation, and even more embarrassed by loyalists seeking to be photographed alongside that outlandish image. The bizarre behavior of the CPAC participants should relieve us of any doubt that the GOP, once the Party of Lincoln, is now diminished to a personality cult.
The fate of two Republican women further illustrates the personality cult of the current GOP. Conservative Republican, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, has been marginalized after voting for Trump’s impeachment and her clear statement that he should not be the future of the Republican Party.
Former South Carolina Governor and former Trump administration member, Nikki Haley, was once seen as a credible presidential candidate for 2024. During her tenure as UN Ambassador, Haley successfully threaded the needle between serving Trump, while not acceding to his worst instincts. After his defeat, she temporarily created some distance from him, implying a change in direction for the Party. Upon receiving immediate blowback, she realized her misstep, and sought a meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. He refused. Haley is, for now, out of it.
As the star of CPAC, Trump gave his eagerly anticipated speech to his adoring crowd. He blasted President Biden for “the worst opening month in American history.” With characteristic Trump illogic, he praised “Republican unity,” even as he read the names of Republicans who showed disloyalty to him. As he declared them persona non grata, other Republicans declared that without Trump as the 2024 nominee they would leave the Party. So much for Party unity.
In the CPAC straw poll asking who they favored in a hypothetical 2024 GOP primary, Trump won with 55% followed by Florida Governor DeSantis at 21%.
It looks to be Trump himself or a Trump supporter. But for now, Trump has frozen the field.
— John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Saturdays in the Monroe Times.
