(Redacted Excerpts)
“Eight years of bitter experience have taught us that supporting Trump degrades the character of his core supporters…the most enduring legacy of a second Trump term could well be the conviction on the part of millions of Americans that Trumpism isn’t just a temporary political expediency, but the model for Republican political success and — still worse — the way that God wants Christian believers to practice politics.”
Trump has escalated his use of indefensible and repugnant language, calling his political opponents “vermin” and declaring that immigrants entering America illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
The result is a religious movement steeped in fanaticism but stripped of virtue. The Christian virtues touted in the New Testament — “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” — have been replaced in MAGA Christianity by the very vileness the same passage warned against, including “hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions” and “factions.”
As the mainstream media are increasingly recognizing, Donald Trump has not single-handedly turned American politics into a racist, xenophobic, conspiracy-mongering cesspool. It isn’t even Trump plus his famous know-nothing extremist base that accomplished the deed.
It is the Republican Party that has thrown overboard the basic moral, democratic, and religious values that have guided the country for 240 years. It’s the Republican Party that has adopted lies and extremism as a normal way of life and transformed itself into a replica of the fascist parties that spread so much evil in the 1930s and 40s.
It’s millions of Republicans who, as the 2024 election season heated up in recent weeks, stepped up their all-out, multi-dimensional campaign to impose Trump’s vision of an authoritarian, lawless regime on the United States. Here are some of the prime examples of their deeds. The details under the headlines are the exact or slightly redacted quotes from the articles.
Trump’s promotion of debunked election report reveals divisions in his circle
“In interviews, academic and legal experts debunked the content of the report Trump promoted.”
Trump tries reappropriating ‘insurrection’ on Jan. 6 anniversary
In campaign speeches surrounding the third anniversary of the attack, the former president defended people charged in the riot and repeated baseless claims that left-wing or government interlopers caused the breach
Three years later, beware dangerous revisionism of Jan. 6
Trump skips Illinois loyalty oath promising not to overthrow government
Trump “did not sign a loyalty oath requested of candidates for election in Illinois that asks, among other things, to swear that they won’t support overthrowing the government, according to an analysis of candidate petitions by the local news outlets WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times.”
Trump reprises dehumanizing language on undocumented immigrants, warns of ‘invasion’
Former president Donald Trump on Sunday accused undocumented immigrants of waging an “invasion” of the United States, in a speech that highlighted his frequent use of dehumanizing language and exaggerated terms to describe many foreigners seeking to enter the country.
Trump leaning into his criminality because Republicans love his crimes
Donald Trump has been leaning into the crimes that he's been charged with committing, and MSNBC's Joe Scarborough concluded that his supporters actually approve of him breaking the law.
Scarborough’s conclusion: Trump’s attendance is his best campaign move. “Republicans love that he commits fraud, Republicans love that he steals nuclear secrets, and I have no direct evidence of that other than looking at his poll numbers when it comes out that he's actually committed fraud, and when they find out he's stolen nuclear secrets, his numbers go up."
(In IndieDems view, Scarborough has nailed the pathetic state of the Republican Party in 2024).
Led by Trump, GOP candidates take polarizing stances on race and history
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
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States were cooperating on election integrity. Then GOP officials quit
Since 2022, nine states where Republican officials administer elections have quit a nonprofit, nonpartisan consortium that helps keep voter rolls up to date through interstate data exchange.
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3 years after Jan. 6 attack, GOP loyalty to Trump and rioters climbs, poll finds
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These politicians denied democracy on Jan. 6. Now, they want your vote.
While the violent mob swarmed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, aiming to subvert democracy and keep President Donald Trump in power, another group was already working on the same project inside.
In an unsuccessful bid to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, 147 Republicans formally supported objection to counting Joe Biden’s electoral votes.
(The article provides cartoon caricature portraits of the Republicans, by region.)
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Extremist MAGA Republican Web Site Still Pushing Michigan Election Fraud Lie
Three years after the 2020 elections, right-wing website Gateway Pundit published a lurid story about burner phones, semiautomatic weapons, silencers and bags of prepaid cash cards. “NOW WE HAVE PROOF!” blared the headline.
Of course, they had not a shred of evidence, but the story “provided weeks of headlines that radiated across right-wing media and were repeatedly amplified by pro-Trump influencers.”
“The outlet’s emphasis on long-debunked fraud claims helps explain why election denial has proved so durable.”
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Donald Trump's Own Expert Debunks His Election Claims
“The elections technology expert who former President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign hired to find voter fraud debunked Trump's claims again in a scathing op-ed in USA Today. Ken Block, founder of the analytics company that Trump contracted in the wake of the last presidential election, said on January 2 that the extensive research his company did no evidence that election fraud contributed to President Joe Biden's win. He blasted Trump's "steady diet of lies and innuendo."
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
On November 14, Republican U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, after sparring verbally with an unfriendly witness from the Teamsters Union in a Senate hearing, leapt up out of his seat and challenged the Teamster to a personal fight.
See the FULL STORY
Earlier the same week, Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee accused former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of elbowing him in the kidneys while Burchett was talking to a reporter. Burchett criticized McCarthy for being a “bully,” a sign of the growing animosity within Republican ranks, as well as between the parties. Burchett was one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy and has continued to heavily criticize him.
Vulgarities, insults, baseless attacks: Trump backers follow his lead
Ms. Grose has nailed it with her term “toxic immaturity.” The Republicans display of this deep seated character flaw has become so flagrant & surprising, it’s caught us by surprise and left us numb. But we need to counterattack. These GOP numbskulls cannot be allowed to hold public office. The presence in our political institutions of these Republicans with the mentality of 17 year old punks is another democracy-destroying consequence of years of Republican gerrymandering, voter suppression, and intimidation. These reprobates have gained so much undeserved, disproportionate power, they have distorted American democracy beyond belief.
It is these Republican purveyors of toxic immaturity that set the stage for the likely Republican presidential nominee earlier this month to openly declare his intention, if re-elected, is to destroy democracy and establish a proto-fascist regime that will use government’s police power to lock up political opponents and put people in concentration camps.
(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
IndieDems note: Please see the companion post, "Republicans Threaten U.S. National Security As Well as Democracy." 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.)
| Democrats would be foolish to ignore their opponents’ dangerous dereliction of the first responsibility of government: ensure the safety and security of Americans.
But they must also disavow elements on the far left spouting “colonialism” poppycock about Israel and insisting we distance ourselves from our closest ally in the region. President Biden and the vast majority of Democrats understand that the survival of both Israel and Ukraine are national imperatives for the United States. |
| Biden needs to reiterate the message. “History has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction,” Biden said in his Oct. 19 Oval Office address. “They keep going. And the cost and the threat to America and the world keep rising.”
He and his supporters need to emphasize that there are few people who could steer the United States and our allies through a perilous time for the international community. Sadly, only one party has a coherent, responsible view of U.S. leadership in the world based on our national interests and values. The GOP, which once boasted it helped defeat the Soviet Union and end the Cold War, now cannot be trusted to lead in a uniquely dangerous and complex international landscape. Every despot, from Putin to Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman, would cheer Trump’s return. Biden cannot let voters ignore this frightful possibility. |
| ADVE |
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."
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.