A little idle speculation and fantasy indulgence on my part: Imagine for a moment that we removed all the shitty GOP rat-fuckery and dis-information, so that everybody got good information, and everybody who wanted to vote got to vote, and there was actually some Truth-In-Advertising when it came to the shit flood that political ads have become.
Those 81,000,000 votes for Biden/Harris would've been 92,000,000 and the 74 million that went to Trump would dwindle to about 60 or 65.
Republicans put up a massive swindle. It worked well enough to get them by in the Senate and the House, but Trump still got his ass whupped. Bad. And that's why they're crying over it now - they scream about how it was stolen, but what they're actually saying is "How dare you win something that we've worked so diligently to hijack!?"
So what now? I think it'll be the usual. They hunker down and consolidate their gains (200+ "conservative" assholes on the Federal Bench plus a 6-3 majority at SCOTUS) - they're already putting on their "fiscal conservative/budget hawk" masks, and starting to bitch about how Biden is a spendthrift who's failing before he even takes the fucking oath.
All of which has become the standard play. They tie all of their fuckups and fuckery to Trump's leg; they tie Trump to the mainmast, and they escape in whatever lifeboats they've been busy building.
The Reform Party. The Tea Party. Third Way. No Labels.
Meanwhile, the Press Poodles will re-up their usual bullshit and pretend it's all Trump, and it's never been anything but Trump, and gee whiz wouldn't it be just grand if the last 50 years of Republican shit just didn't happen at all? Let's do that - it's worked well every time we've tried it. Let's get out there and shove it all down the memory hole cuz those quarterly revenue targets aren't gonna meet themselves, y'know.
Here's the thing: No matter how hard they sell the idea, Trump has not remade the Republican Party in his own image. He's the perfect reflection of what the GOP is now, and has been for quite a while.
But WaPo, as always, is happy to oblige and give it their best shot (try this - whenever you see or hear "Trumpism", replace it in your mind with "The Republican Daddy State"):
The fight against Trumpism is only beginning
While President Trump will leave office as a failed, one-term president, the fight against Trumpism is just beginning.
A year ago, The Lincoln Project launched with two stated goals: First, Defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. Second, ensure Trumpism failed alongside him. We are proud to have been a part of the broad and deep coalition that helped elect Joe Biden and Kamala D. Harris to the White House. Trumpism, however, is far from extinction.
The six weeks since Election Day have seen much of the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, turn fully against American democracy.
Trump’s allies and abettors, including more than 100 lawmakers and 18 Republican state attorneys general, tried to poison our political system in the service of a personality cult. Theirs is a veneration driven not by high ideals but by fear, resentment and a transparent desire to maintain power for its own sake.
Even now, many Republicans in Congress continue to try, by ludicrous and quixotic means, to overturn the will of more than 80 million voters. This week, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) privately warned Republicans not to disrupt the official opening of electoral votes on Jan. 6.
Their allies in the right-wing media ecosphere have increased the volume so much that a majority of Republicans now believe the election was stolen from Trump, despite Biden’s clear and overwhelming victory. Trump and his Republican allies continue to degrade the electoral process and talk of continued challenges, all to feed the ego of a malignant narcissist who refuses to concede his decisive defeat. Last weekend, the Proud Boys rampaged in downtown Washington, reminding us that violence is their next iteration.
We must combat these forces, everywhere and all the time. It will take the dedication of citizens of all political beliefs to recognize that what Trumpism represents is far outside the American mainstream. Progressives will need to join with conservatives. Independents will need to join the army of decency and democracy.
There is an aversion by some to take a binary view of this fight. But this is a basic choice: Trumpism or America.
Trump’s camp followers, such as Stephen K. Bannon, Alex Jones, Fox News, OAN, Newsmax and many others, will not stop actively injecting disinformation into the country’s air supply. They are highly skilled, and we must not underestimate their ability to pull us apart and keep us divided. Trump’s helpmates have called for honorable public officials to be beheaded, drawn and quartered and taken outside to be shot. They are living proof of what former president Ronald Reagan said: "Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction."
Today, it is not too much to say that we are only one election from the end of the American experiment. Until and unless we excise and remove Trumpism from American life, the foundations of our democracy — that make all the other arguments and actions possible — will collapse. We cannot allow this on our watch.
As we prosecute the fight against the Boogaloo Boys, the false evangelical prophets and the authoritarian media outlets, there are a few things each of us can do. Like the millions of people who have followed the Lincoln Project, communicate with your elected officials and let them know you’re watching. Next, be prepared to take action — through peaceful demonstrations, public awareness campaigns, volunteering and voting, to ensure your friends, neighbors and family know what’s at stake.
We must also understand why 74 million Americans thought Trump was a better option than Biden. Despite using the Oval Office for his own gain, making a mockery of the presidency and allowing covid-19 to rampage across the nation, voters of all stripes made this choice.
Why? Perhaps a third are the MAGA faithful. Another third bought into the blatant fearmongering around “socialism” and “defund the police.” The last 25 million or so voters? They most likely have always voted Republican and cannot imagine doing otherwise. Regardless of their reasoning, we must begin communicating with these voters who have fallen in line behind a megalomaniac with authoritarian goals.
Those of us who voted for Biden and Harris must remember that our coalition is our best offense and defense. Though we will not agree on everything, we must march forward together against the forces of authoritarianism. We must fight for the foundations of a democratic society: A new voting rights act. A new civil rights act. Increased election security and a commitment to keep foreign actors out of our elections.
Lastly, we must identify, call out, and repudiate any and all false information, lies and fiction with which the Republican Party and its allies infect the American political bloodstream. We must remind people that open sewer pipes such as Facebook and Parler are the propagators of authoritarian belief, racism and white-nationalist terror.
If we do all this, we will win this fight, and we will enjoy the quiet pride knowing that we stood up when our country and our fellow citizens needed it most.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the insight and the input, but the Never Trumpers are the villains who got us into this fucked up mess to begin with, and are now trying desperately to rehabilitate themselves. While I can make common cause with just about anyone who wants to stand with me in a fight, we've seen this movie a few times too many. If they wanna shut up while they chop wood and carry water, fine - but they're not to be trusted with anything beyond that - they've got a long long way to go before they've earned their way back into partnership.
Burn the lifeboats
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