“I know it’s written in the Constitution, but I don’t care! Make me!
-Senator Mitch McConnell
“Evil flourishes when good men do nothing.”
Note the quotes above. What Mitch McConnell said, in refusing to hold hearings for the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016, is now the mantra of the Republican Party. This party has lost all sense of morals and will now lie, cheat, and steal to get what they want, especially to win elections. There chief desire is to obtain (more) money and power for themselves.
I write this essay on the first anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
The attack was incited by President Donald Trump, because he lost the Presidential election, but would not accept defeat. So Trump claimed that the election was rigged, even after multiple recounts across the country, all confirming his defeat.
Radical Republicans and Trump supporters, including professionals, being doctors, lawyers, soldiers, policemen, pastors, teachers, people from all walks of life, were encouraged by Trump to march to the U.S. Capitol building while the electoral college was in session to officially confirm Joe Biden as the next President. All of these people formed a mob and marched to the Capitol.
The mob arrived, broke windows, committing acts of vandalism, assaulting, even killing policemen and Capitol guards, while President Trump sat in the White House and gleefully watched the whole thing, without summoning any help.
Trump was impeached for the second time in his term, but was acquitted by the Senate, for the second time. All who voted to acquit Trump were Republicans. There were a few Republicans who voted to impeach him (Rep. Liz Cheney for one) but were ostracized by other Republicans, which brings us to the main theme of this essay, the Republican Party and the threat is represents to America today.
Even though there is a panel investigating the January 6, 2021 riot, and over 725 have been indicted, with a few already in jail, I feel that the Republicans in Congress, despite the fact that many of them had to hide in their offices from the mob that day, condoned the attack.
The 2022 off-year election is coming up to re-elect Congress, and one third of the Senate. It is greatly assumed, and feared, that the Republican Party will regain control of both the Senate and the House, and they will then shut down the investigation, permanently, letting anyone involved get off scot free. I will even go as far as to say that they will give a blanket pardon to those who are presently in jail, release them, and have everything they did stricken from their records.
Much of this will be for the party’s own protection, for there is evidence that many members of Congress may have had a part in this attack.
As a result, the Republicans will treat this entire incident as if it never happened, and this will only be the beginning.
The Republicans will change election laws to the utmost extreme, to make sure that no Republican candidate - local, state, or national, will ever lose another election.
The Republicans want one party rule, their party, permanently, for the whole United States.
Does this sound far fetched?
Consider these laws that have passed, are being passed, or have been submitted right now, and ask yourself why. I will write the word “WHY” in capital letter at the end of each paragraph to stress the impact of what is happening.
First the HR1, the Voting Rights Act, guaranteeing every American citizen over the age of 18 the right to vote, yet the Republican Senate, led by Mitch McConnell, refuses to endorse this bill.
WHY?
In many cities, there are long lines of voters waiting to vote for literally hours on end because of too few polling places, while in other cities, there are plenty of polling stations for anyone in that city to go to, vote, and then leave within 20 minutes.
WHY?
In Georgia, where there are long lines to vote, with voters waiting long hours, a law was passed forbidding anyone to give the voters waiting to vote water if they are thirsty, or snacks if they are hungry, no matter how long these voters stand in line.
WHY?
Over 40 states are trying to pass voter suppression laws, limiting the number of people that can vote, for various reason, many of them trivial. In other words, they are making harder for some people to vote.
WHY?
Voter fraud has been an issue with many party members, yet in all the election, especially the last, 2020, there has been no evidence of voter fraud, even after multiple recounts, yet Trump and his followers, and most of the Republican Party, still claim that the election was stolen from Trump.
WHY? (Because Trump lost, and he is acting like a spoiled child)
In President Biden’s speech at the U.S. Capitol on the first anniversary of the rioting, Biden pointed out that the names of Senatorial, Congressional, and Gubernatorial candidates, all the way down to local officials, were on the same paper ballots as Joe Biden and Donald Trump, yet on these very same ballots, nobody, but nobody, ever claimed voter fraud to the winning candidates of other offices, as Trump and his followers did with Biden.
WHY?
Bills have been submitted giving the local governments the right to call any election invalid, giving the losing candidate the office no matter how few votes the candidate had received. There does not have to be a reason for this, this is just to make sure the Republican candidate gets the office.
WHY?
Here are some other questions concerning Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party:
During the Obama Administration, Judge Anthony Kennedy stepped down as a Supreme Court Justice. President Obama the nominated Merrick Garland to be the next Supreme Court Justice, pending a Congressional hearing, but Senator Mitch McConnell, then Senate Majority Leader, refused to hold it and chose to wait a year until after the election of 2016.
WHY?
When McConnell was reminded of what was in the U.S. Constitution, he replied, “I know it’s written in the Constitution, but I don’t care! Make me!”
What does this say about Mitch McConnell?
First, a Senate Majority leader, or any government official, who has no regard for what is in the Constitution has no business being in government.
Not only should President Obama have “made him,” and he could have done so, but Mitch McConnell should have been impeached, and thrown out of office. An elected official is sworn to uphold the Constitution and to defend it from enemies, foreign and domestic, and if that official doesn’t care what the Constitution say, he or she has no place in government.
Also, having no regard for the Constitution is the beginning of tyranny.
We had to wait a year before Trump was elected and then nominate a Conservative Judge to Mitch McConnell’s liking.
Ironically, when Judge Ruth Baden Ginsburg died four years later, McConnell rushed through Amy Coney Barrett fast, before Biden was sworn in as President.
Two Conservative Justices, one waited a year before nomination, the other almost instantaneous, with no regard for the Constitution, or to what Ruth Bader Ginsburg requested in her will, that no justice be nominated or sworn in until the next President of the U.S. is sworn in, yet Mitch McConnell complete disregarded her wishes and put in a justice immediately.
WHY?
Senate Majority/Minority leader Mitch McConnell stated that he will devote all his time and energy to make sure that Obama’s presidential terms will be a total failure.
WHY? (Here, Obama did manage to surpass McConnell’s agenda most of the time.)
McConnell is now trying to do the same with President Biden.
WHY?
There is one exception to this. McConnell did support Biden on rebuilding the national infrastructure. He had to, because it would have been dangerous for McConnell not to, by losing popularity, and votes, from those who would have benefited from this bill.
Many bills, passed through Congress, move on to the Senate, as the Constitution requires, but end up on McConnell’s desk, to pile up and never be looked at, never mind passed.
WHY?
McConnell will not allow programs, initiated by the Democrats, to pass, even if they benefit his own constituents.
WHY?
McConnell obviously has too much power, which he abuses, simply to thumb his nose at the President of the United States.
The purpose of government officials, whether elected or not, is to work together for the benefit of the American people, not themselves, and not their party. Yet they don’t seem to know this.
When an election ends, it’s over, period. The victors, regardless of party, take their seats and work together to rebuild this country, secure it against all enemies, foreign and domestic (and we do have a lot of domestic enemies in government right now), and to pass laws that will benefit and protect society.
They are not in competition with each other, nor should a party boss tell other officials how to vote on any single issue. Blackmail, which is a common occurrence, should be illegal.
This is not the Mafia. Any and every Senator and Representative should vote on how he or she feels about an issue, not how the party feels.
They are Americans first. Partisan politics should not even enter into this. Democrats and Republicans need to work with each other again.
They are here to serve, not to be served. It seems that too many politicians have forgotten that.
This has evolved into a war where the Republicans (Reds) and the Democrats (Blues) have polarized and will not speak to each other. We are headed in the direction of a new Civil War, and that’s bad.
Here are two examples.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene advocated that any Democrat that moves to a Red state should NOT be allowed to vote. Greene is the epitome of Partisan hatred. She is both crazy and dangerous.
Also, it is greatly feared that many Republican officials, especially Donald Trump, should he get re-elected President (I hope not) and Senator Mitch McConnell, should he retake the Senate Majority, will take REVENGE against Democrats that have gone against their agendas in the past.
Hatred? Revenge? Is this any way a government should be run?
Trump will never concede the election, even after multiple recounts. Still, he calls the election stolen, and his followers, no matter what their profession or how high on the scale they are, believe him.
In all other elections, when a candidate lost, he or she conceded with dignity, and their supporters, no matter who they are, have accepted defeat.
Why should this be any different now?
Instead, they are rioting, committing acts of vandalism, sending death threats to officials who count and tabulate the votes. Many elected officials are now going as far as to submit new “Jim Crow 2.0” bills, hoping they will pass. They would make it difficult for Blacks and other minorities to vote. This is because they usually vote Democratic, increasing the chances that Republicans would lose certain elections.
Republican politicians, including Trump, have gone as far as to admit that they will steal the next election.
The biggest question is, which nobody has ever brought up is - what do the Republicans have to offer the whole United States?
Our infrastructure is deteriorating, and fortunately, President Biden has managed to pass the infrastructure part of his “Build Back Better” plan, but we need to do more.
The Republicans want to outlaw abortion, but they have nothing better to put in its place. (Note: You may not like abortion, but it IS a woman’s right. I believe in absolute gender equality, and a woman is NOT property. If you are a male reading this, you need to accept that. Also, the genie is out of the bottle, so to speak. The technology for abortion exists, and wherever it will be outlawed, that woman will either go where it is legal and get one, or she will go to the back alleys, and they WILL exist, no matter what.
It must also be noted that “abortion mafias” will come into existence. This means that in a place like Texas, where abortions are illegal after six weeks, (and people can inform on the woman and the provider) the back alleys will prop up, and if anyone informs of their activities, these informers will be hunted down and killed by “mobsters.” This WILL happen, no matter how outlandish it may seem now.
The Republicans will NOT pass bills to protect women from domestic violence.
Again, WHY?
Do they think that a man can do as he pleases to his wife, beat, torture, and even kill her?
How do the Republicans really feel about woman’s equality? Do they support it? Or do they think that a woman is subject to ownership by a male? How do woman Republicans feel about equality for women? How about domestic violence?
The Republicans know that our economy is in trouble, but they continue to lower taxes for the rich, money that the rich will never use, do not need, and cannot even begin to spend. They just want to hoard it. Which will make that very money worth nothing!
This makes less money available to the federal budget, money needed to pay for fire, police, the infrastructure, and education, to name a few.
The money to pay for rebuilding the infrastructure will not come from raising taxes on the rich.
The Republicans do this so they can get money and votes from these entities so they can keep being re-elected. (It must be noted that there are Democrats in this same position. Think of Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, supported by the coal companies, which he gets a kickback.)
And so it goes for issues like gun control. The Republicans will alway oppose it, no matter how many mass killings occur.
So what do the Republicans have to offer the American people? Not much, because they don’t care. All they care about is money and power for themselves, and if the average American is left holding the bag, well, it doesn’t matter to them.
What about education; alternative energy; the environment; the Corona Virus?
They care for none of these things. Education doesn’t mean anything to them. They would like to control it, even rewrite history in their favor, starting with the riots of January 6, 2021.
Alternative energy is a threat to them because it cuts into the profits of fossil fuel companies, and their own since they are taking “donations” from them for their campaigns, and their pockets.
When it comes to protecting the environment and climate change, forget it!
First, they say they do not believe in climate change, but I think that many of them do. In spite of this, they deny because they feel that if they were to try and fight it, it would cut into their profits and two, many more powerful Republicans would turn on them and punish them.
They care absolutely nothing for the environment. Nothing! They want unlimited mining, especially for coal, but also fracking, oil pumped anywhere and everywhere in all environmentally sensitive areas, including the ocean. If there is a disastrous oil spill, it won’t matter to them. Nothing will be done.
They will permit the logging of forests, no matter how ancient, they will permit the mining of unique and sacred areas, they will permit unlimited damage and cause unlimited pollution. Did I tell you they will abolish anti-pollution laws? Trump attempted just that, and succeeded in some areas.
For Covid vaccinations and protection from the virus? This baffles me. How can ANYONE be anti-vaccine, especially with a pandemic engulfing the whole world, and a method of prevention is available, yet they are against it. Many anti-vaxxers do change their minds, when they are dying in a hospital bed, and then it’s too late.
I feel that the Republican Party is run like the Mafia, with each politician being told how to vote regardless how each individual may otherwise feel. If they were to vote against the grain, they would suffer severe consequences, like being ostracized and be unable to run for office again.
I believe that many Senate Republicans wanted to have Trump removed from office and be banned from ever running again after leaving office, but were afraid to do so because of what might happen to them, even suffer Trump’s wrath with the power he still had.
Any Republican who wishes for redemption must be brave enough to stand up to both Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump and truly speak his or her mind. Liz Cheney is one such person, and there are a few others, but only a few.
I am sorry to say that the majority of Republicans are cowards. They cannot stand up for themselves and do the right thing by fighting the evil that now prevails in our government. That is the bottom line.
If Donald Trump ever gets re-elected in 2024, it will be a disaster for all of us. He will reinstate disastrous rulings that have been banned under the Biden Administration, will once again alienate our allies, and he will exact revenge on anyone and everyone who previously opposed him in any way.
It will be Hell on Earth for the U.S, and the rest of the world.
This will only be the beginning.
If the Republican Party should exact one-party run starting in 2022, the United States will have little or no hope for the future as a democracy.
Here is a listing of what is to come, should this come to pass:
Women will lose their rights they have fought for for the past 150 years - all gone!
Also, abortion will be outlawed. It doesn’t matter what your views on this are. It is a woman’s right, and hers alone.
Blacks and all other minorities will lose their rights that they have fought for and achieved. The United States will revert back to the Jim Crow laws of the early 20th century.
Gays and Lesbians will lose their rights. You may not approve of their lifestyle, but what a person does with his or her private life is nobody’s business but their own.
Note: I know that a lot of you feel that this goes against Christian doctrine, but America is NOT a Christian country, nor it is of any other religion. The first amendment of the Constitution guarantees a complete and total separation of Church and State here, and it must be respected by ALL elected officials, and it must remain that way.
The U.S. Constitution will be torn up and disregarded. It’s happening already. Remember what Senator Mitch McConnell in nominating the next Supreme Court Justice: “I know it’s written in the Constitution, but I don’t care! Make me!” Remember that quote, if not anything else.
The investigations of the riots on January 6, 2021 will come to a halt, all evidence destroyed, and all those who participated will receive a blanket pardon and get off scot free. Those who are already in jail will be released, and have their crimes stricken from their record.
Any politician involved, up to and including Trump, will be pardoned and/or overlooked, and Congress will act as if this event never happened; or they will treat it as a guided tour or a wild party with the attitude, “Boys will be boys!”
From that point on, any Republican politician committing any crime, including murder and theft, will be overlooked by the law, now controlled by the Republican majority.
America will become a totalitarian state, with punishments up to and including the death penalty, should any citizen break ANY law Republicans they deem offensive, no matter what it is. This includes criticism of their government be it by spoken or written word.
One could go to jail for criticizing the one-party government.
Freedom of speech, assembly, and the press, will be outlawed.
Meanwhile, the right to keep and bear arms will be increased and go to extremes, mostly by “Republican Patriots” who feel they can kill anyone not faithful to the Republican Party.
There is a chance that America could become a theocracy, as in The Handmaid’s Tale. (See the series, or read the book to comprehend this statement).
The environment will be doomed. Environmental protection laws will be abolished, and industries will be able to pollute to their heart’s content.
The gap between rich and poor will widen, with the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer. There will be no middle class.
Benefits like Social Security and Medicare will be abolished.
The world will be alienated by what we are doing, and one by one, they will break off diplomatic relations.
We will fall as a world power, but those governing the U.S. will not care. All they will care about is gaining more money and power for themselves.
Many states on both the east and west coasts, and the region around the Great Lakes, will not stand for all this and secede from the Union, and form two, three, or four separate countries.
There may or may not be a civil war, but if there is, it will be bloody.
I can see the northern states all along the Canadian border, including Alaska, joining Canada.
All right, all of this may not happen all at once, but it will happen.
We cannot have the Republican Party ruling the United States under one party rule, because we have already seen what they are capable of doing.
We cannot have one party rule under any party.
The only solution I see that is half way decent is:
Abolish the Electoral College and elect the President of the United States by Popular Vote only. This will insure that NO voter fraud will occur, nor will any candidate call “fraud” should he lose the election. Should fraud occur, it will be spotted right away. There are too many voters for this to happen.
Ban Gerrymandering and set up an independent, non-partisan committee to draw up congressional districts according to set standards, without the influence from any other entity.
Set up a multi-party system like they have in Europe, especially Germany. The two party system is failing. Corruption has seeped in and cannot be corrected except by complete and total change. No one party should have absolute power. “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely!”
The Republican Party, beyond the shadow of a doubt, needs to be abolished. It needs to be replaced by a more decent, far seeing party that will put our country first, over and above party, consisting of decent, non-corrupt individuals that will vote their beliefs and conscience, not what any party leader dictates.
The Democrats have many of the same faults as the Republicans, but fortunately, not as much. Yet. They still have a shred of decency in them, but their biggest flaw is that many of them are weak and unorganized. They know the faults of the Republican and they know that if they were to go back into power, they would destroy the United States.
Yet, they are not doing enough to stop the Republicans. They are collecting donations from individual Americans (and I am a donor) but they are not doing enough after that.
They need to get together, forming strong organizations (and some do exist), see the mistakes they’ve made in the past, and correct them. They need to see how they have lost previous elections that were vital to this country and adapt a new strategy.
Once they see the mistakes they’ve made, they can avoid them and adapt a strategy of how they can reach out to more Americans, especially in the Red states.
They need to go into these hard-core Republican states and offer these voters a better deal. They need to see what these voters need, and focus on them. They need to tell them how Trump and his followers have let them down, that they don’t care about them, why they don’t care (using them for their own ends), and how they, the Democrats, do care and can make their lives better.
Then, when they are elected, follow through with their promises.
Keeping ones promises and offering a better deal and following through on it after they are elected is vital for any politician, and party, if he or she wants to both serve their country and remain in office for a long time to come.
Alastair Browne
