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OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 1/28/23

Trump May Go Away, but Trumpublicanism will be With Us for a Long Time"

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"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018)

No picture of Trump this time around. We've seen many too many of him in this space already.

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I received a note from a friend commenting on the notice that I had sent around announcing the publication of my new book: "Trump's Presidential Years: History as it Happened, 2011-2021 (in 6 vols.)." In her note, she said: "I am glad we have moved on from Trump, though what a long tail we have to contend with." Indeed, Trump will prove to be, and already has been, one of the most influential figures in U.S. history. Just as the Civil War and the issues integrally related to it (other than "property-in-human-beings" and "expansion-into-the-Territories" that were specific to it), like its foundational ideology of "White Supremacy," they are still very much with us, Trump has taken those issues further and has made them openly part of his political platform and ideology. And so, what Trump ran on and still stands for will be with us for the foreseeable future. Why? Because Trump then made them central to the ideology of the modern Republican Party.

The major issues/positions that he has confirmed as "Republican" are:

1. Open racism as central to the Republican Party's ideology/platform.

2. Xenophobia as central to it as well.

3. Election denialism.

4. The politicization of an infectious disease and the public health response to it.

5. The institution of Conspiracy Theorization into the platform of a leading political party: e.g., Trump won, COVID is a hoax, QAnon.

This is not to say that racism and xenophobia have not been part of Republican ideology for almost the entire time of its existence. They have, from the time they agreed to end Reconstruction as part of the 1876 deal that made Rutherford B. Hayes President in 1876, and a Republican Congress passed the Chinse Exclusion Act in 1883. Major milestones for the Republicans on their way to where they stand now were the Immigration Act of 1924 and the implementation of Nixon's "Southern Strategy." But even though I believe that Trump himself will not be a player in U.S. politics for much longer, the Trumpism that has taken over the Republican Party (which, to be sure, was very ready for that takeover) will be with us for the foreseeable future.

As regular readers of mine know, I believe that Trump will flee the country, certainly before the next Presidential election, most likely sometime this year. Of course, that flight will not take place until he has raised enough money at the retail level as he can by running the con that he will be running for President in 2024. (And yes, unlike the self-delusional fabulist George Santos, Trump is a liar. They are both con men. But when Santos is not telling the truth he doesn't realize it, at least at the time(s) he says what he says. Trump, on the other hand, each and every time he is telling a falsehood, he knows it.)

To recap why Trump will flee, let's look for example, at (an almost complete list of) the "17 Key Findings of the "January 6th Committee," as summarized by The Guardian (and further summarized here by yours truly):

1. Beginning on election night and continuing through 6 January and thereafter, Trump purposely disseminated false allegations of fraud related to the 2020 presidential election.

2. Knowing that he and his supporters had lost dozens of election lawsuits, Trump refused to accept the lawful result of the 2020 election.

3. Despite knowing that such an action would be illegal, Trump corruptly pressured vice-president Mike Pence to refuse to count electoral votes on January 6.

4. Trump sought to corrupt the US Department of Justice in a variety of ways.

5. Trump unlawfully pressured state officials and legislators to change the results of the election in their states.

6. Trump oversaw an effort to obtain and transmit false electoral certificates to Congress and the National Archives. [I have to admit that I hadn't seen this one before. That's forgery, folks.]

7. Trump pressured members of Congress to object to valid slates of electors from several states. [It should be noted that, for example, Sens. Cruz and Hawley were right out in front on this one.]

8. Trump purposely verified false information filed in federal court. [Yes, indeed. Bearing false witness is {another} crime he committed.]

9. Based on false allegations that the election was stolen, Trump summoned tens of thousands of supporters to Washington for January 6, "to 'take back their country'."

10. Knowing that a violent attack on the Capitol was under way and knowing [or is that "hoping"] that his words would incite further violence, Trump purposely sent a social media message publicly condemning vice-president Pence at 2.24pm on January 6.

11. Knowing that violence was underway at the Capitol, Trump refused repeated requests over a multiple-hour period that he instruct his violent supporters to disperse.

12. Each of these actions by Trump was taken in support of a multi-part conspiracy to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election. . . .

13. Neither the intelligence community nor law enforcement obtained intelligence in advance of January 6 on the full extent of the ongoing planning by president Trump and associates to overturn the certified election results. . . . No intelligence community advance analysis [could have-SJ] predicted exactly how Trump would behave; no such analysis recognized the full scale and extent of the threat to the Capitol on January 6.

14. Hundreds of Capitol and DC Metropolitan police officers performed their duties bravely on January 6, and America owes those individuals immense gratitude for their courage in the defense of Congress and our constitution. . . Capitol Police leadership did not anticipate the scale of the violence that would ensue after Trump instructed . . . his supporters . . . to march to the Capitol. [Why should they have? In U.S. history no event like this, led by a President himself, had ever taken place.]

15. Trump had authority and responsibility to direct deployment of the National Guard in the District of Columbia, but never gave any order to deploy. Nor did he instruct any federal law enforcement agency to assist.

And so, Trump knows this. His lawyers (well maybe not all of them) know this. More importantly there is "Georgia" staring down his throat, there is the Special Prosecutor examine all of the evidence of possible (sic) criminal behavior around Jan. 6, summarized above, as well as for the "Mar-a-Lago Docs." case, as well as the New York State Attorney General's civil action, as well as the E. Jean Carroll defamation (rape) case, and so on and so forth.

BUT, BUT, BUT

With the Likelihood that Trump will leave, what Does All of this Mean for the Future of The Republican Party?

The likelihood is that if anything, it will just get Trumpier. Taking certain points in no particular order of importance.

A) Mike Lindell, with no apparent qualifications for the job other that he can persuade lots of people to buy his pillows untested in person, is running for the position of Chair of the Republican Party. Apparently, he has one plank in his platform (other than the platforms for the mattresses on which his mattress pads rest): election denialism.

B) Kari Lake, who lost the Arizona's Governor's race, at the ballot box and in court, and still trumpeting "it was stolen from me" at the recent Republican national meetings and in some quarters is being touted for the Repub. Vice-Presidential nomination in 2024.

C) Marjorie Taylor Greene "9-11 denier," one-time Q-Anon theorist, spotter of the (a?) Jewish space laser, and claimant that if she had been at "Jan. 6" she would have been armed and she "would have won" will be on the Homeland Security Committee.

D) Paul Gosar, who at one time threatened violence against certain Democratic members of the House (and who --- this is admittedly completely irrelevant is, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., cordially disliked by most of his relatives), has been put on the Oversight Committee.

E) An announcement has been made that one or more House committees will be investigating Hunter Biden's painting sales. It is not exactly clear under just which legal authority that would be carried out, but these Republicans will do their very best to find a way. (Just like they will presumably find a way to "absolutely guarantee" that whatever is on "Hunter Biden's laptop" was there when he left it at that shop for repair, AND that nothing else has been added.)

F) They equate the finding of top security files in Biden residences, which were turned over immediately, with the Trump mother lode(s) which he did his best to conceal.

G) They "investigate" the work of the "January 6th Committee" looking for all sorts of nefarious deeds. They should beware of this one, however. First, it will mean work. Not that any of the "investigators" will actually read the 600-plus pages of the initial report, but presumably staff members (always HIGHLY qualified for Republicans --- you know, like one or more young Trump lawyers who face possible disbarment) will have to. Second, much more importantly, be careful what you look for. For example, someone might actually come up with the afternoon-of-Jan.-6 phone log of one of the principal investigators, Jim (have fun the gym) Jordan. Or, let's say, those missing Secret Service logs, or why exactly, did four members of the Capitol police, apparently not injured in the attack, commit suicide. Ooops! And etc.

H) Turning for the moment from investigation to legislation, anyone seen a Repub. plan for dealing inflation, or let's say, "the border?" Let me know when you do. I'll happily write it up.

I) "Fresh off their new book, Myth America, Kevin Kruse and Julian Zelizer argue that Republicans have radically damaged the country's ability to discern fact from fiction."

J) Ron DeSantis (much more on him, down the road, of course) is turning from Trump's-racism-for-the-most-part-by-innuendo to open-no-doubt-about-it-racism-by-law. The only question for DeSantis's Florida now is, when will the public book burning commence?

K) Finally, for now, the Republicans are, and will continue to be, into the use of "Trump's Seven Magic Tricks," with which he has now infected the whole of the Republican Party. In particular from that list will be: "Always attack; never defend;" "When in doubt just sue;" "Use your enemies; make more of them if you can;" and the "oh woe is me; everyone's against [us]" trick.

Yes, GOP has become the GOTP. Anyone who thinks that it will revert back to its former, bad enough, self, at some time in the future, has another think coming.



(Article changed on Jan 28, 2023 at 9:06 AM EST)

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Steven Jonas Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Steven Jonas, MD, MPH, MS is a Professor Emeritus of Preventive Medicine at StonyBrookMedicine (NY). As well as having been a regular political columnist on several national websites for over 20 years, he is the author/co-author/editor/co-editor of 37 books Currently, on the columns side, in addition to his position on OpEdNews as a Trusted Author, he is a regular contributor to From The G-Man.  In the past he has been a contributor to, among other publications, The Greanville PostThe Planetary Movement, and Buzzflash.com.  He was also a triathlete for 37 seasons, doing over 250 multi-sport races.  Among his 37 books (from the late 1970s, mainly in the health, sports, and health care organization fields) are, on politics: The 15% Solution: How the Republican Religious Right Took Control of the U.S., 1981-2022; A Futuristic Novel (originally published 1996; the 3rd version was published by Trepper & Katz Impact Books, Punto Press Publishing, 2013, Brewster, NY, sadly beginning to come true, advertised on OpEdNews and available on  (more...)
 

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