Dissident Politics: Domestic political rot endangers the future of a free humanity

The GOP plan to destroy democracy

and the rule of law

Rick Scott - our next president?

He is concerned

It is irresponsible to talk in irrationally apocalyptic terms without a solid basis in supporting facts and sound reasoning. The question is this: Is it irresponsible to talk of an endangered future for humanity based significantly or mostly on the state of internal US politics at this point in time under current circumstances? Some context might help frame this rationally.

The Ukraine crisis has served to highlight the growing divisions among Republicans on foreign policy that began with Donald Trump’s presidency and continues after his electoral defeat as adherents to his “America First” approach clash with the party’s remaining hawks who for several decades rallied the party around the idea of projecting a muscular U.S. presence abroad.

This divide has been on stark display over the last 24 hours as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ordered incursion into Ukraine creates chaos in Eastern Europe and Republicans rally around the idea that it is Biden’s fault, calling him weak, but failing to provide a coherent party position on what the White House should to counter Moscow’s aggression.

Some want stiffer sanctions and said they should have been put in place ahead of the invasion as a deterrent. Others question why the United States needs to be involved at all. Regardless, in their telling, it’s Biden’s fault.

Trump and some of his supporters and former aides have even offered odd forms of praise for Putin, a ruthless autocrat, as they seek to tear down Biden.

“There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re going to keep peace all right. No, but think of it, here’s a guy who’s very savvy,” Trump said during an interview Tuesday with a conservative news outlet, praising Putin’s moves and suggesting the Russian troops would serve as peacekeepers.

In recent weeks, as the crisis built up, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo offered similar praise for Putin’s strategic thinking. “We shouldn’t treat him as the JV,” Pompeo said in a late January radio interview on Fox News. “He is a credible, capable statesman. And that’s why the mistake of not putting deterrence in place over the last year has led to this moment that we’re suffering from today.”

One long-shot GOP candidate for a House seat from New York followed Trump’s lead by praising Putin for protecting “the church, tradition and Russian culture” better than Western governments protect these institutions.

On Tuesday, McCarthy joined with his leadership team and senior Republicans on those committees to issue a blistering statement that faulted Biden for not moving fast enough with military aid and other means to counter Putin.

“Sadly, President Biden consistently chose appeasement and his tough talk on Russia was never followed by strong action. Lethal aid was slow-walked, anti-air and anti-ship capabilities were never directly provided, pre-invasion sanctions proportionate to the aggression Putin had already committed were never imposed,” McCarthy and the other GOP leaders wrote.

There you have it. Most but not all Republican Party elites praise Russia's unprovoked aggression against a weak nation or just blame Democrats. Putin is not remotely close to a credible or capable statesman. He is a capable, ruthless tyrant kleptocrat with a powerful military at his command. Pompeo apparently cannot see this. He did not articulate exactly what deterrence should be put in place because he has no idea of what to do other than blame Biden. Meanwhile, our morally rotted ex-president flat out praises Putin’s anti-democratic aggression and some crackpot Republican candidates see good in Putin’s tyranny. The GOP leadership is just brimming with anti-Democratic and anti-democracy ideas.[1]

Some key points and reasoning are:

The Republican Party no longer stands for defense of democracy either at home or abroad, regardless of how hard they deny it and pretend the Democrats, not themselves, are the tyrant-kleptocrat wannabes.
American democracy is unlikely to stand in the face of corruption, autocracy and a greedy Christian theocracy when almost half the country favors the Republican Party’s open attacks on democracy, the rule of law, truth and honest, effective secular government.
The loss of America as the main global defender of liberal, secular democracy leaves the remaining democracies alone in trying to defend against high level corruption and tyranny that Russia, China and some other autocratic countries are now engaged in.
The corrupt political rot that has consumed the GOP is the main cause of powerful anti-democratic sentiment in the US, which endangers the future of a free humanity.

Questions: Are the facts and/or reasoning sufficient (or not) to reasonably see significant danger to the future of a free humanity from the politically rotted Republican Party? Or, is the GOP not significantly rotted and doing just fine in defending secular democracy at home and abroad?

Who is more apocalyptic, Germaine or the GOP, or are they tied?

Footnote:

1. More evidence of radical right Republican Party authoritarianism. A Washington Post opinion piece comments that Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), a potential future presidential candidate and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, released an 11-point blueprint he hopes Republicans will rally around. It is a blatant anti-government, anti-democracy culture war document. It’s preamble includes this fear mongering crackpottery and lies:

Dear Fellow Americans, the militant left now controls the entire federal government, the news media, academia, Hollywood, and most corporate boardrooms.

Among the things they plan to change or destroy are: American history, patriotism, border security, the nuclear family, gender, traditional morality, capitalism, fiscal responsibility, opportunity, rugged individualism, Judeo-Christian values, dissent, free speech, color blindness, law enforcement, religious liberty, parental involvement in public schools, and private ownership of firearms.

Is this the beginning of the end of America? Only if we allow it to be.

Apparently, Scott believes that Fox News and the rest of the anti-democratic radical right propaganda Leviathan are not part of the news media. He is arguably mostly right about that. And, I hereby demand that the Republican Party defend my rugged individualism, whatever the hell that means. What is the the beginning of the end of America is Scott’s deranged 11-point blueprint to tyranny and corruption.

The first point is this: “Our kids will say the pledge of allegiance, salute the Flag, learn that America is a great country, and choose the school that best fits them.” There's your radical right Christian nationalist direct attack on secular public school education. It is first on the Republican culture war list.

Those sneaky, cheating election subverting Democrats

need to be stopped

Other points include “We will protect, defend, and promote the American Family at all costs,”), “Men are men, women are women, and unborn babies are babies,” and “We will secure our border, finish building the wall, and name it after President Donald Trump.” And, to attack and further cripple effective governance in accord with the long-standing GOP tactic called “Starve the Beast” Scott proposes (i) requiring “term limits” for government employees, and (ii) cutting IRS funding and staffing by 50 percent. Tax evasion (cheating) will increase from the already shocking ~$1.2 trillion/year to a double shocking higher amount. The former item is a direct attack on democracy by crippling government competence, which is what years of experience can bring to a person. The latter is another Republican Party open declaration of war on the federal government.