Last Updated on 03/09/2024 by Arun jain
It is hardly reasonable to expect that a single word can characterize an organism as complex as a major political party. But that never stopped people from trying.
Now, for example, Republicans There is a painting Democrats As a Marxist (Marx himself would be surprised to see that), a racist (okaaay), and a criminal (obviously, in Republicans The eyes of holding the powerful accountable are criminal).
The Dems, meanwhile, call today’s GOP authoritarian (check), a cult (bingo!), insurgent (spot on), and of course, weird. But none of those labels, taken alone, quite do the trick.
Fortunately, there is a word in English that captures everything that has gone wrong in the GOP since it pledged allegiance to a former president. Donald Trump. i.e., deprived, “from the Latin waste to spoil … crooked, bad.” (Thanks, Merriam-Webster.)
And while Trumpism’s poisoning of the GOP is hardly news, it’s worth reminding ourselves just how depraved the party’s head really is, and how that depravity colors every aspect of the GOP from its true self. War on Women from Jan 6, 2021 Congress apologists jailing thugs.
First, never forget that Donald Trump is a rapist. As a judge in two E. Jean Carroll Defamation Trial Written in July 2023Far from acquitting Trump of rape, “the jury found that Mr. Trump … did exactly that.”
Trump, who (along with his campaign thugs) Recently desecrated military holy ground and labeled American soldiers infamous Losers and suckersis an unapologetic draft dodger.
and a convicted felon.
Trump is a definitive fraud. In February 2024, he was fined $350 million (now closer to $500 million with interest), after losing a civil case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The list goes on-His admiration for tyrants, Its racism. But the degree to which Trump has turned the GOP into his grievance-fueled engine of hostility is a real measure of the party’s growing disrepute.
Taking a broader view of the GOP landscape, the picture gets, if possible, even worse.
Think about it A historically unlikely running mateSen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), who has (publicly!) said that Childless people should not teach children. Who will kick the thousands of nuns out of the classroom in Catholic schools around the world?
The House Oversight Committee is expensive, deeply personal, and fruitless “investigation” Republican Congressional Tweedladies and Tweedledams Rep. James Comer and Rep. Jim Jordan. After more than a year of laughably poor testimony from scores of witnesses, many of whom were later discredited, Republicans Congress A resolution to begin formal impeachment proceedings against President Biden was unanimously approved — even though Speaker Mike Johnson admitted there was insufficient evidence for such action.
Consider reproductive rights. In six months after radical Supreme Court Overturn the decision Roe v. WadeFor which Trump takes full credit, Republican elected officials across the country have stripped millions of women and girls of safe, legal abortion care — in many cases, trying to force A victim of rape and adultery to carry their pregnancy to term.
Consider voting rights. As a former editor of the Wall Street Journal Albert Hunt points out after the 2022 midterms“Conceptual and some empirical data” suggest that “[GOP] Voter suppression measures achieved their purpose of suppressing votes, especially among minority communities.”
Consider gun violence. More than 42,000 people died as a result of gun injuries (homicide, suicide, accidental shooting) in the United States in 2023, and gun injuries are the leading cause of death among American children and adolescents.
In the face of that horror, Republicans refuse to meaningfully address the issue. A randomized comparison of two parties’ approaches to crisis: Heavily Democratic New York, with some of the toughest gun laws in the country, witnesses nearly five gun deaths per 100,000 residents. Mississippi, where the governor, secretary of state, attorney general and both chambers of the state legislature are Republicans, has no gun laws on the books and sees about 30 gun deaths per 100,000 residents — more than double the national average.
Consider Robert F. Kennedy Jr– Shrill Anti-Vaxer, Roadkill Gourmand Wannabe, Whale cutterand so on. Yes, it is technically independent. But by enthusiastically endorsing Trump, he has effectively entered MAGA territory, where his own brand of deeply entitled depravity marks him out as a star.
wait As we mentioned A brain-eating worm?
No problem. Trumpism has distorted and reduced Republican Party Beyond recognition, and what it will look like when or if the fever breaks is anyone’s guess.
For now, recall that in 1931 Winston Churchill asserted that “Courage ranks first among human virtues, because … it is the quality which warrants all others.”
In 2024 we are faced with the reality that the deterioration of the GOP’s qualities is the first quality, because it is the quality that animates all others.
And seriously, how weird is that?
Benedict Cosgrove is a librarian, former editor at LIFE.com, and a freelance writer who has contributed This New York TimesWashington Post, Smithsonianand other outlets. He lives in New York City.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
Post Forget ‘weird.’ This word says it all about the GOP appeared first Newsweek.