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The Republican Screed 2024
Words Republicans Live By in 2024, As Proclaimed by Donald Trump and Approved by 85% of Republicans

(IndieDems Note: This is not to be taken as an exhaustive list of Trump's insults, ignorance, & craziness.)

The party’s three leading candidates are speaking about history and race in polarizing and provocative ways that sometimes diverge from or distort the facts, some political strategists, experts and civil rights leaders said

The veil is off.

(IndieDems note: At first, we thought we would incorporate Trump's recent overt us of the language of fascism into our existing feature story, "Trump's Resemblance to Hitler is Increasing, Not Diminishing," since it  fleshed out the theme. But on second thought, Trump's words are such a clean-cut watershed, we decided they warranted separate treatment).

In a speech in New Hampshire on Veterans Day (Nov 11), Trump called his political enemies “vermin” and vowed to “root out” his liberal opponents if he returned to office, suggesting that they pose a greater threat to the United States than countries such as Russia, China or North Korea. Historians pointed out that his use of the term “vermin” echoed dictators like Hitler and Mussolini. Trump’s caustic rhetoric was viewed in the context that he has repeatedly praised dictatorial thugs like Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi, North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un, and Hungary’s rightwing strongman Orban.

(His precise words:“We will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country"....Outside threats are “far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within.”).

In an interview with rightwing broadcaster Glen Beck on November 7, Trump vowed  to lock up political enemies if he returns to White House. Beck had asked, “if you’re president again, will you lock people up?” Trump replied, “The answer is you have no choice, because they’re doing it to us.” Trump went on to say Democrats and other opponents were “sick people … evil people.”

Trump's words over the past week simply prove conclusively what he has been demonstrating in one way or other since he announced his presidential bid in 2015: Donald Trump not only has no respect for America's basic democratic and moral values, he would cast them completely aside is he is re-elected president. The "rule of law" and common human decency mean nothing to him. As the public record plainly shows, Trump has nothing but contempt for God's Commandments that forbid lying, committing adultery, and stealing.

Of course, it's not just Trump whose moral universe is revealed as seriously questioned. Millions of Republicans support his immoral, authoritarian agenda. The more evidence of his criminal acts that are revealed in the legal trials he is facing, the stronger his support becomes among Republicans. The reprobate who is waging a war against democracy itself is the Republicans' overwhelming favorite to be their presidential nominee in 2024.

IndieDems note: As regular readers of these pages know well, IndieDems makes frequent use of commentary from other sources as the bases of our own analysis. Articles from newspapers, social media, etc., are posted with links to the original. Sometimes they a left to stand alone, sometimes followed by "IndieDems comment." But, in this instance, no link is provided to the original. Reason: the commentary is from a subscriber-only newsletter. But--the sentences are also a point-by-point recitation of facts. We thought having these facts as a convenient reference justified publishing them,even though it may strain SOP.)

Republicans Threaten the National Security of the United States

In a recent media article, David French points out he once worked together with Mike Johnson, whom Republicans recently elected as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, in the "same Christian law firm." But, French says, two events from Mike Johnson’s early days as Speaker encapsulate how he and some other Republicans view the "broken way" Johnson and other evangelicals approach politics. In Johnson's first press conference after his election, a reporter started to ask Johnson about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. But before she could finish, "Johnson’s Republican colleagues started to shout her down." Johnson simply shook his head and said. “Next question,” as if the query wasn’t worth his time.

The second instance came when, in an interview on a news network, Johnson was asked about the source of his basic political philosophy. He replied: What do I think about any issue under the sun? "Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.” ,

French disputed this, saying "the Bible isn’t actually a clear guide to 'any issue under the sun.' ” But, he said, it is a much clearer guide for Christian virtue--and went on to point out Johnson's failure to meet that standard in several ways. Where, for example, is the Christian virtue of honesty in Johnson's pepetuating the Big Lie about massive fraud stealing the 2020 election from Trump and participating in the criminal effort to overturn the lawful results? Or, promoting the same theories as some of the most corrupt and incompetent lawyers in American legal life?

French concludes: "This is precisely indicative of the political ruthlessness that’s overtaken evangelical Republicans. They are inflexible about policy positions even when the Bible is silent or vague. They are flexible about morality even when the Bible is clear...there is a clear theme that echoes throughout the Bible..."The ends do not justify the means."

IndieDems Comment:

Why anybody would take seriously anyone who claims his every word and deed is based on what the Bible says, is beyond me. The historical track record proves beyond a doubt such people, far from being Christians, are cafeteria Christians, people who have gone through the Bible, picked the parts they like, thrown the rest in the trash, and proclaimed their selection constitutes Christianity. Amazing that such people are taken seriously and leap to the top of evangelical leadership. Even after a novelist wrote the book Elmer Gantry, a character who represents these evangelical hypocrites to a “T.” And if you’ve never seen the movie, "A Face in the Crowd," check it out.

As for Johnson and his fidelity to the Bible, French eloquently points out the glaring hypocrisy of this coming from a person who played a major role in the Big Lie about voter fraud that led to the Big Crime of attempting to overturn a lawful presidential election. And phony baloney cafeteria Christians like Johnson continue to support for president a charlatan who violates no less than three of God’s Commandments, the ones that forbid lie, adultery, and stealing. Jesus explicitly called for adherence to the Commandments.

But the hypocrites vigorously oppose abortion, something Jesus never said one word about. In fact, neither does the Bible. Google it.

Nobel Prize Winner Paul Krugman examines the Republican election of Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House and other acts by Trump and the Trump-dominated GOP.

Excerpts

“Trying to keep your party in power after it lost a free and fair election, without a shred of evidence of significant fraud, isn’t just denial; it’s a betrayal of democracy.”

“Johnson isn’t just someone who wants to legalize discrimination against L.G.B.T.Q. Americans and ban gay marriage; he’s on record as defending the criminalization of gay sex.”

Johnson is also on record as favoring radical cut backs in programs that benefit the average American. He once served as chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group that devises policy proposals. The budget proposal the committee released for 2020 under his chairmanship calls for the evisceration of the U.S. social safety net — not just programs for the poor, but also policies that form the bedrock of financial stability for the American middle class.

“So Mike Johnson is on record advocating policies on retirement, health care and other areas—like food stamps—that would basically end American society as we know it. We would become a vastly crueler and less secure nation, with far more sheer misery.”

The Republican Extremist Threat to America

-By Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post

Excerpts:

"When a sizable portion of one of the major political parties, aided by a right-wing propaganda machine and infused with religious fervor, rejects the basis for multiracial, multicultural democracy, we face a severe crisis. Even if Trump does not return to the White House, this radicalized segment will not disappear. How we reintegrate millions of Americans into reality-based, pro-democracy politics in a diverse country remains the great challenge of our time."

“With their sympathies for authoritarianism, radical ideology and banning abortion, many Republicans, especially the GOP’s main base of White evangelical Christians, are out of step with the rest of the country.”

Full Story                                                                           
-Opinion: NYTimes

NYT 9/15/23
Mitt Romney Has It Half Right
"much of the Republican Party has jettisoned any commitment to America’s democratic values in favor of narrow self-interest."