HOW FAR TO THE RIGHT IS FAR ENOUGH?
I have a very important question for the GOP:
When will they stop moving farther and farther to the right? How far to the right is far enough?
This is the one question that Republicans never seem willing to ask themselves. When there is nothing farther to the right except fascism, will they ever stop moving in that direction of their own accord?
Instead of assessing their true place on the political spectrum, they turn and cast aspersions on others less Rightwing than themselves. They look at the middle of the spectrum where millions of liberals and moderates gather and call them “The Left” to make their own reactionary positions a little less obvious. The middle of the spectrum only becomes “the left” when conservatives become unchecked Ultra-rightwingers, truth to tell.
The Rightists are the first to engage in such slander because their actual positions are indefensible and not in keeping with America’s democratic traditions. They ignore their constitutional duties and responsibilities if carrying them out faithfully might mean a weakening of their party’s stranglehold on the economic system and the hoarding of its wealth.
Throughout the 20th century, they insult with an intent to injure when they resort to phrases like “Bolshevik menace”, “Red Scare” (twice!) and “The Left.”[1] If there were a real leftwing party in existence, then perhaps some healthy mudslinging might be justified. Historically, socialist parties, for example, believed capitalism was the root of all evil.
That Left believed in the need for a working-class socialist revolution to unseat the capitalist class from its ruthless exploitative role. They have been represented by men like Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Lenin and Stalin, Mao Tse Tung and Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Those men were revolutionary members of “The Left” who were utterly opposed to the militarism, racism, and poverty of capitalism. They all tried, and several succeeded, in organizing a socialist revolution.
Now compare: since 1960, there have been four Democratic presidents. To call men like John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama “leftist” is so ludicrous it’s laughable. If the country is in deep peril the threat comes from the right, especially now when the GOP has moved so far to the right that ordinary moderates on the political spectrum look like “Leftists” to them!
It is the same rhetoric seen from murderous fascist dictators like Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco. All of their political opponents become “the enemy”; they relied on a private army of terrorists and thugs to beat up their foes to save the nation from the “Bolshevik Menace”; they cracked down and curtailed freedom of speech, newspapers, labor unions, and any and all institutions where the slightest criticism of their fascist policies was ever expressed.
The embryonic form of the fascist mentality began much earlier, however. In due time even the GOP, as blind as its party leaders sometimes appear to be, must come to realize that their moving constantly to the right will bring them to the camp of the fascist leaders and parties.
They have been taking a series of small steps in that direction for the last several decades; lately, they seem increasingly emboldened about their eventual destination.
The Senate, under the control of the Republicans, had a constitutional obligation to consider President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court—when they refused to comply with the U.S. Constitution. That isn’t a party remaining within the arena of democratic expression; that is a step taken to undermine and oppose lawful constitutional requirements because they controlled the Senate and could do so—which is another name for unrestrained power grab.
The party and the president are not observing and following the rule of law. The president tolerates white supremacy as he abdicates his expected prole of providing moral leadership to the nation. He dances around the emoluments clause as though it doesn’t apply to him; he tries to enrich himself in various ways like having leaders of other nations stay at his hotels or having U.S. airplanes use a small airfield in Scotland near another of his properties.
Even more concerning than his greed, he tries to cover up his miscues as well as his behind-the-scenes manipulation of people and information. He’s committed adultery; he used vulgar language caught on tape; he pays off porn stars; and he threatens (by withholding military aid) the president of Ukraine unless the latter starts an investigation to dig up dirt on a political opponent, former Vice-President Joe Biden (a story still growing larger day by day as of this writing). Blackmail, extortion, bribery: call it what you will, such actions would be considered reprehensible coming from a mob boss, let alone the president of the United States.
He lies or falsifies news daily; he throws people under the bus; he hires and fires individuals for key posts so he can get nothing but “yes men” to surround him; he makes false allegations and keeps control of his base as though he were the head of a cult; he makes accusations against others that best apply to himself and yet constantly misses the irony of his foolish falsehoods and baseless slanders.
He tries to deflect criticism and investigation by flinging out wild and ridiculous slanders against anyone who comes too close to ferreting out the truth or is willing to stand up to his unstable tirades. He insults journalists and judges only doing their job if their questions or rulings are not to his liking. A true Narcissist, he shows repeatedly that he is unable to control his narcissistic impulses and creates an alternate fantasy world.
The truth in stories reported by reputable journalist leads to a cry of “fake news”; the investigation of his phone call to the president of Ukraine leads to a cry of “witch hunt”. He cannot face the truth; he cannot come clean through honesty; he cannot admit he made a mistake or correct his errors when it would be absolutely prudent for him to do so.
He does not have an inkling of what real statesmanship looks like; he doesn’t appear to have any serious knowledge of his constitutional obligations, presidential protocol, or America’s democratic traditions—all of which are vital to the choices any president must make. He argues with and contradicts his own intelligence services and casts aspersions upon their ability and loyalty; he makes everything that happens about him and his ego rather than the nation’s needs; he fails to establish a bonafide record of his fidelity to its most cherished principles.
I repeat my question: When will the GOP stop moving farther and farther to the right? How far to the right is far enough? The rightward shift of the last several decades has brought to the White House an uncontrollable and insufferable Narcissist who will always put his own interests first ahead of the nation.
If
this is the man the shift to the Far Right has given us, what is next? Will Trump prove a historical anomaly
following which the nation regains its senses and the presidency its sanity, or
shall future history textbooks write that another significant step toward
fascism began with his election? To
all the leaders of the GOP, how far to the Right is too far?
[1] “The Bolshevik menace” 1917; Red Scare #1 and Red Scare #2 (Palmer Raids and McCarthyism) 1920’s and 1950’s; “Leftist” (GOP attack on Democrats) 2016 . . . to present. �� W9��l
