Greetings and Salutations;

I wanted to take a minute here, to look at the path the Republican Party is on. It is, alas, a pretty self destructive one, it seems to me. Every day the powers in the Senate allow #3 to increase his fascist attitudes and actions is another day that they saw deeper into their own throats.

I look at today’s “Republican Party”, think back to what it was in the 1970s, and shake my head at how it has evolved. When I started voting, in that time frame, I was voting Republican myself, mainly because my parents were solidly Republican, and, I thought that if they supported the Party and its goals, how bad could it be? Well, Nixon answered that question for me, and, his election was the last time I voted as a Republican. In spite of disillusionment with the Party, though, I had some respect for many of the members in Congress, because they could, and would, horse-trade with the Democrats, and finally agree on a compromise that either helped a majority of the country, or, at least, did not screw people over too badly. John Duncan Sr, for example, was REAL Republican…but, he would talk with everyone with respect, and when a constituent came to him with a problem, he did not ask “Did you vote for me”. He asked “What do we need to do to fix this problem”. He had a lot of respect from both sides in the House, and for good reason.

Over the years, though, through the 90s and into the 2000s, the face of the Party changed, perhaps reflecting the rot that was permeating all of society. It become less tolerant of alternative views, and more hide-bound in its desire to take us back to the early 1900s when the White Man was King, and people of color knew their place. Up to about 2009, though, this trend was held back a bit by a number of brakes. Alas, in 2009, the Tea Party was created, and, in the next few years made huge inroads into the political power structure. They, alas, were an extremist group, quite intolerant of differing views, and pushing an extreme version of the fantasy of “small government, no taxes” that the Republicans have always paid lip service to. They, in spite of being only about 10% of the population, were loud enough and good enough at propaganda to take over far more seats in Congress than, perhaps, they should have controlled. Their “pie in the sky” message, combined with the prescious image of their tri-horn hats, with a tea bag hanging from the rim distracted enough people from their platform that, I believe, they got far more support than they should have.

The final straw, though, was the growth of the Cult of Personality that trump (who I refer to as #3 because he is only the third president to be impeached) is the Dear Leader of. When president Obama started his campaign in 2006, #3 began pushing his racist and hateful rhetoric…all based on questioning President Obama’s citizenship, and lies about his birth certificate. He continued to pound that dead horse for all eight years of President Obama’s administration, and, in the process started building a real, political base. Granted even in 2016, when he was elected to the Office, his base was a small minority of the voting public…but they were fanatically loyal to him. Why? That is not a simple question to answer, but, some factors were

• He claimed to be a very wealthy guy, who could not be influenced by donations. There is a rumbling of discontent among many voters who believe the conspiracy theories that a few, very rich people, control the world.
• He casually dropped racist words and actions, and suffered no consequences from this…no blowback.
• He claimed to be very smart, and have the way to fix all the problems of the country.
• He is a grifter, and has been his entire life, so he is expert at whipping up the emotions of the crowds, by offering them goodies to come, and, playing on their hate and fears of “The Other” and, losing their position in society.
• As a part of his grift, he could, and would, promise anything to any group, and for some reason, he was never called on it…even when he walked away and did nothing.
• He appealed to the small percentage of Americans who are so filled with hate and fear that they wanted to burn down the entire establishment. They did not have any plans on how to replace it, they were, essentially, arsonists…they wanted to see the flames. For some of them, too many of them, the realization that they are locked in a cage in the living room as the building is burning down around them has not dawned on them…they cling to the destruction.

This uneasy partnership has co-existed for a number of years now, but, I believe that the Republican Party is like a locked room full of rabid dogs. They are all on hair trigger and growling at each other, and the slightest provocation will set off a free-for-all that will end up being a blood bath for the Party.

I am also of the opinion that the recent actions taken by #3, in sending in violence minded, undisciplined, storm troopers to Portland Washington may be box falling off the shelf that ignites the melee. The fact that these heavily costumed agents are only being sent to Democratic Areas that are seeing Black Lives Matter protests, and, when they get there, they are the instigators of violence, not the protestors, is red meat for some of the Republicans, and, a sudden realization of how far the party has fallen for others. In addition, #3 is now starting to attack the Republicans who gave him support in the past, from the Governors who, foolishly, pushed re-opening their states, to members of Congress that dare imply they do not kiss his ass any longer.

The Red State Governors are beginning to panic, because they are seeing huge spikes in covid-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths, so they are trying to find a way to pull back and shut things down again. This is proven to be taken by #3 as a personal attack, so he punishes them.

The Republicans in Congress are realizing that their sucking up to #3 may well have doomed their chances of being re-elected. All across the country there are Democratic candidates who are even with or ahead of Republican incumbents. Amy McGrath, for example, who opposes one of the true dinosaurs of the Senate – Mitch McConnell, is out-polling him across Kentucky, and, more importantly WAY ahead on contributions. So, in a last ditch effort to save their cushy jobs and power, some of the Republicans are pushing back against #3. He, of course, is chopping their heads off…

Now, what do I see for the future? Nothing is guaranteed, of course, which is why we still run horse-races. However, I see a real chance that in November, a LOT of Republicans in Congress will lose their seats, turning the entire Congress Blue. With the increasingly demented actions of #3, there is a very, very good chance that Joe Biden will take the Presidency. If this happens, I am pretty sure that we will see the Republican party break into three, separate and competing groups.

1. There will be the “Lincoln Project” faction. This consists of Republicans who are more like the Republicans of the 70s. They may be misguided in their programs, but, they are likely to put the good of the Country ahead of the good of the Party.
2. There will be the “Tea party” faction. This group, while more extremist than the Lincoln Project Republicans MIGHT be sane enough to negotiate with. However, I suspect, considering what I have seen over the past couple of decades, they will be pretty set in their ways.
3. Finally, there is the “#3 Cultist” faction. These folks are, I fear, so lost that it may not be possible to redeem them. They are a collection of fanatics, who include a lot of white supremacist groups…and are mindlessly loyal to #3. They are the ones who never complain about the fact that #3 has been sucking up to the worst dictators and human right’s violators in the world, for the entire administration. They accept his willingness to believe Putin over our own Intelligence Agencies. They are fine with cops murdering people of color as they are as racist as #3, and look upon anyone who is not a White Boy, to be subhuman. They are also the ones most likely to resort to violence at the drop of a hat. So far, every injury or killing at protests, that has not been done by the police, has been done by a #3 cultist. They are also the most likely group to actually take up arms if #3 does not win the 2020 election…

These three groups may have a power base that keeps them in the Government, but, the one positive thing here is that they are so fractured, it is likely that for years to come, they will be a minority group, with minimal power.

Will this come to pass? I look forwards to the November Elections to see how close I am to reality. I could be dead wrong, and the Republicans will come out of this stronger than ever. However, if that happens, and #3 is re-elected, America, which is already considered a Plague State, thanks to the incompetent handling of the covid-19 crisis, and banned from traveling to many countries, will likely become a third world, banana republic dictatorship. I will derive some amusement if this happens, though, because the greatest probability is that the fools that support the Party are the most likely to be “disappeared” by such a regime.

God Help Us All

Stay safe!

Bee Man Dave.