I will preface this post by saying I am a long time Conservative.

But there’s a new normal in America’s current hyper-tribal political climate that makes me fear the New Republican party and it's oh-not-so-subtle-anymore racist undertones.

I believe that the Republican party has been co-opted and stolen by Donald Trump and his sycophants. According to them, If the Democrats do something wrong, it’s the Democrats’ fault. If the New Republicans do something wrong, they either never did it, or it’s the Democrats fault. Lying, inventing conspiracy theories and deflecting blame or truth has become de rigueur for the New Republican party.

Before the election, the right-wing “patriots” said that the pandemic was a plot by the Democrats to defeat Trump and we would hear no more about it after the election. They said that the pandemic was a “scamdemic” and wasn’t real. 

It’s three months after the election and the pandemic is still making headlines, so what happened? Is it possible the pandemic is real and wasn’t an invention of the Democrats? Could it be that the conspiracy theory fanatics were wrong?

Almost 500,000 Americans are now dead from Coronavirus.  The COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. topped 500,000 Monday, all but matching the number of Americans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined.  To put those figures into perspective, there were more deaths from COVID in one year than in 14 years of combat!  

The U.S. toll is by far the highest reported in the world, accounting for 20 percent of the nearly 2.5 million coronavirus deaths globally. I’m sure President Trump is proud of his time in office, but this is disgraceful.    A real man would hang his head in shame, and publicly apologize that this occurred on his watch.

When the riots broke out last year across the Country, Trump and the MAGATS* said that the protests and acts of violence by BLM and Antifa were a sign of what would happen under a Biden presidency, all the while disregarding that it was happening under a Trump presidency.

Now the Republican Governor of Texas, a state as red as it gets, just said that the electrical problems in Texas were the result of Democrat thinking, and was a sign of what would happen if the Democrats get their way, all the while disregarding that it was actually happening in a state controlled by the Republicans for the last 30 years.

When the MAGATS stormed the Capitol, the New Republicans and looney tunes QAnon supporters and politicians said it was really left-wing agitators dressed up as MAGATS in an attempt to divert blame to the Republican party. Never mind that the hundreds of people arrested thus far are all self-professed and avowed Trump worshipers, who claimed to be following Trump’s orders. Then the new Republicans used the oldest trick in Trump’s playbook; they claimed it was all “fake news” and never happened. There was and is no blame accepted by Mr. Trump or the far right. Accountability is only for others.

What the hell has happened to the Republican party I grew up with and respected? They have become so radicalized that they are now the party of QAnon, endless, mindless shadow conspiracy theories and incessant blame directed at the Democrats. They now lie or spin the truth about everything. The latest Crazy-For-Cocoa-Puffs disciple drinking the Kool-Aid and worshipping at the altar of Trump is Marjorie Taylor Greene who apparently believes almost every conspiracy from A-Z , such as forests don’t just catch fire. Rather, the blazes were started by PG&E, in conjunction with the Rothschilds, using a space laser, in order to clear room for a high-speed rail project. Can anyone else hear the cuckoo clock?  This would be laughable if it wasn’t so damn scary.

Tommy Lee Jones, as Kay in the movie Men in Black, stated it so well: “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.” If only the Trump followers would stop believing all of the lies and propaganda that’s clouded their minds. They are the dumb, panicky dangerous animals, and most of them are armed. It’s a lethal combination.

Apparently, the new Republicans are all prescient; they just KNOW that the Democrats are going to ruin America. They just KNOW that the Democrats are all closeted Socialists and Communists. They just KNOW Democrats are going to take away all of our guns and freedoms. They just KNOW. The new Republicans believe in accountability, as long as everyone knows that the Democrats are accountable for everything that’s wrong, regardless of the cause.

Where did all this lunacy come from and when did it start? While it was a long time coming, the real catalyst was President Trump, who normalized the practice of lying, cheating, scheming, diverting blame and pointing the finger at others when one gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He rang a bell that cannot be un-rung and has now normalized hate-mongering, racism, tribal politics, conspiracy theories and outright crazy.

The right-wing lunatics are now saying that the storming of the Capitol never happened; and if it did, it was by the left disguised as MAGATS. Mr. Trump and his minions were simply exercising their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech. . . noble and great patriots who were just trying to right the horrible wrong of an election stolen.  In point of fact, they were inculcated and wound up by way of a months’ long crescendo of conspiracy theories, lies, false statements and dangerous hyperbole by their solipsistic leader, President Trump. 

According to Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and other passengers on the crazy train, the election was stolen by the left with help from the long-dead South American dictator, Hugo Chavez, even though the Justice Department, FBI and all the courts determined that the election was free and fair. It seems that Mr. Trump, at the urging of Michael Flynn, his former National Security Advisor, actually considered declaring Martial Law to overturn the election!

The bottom line is that deep down in places they only talk about at parties and private gatherings, the hateful rhetoric spewed by Mr. Trump and his legions is based on the fear that white people will be dislodged from their “rightful” long-held spot at the top of the pile and they want to protect the established order at all costs.

This is the new normal in America, with the White Right taking blame for nothing and pointing at the Democrats and minorities as the root cause of the decline of the United States. Trump has succeeded in transforming America into a third-rate country, and I fear there is no going back. Partisanship has taken over the New Republican party, all the while masquerading as Patriotism. Partisanship and Patriotism are NOT the same.

Definition of partisan: A firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, or person especially: one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance.

Definition of patriot: One who loves and supports his or her country.

Each of us must decide if we are a patriot or a partisan. In the words of Winston Churchill, “Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party”.

The right-wing white hate-mongers have been speaking about a civil or race war for decades, but until recently they stayed in the shadows, never bold enough to let the public light of day shine upon their hate-filled anger and words.  Since Trump, they no longer have to hide or suppress the way they really feel.     Given the rise in right-wing (White) paramilitary groups, It seems they actually want violence and civil war, as inconceivable as that is for me to believe.

We must find a way to end the insanity of these conspiracy wielding, hate filled people. The right-wing partisans have abandoned the Republican party, the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in their misplaced loyalty to Donald Trump and his hate mongering.

This new normal is obscene and must not be tolerated by any sensible, decent, morally correct and right-minded American. Voting Trump out of office was a good start, and the Justice Department prosecuting the Capitol rioters is great news, but there is still a lot of work to do.

You cannot be a patriot and ignore the the Constitution. You cannot ignore radicalism and think it will go away.

If I'm wrong, tell me by leaving a comment. Educate me. I'm willing to be wrong and I'm willing to listen to reason.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”― Edmund Burke (in a letter addressed to Thomas Mercer/ 1770)

*MAGATS – Make America Great Again Trump Supporters