This article is about the modern Republican party. I’m not talking about what the Republican party or ‘Grand Old Party’ (The GOP) used to be:
I’m talking about Donald Trump’s MAGA Republican party, which has positioned itself far to the right of Eisenhower’s 1956 Republican platform.
I’m British, but lived in the States for six years, so on behalf of the international community, I have to ask… is this lying, narcissistic, multiple bankrupt, womanising, excuse for a human being, (and by the way, possibly the most useless president of the last hundred years), the best presidential candidate the Republicans can come up with? Have they decided that they must get in at any cost, even at the risk of destroying America? Because America is already suffering from the toxic and divisive legacy of his last stint as POTUS.
Let’s face it, Trump’s Republican party is predicated on a lie… two lies actually: 1) that they are the best party for the average voter, and 2) that they represent the interests of Christian voters.
The first lie is that when they get into office, they give business and tax breaks to the people who bank-rolled their campaign, and do nothing for the poor and the working classes; ie. those who need help the most.
A little anecdote that seems to sum this up: when travelling in Nevada a few years ago, we were passing through a small community that grew up in the silver mining boom years, but had now fallen on hard times.
No-one had any money and there was little passing trade. We spoke to the lady who owned the general store, and she said she never knows more than a week in advance if she can pay her rent and utility bills. She was hanging-on by her fingernails.
Then we found ourselves in the local bar where we were asked if we wanted to buy some raffle tickets. Of course we asked what the prize was, and the barman pointed to a semi-automatic assault rifle high on the wall.
He went on to explain that the proceeds were for a woman with a brain tumour and no health insurance. This was to pay for palliative care, so as to give her some comfort until she died. It was very sad.
Of course this was in a Republican ‘safe seat’ constituency, as evidenced by all the GOP stickers everywhere in town.
They are in general good, intelligent people, but unsophisticated and have a minimal education because in a bitter vicious circle, most of them were forced to leave school at the earliest opportunity to contribute to the family income. So they are easy prey for the sort of anti-Democrat rhetoric seen on channels like Fox News, Breitbart, One America News, etc. They are in essence persuaded to vote against their own best interests.
It’s deeply ironic that America’s poorest communities are the ones the GOP relies on for most of their support, but will benefit least from their policies.
And yes, I mentioned two lies: the second one is in creating the illusion that the GOP is a natural fit for Christian voters. And in this, some branches of the American church have a lot to answer for; they are complicit in the deception of encouraging churchgoers to vote for a party who are the antithesis of Christianity.
If Jesus were amongst us today, He’d be preaching peace, love, tolerance, helping people less fortunate than ourselves, and other ‘socialist’ values. Whereas modern GOP values are those of greed and acquisitiveness, white supremacy, gun ownership, and the willful neglect of the poor, the sick and the homeless.
I imagine Jesus would find Trump’s MAGA Republican party to be a complete abomination.
