Those who walk in darkness, have no light
11th April 2023 · 0 Comments
Today, political pundits lump Grand Old Party members into two buckets: “MAGA Republicans” and “Conservatives.” Why the distinction? Could it be that the MAGA magic is wearing off, or some want to be called conservatives because they are embarrassed by the antics of MAGA politicians? Or are conservatives distancing themselves because the MAGA world’s rhetoric is too radical, extreme, and fascist?
Still, elected conservatives are caught between a rock and a hard place. They’ve learned from Donald J. Trump that the MAGA base, Trump’s solid but tiny minority of voters, like the hateful rhetoric and predilection to violence Trump has infused into right-wing politics.
Before and after being arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom last week, Trump spewed hate and hurled bald-faced lies at those he says want to persecute him and destroy “our” country, meaning himself.
Trump accused Judge Juan Merchan, an acting justice with the New York State Supreme Court since 2009, the judge’s wife, and his family of hating Trump. He lambasted the Grand Jury and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for indicting him on 34 felony charges.
Trump also had choice words to say about New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is wrapping up the state’s civil lawsuit against Trump, Georgia D.A. Fani Willis, and Special Counsel Jack Smith, both of whom are nearing the end of criminal investigations into Trump’s conduct before and after he lost the presidential election.
But revenge is a dish best served cold. There are signs that supporters of democracy are continuing to beat the radical right at the ballot box. And some conservatives seem to be returning to the reality that they don’t want Hitler 2.0 to run the United States.
Trump loyalist Daniel Kelly, a loyal MAGA Republican and former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice lost a bid to win back his seat on the state’s highest court last week for a second time. Kelly was endorsed by Trump during his unsuccessful 2020 run for the court.
This time, Kelly didn’t seek Trump’s endorsement. He said he wasn’t looking for endorsements from political actors. But his distancing from Trump was too little too late. Voters in the swing state apparently remembered Kelly’s alleged involvement in the plan to have fake electors cast ballots for Donald Trump.
Last week we witnessed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green showing up in New York to support Trump, a crying Sen. Lindsey Graham pleading for cash for Trump and to “save the Senate,” and MAGA Republicans in Tennessee’s state legislature ousting two young Black state representatives from the State House for protesting over the legislature’s refusal to pass sensible gun laws. All overshadowed the 55th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
The country’s demographics are shifting, woke, young white voters see through their authoritarian proclivities, and conservatives whose attitudes are changing about various policies are red flags that some elected Republicans are intent on ignoring at their peril.
Poll after poll shows that most Americans, whether liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, want reasonable gun control, abortion rights, free and fair elections, and Constitutional rights.
Voters don’t want gerrymandered electoral maps, one-party rule, voter suppression, poverty wages, or Hitlerian governments in the United States.
Americans are sending messages that Republicans are not receiving. Whether a state is red or blue or a swing state, Americans want their elected officials to make common-sense decisions.
Voters’ attitudes are changing, too, even in scarlet-red Louisiana. A recent poll of primarily white, conservative Louisiana voters found that attitudes toward the criminal justice system have changed. According to the Louisiana Illuminator, respondents feel low-level offenders should be treated less harshly and have better employment opportunities after serving their sentences.
Then too, the voting population is changing. Young folks are more diverse than older generations. They see the country as it is. Diversity and justice for all are among their values. They turned out in droves during Black Lives Matter protests. They were there outside of the Manhattan courthouse supporting the indictment of Trump.
Last week, they were in the Tennessee legislature’s galleys and halls demanding sensible gun control legislation after a deranged shooter with assault weapons killed three nine-year-old children and three staffers at The Covenant School, a private Christian grade school in Nashville.
They were also there to support three legislators who protested with them. A GOP Supermajority in the Tennessee legislature voted to expel State Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, both 27-year-old Black men, and Rep. Gloria Johnson, a white woman. Jones and Pearson were voted out, but the vote against Johnson failed by one vote. When a reporter asked Rep. Johnson why she wasn’t voted out, she replied, “The difference is the color of our skin.”
And therein lies the most enormous red flag unseen by Republicans.
This article originally published in the April 10, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
