Welcome to what seems like a very bad dream…
Congressional Republicans have passed a spending bill that contradicts every principle that party has endorsed over the years. Furthermore, it’s a measure that will disproportionately hurt their own voters–and we know that they are aware of that fact, because they carefully timed some of the bill’s most egregious elements, like the draconian cuts to Medicaid, to take effect after the midterms.
Those GOP “defenders of liberty” who sport “don’t tread on me” t-shirts and insist that the government lacked even the authority to require masks during a pandemic are nevertheless cool with providing massive new funding for ICE, whose masked thugs display a terrifying similarity to Germany’s SS.
The Republicans in Congress passed this monstrosity because they are in thrall to an ignorant buffoon with tacky taste and the vocabulary, intellect and emotional control of a developmently-delayed five-year-old.
It has become increasingly clear that on the ground, the MAGA movement is the reappearance of the old Confederacy. The voters who continue to support Trump are motivated by fear–fear of losing their status as the “real Americans,” fear that those “others” will actually manage to attain civic equality. But what can we say about the Senators and Representatives those voters sent to Washington? Some–like Indiana’s Jim Banks–are as ignorant and bigoted as those who voted for them, but it’s obvious that many others actually know better, actually realize that their submission to Trump is cowardly, and that they are rewarding the votes of their constituents by robbing them of the little security they have.
What explains those Senators and Representatives–those presumably “traditional” Republicans who talked endlessly about fiscal discipline and limited government, but who obediently bend the knee to a would-be autocrat who routinely trashes those principles?
A recent article by Jonathan Last in the Bulwark took a stab at answering that question.
A sizable portion of elected Republicans hold on to a residual image of themselves as avatars of a green-eyeshade, business-first party that no longer exists. They’re like a middle-aged man standing in front of a mirror, sucking in his gut and smiling, imagining that he still looks pretty close to his college days.
It’s a lie they tell themselves.
The article raised an interesting question: why didn’t the Republicans just choose to have it both ways–extend the tax cuts for their deep-pocketed donors, but keep Medicaid funded, and just push the debt even higher. After all, they were willing to add over three trillion to that debt–why not just add another 930 billion, and avoid sticking it to their own voters?
This, finally, is the root of the problem. Some Republicans still view themselves as the good guys in the movie. They need to imagine that they’re on the side of the angels. That they are something other than what they’ve become. It’s the guy in the mirror, again.
Trump has no illusions. That is his strength. Some congressional Republicans are reluctant to embrace their roles as kleptocrats and pillagers. That is their weakness. And it’s why they haven’t said, “Fuck it. Let’s just spend all the money.”
Last reminds us that when things go wrong in a cult, no one blames the cult leader. (He points to an example, a MAGA-supporting man in detention due to Trump’s hardline immigration policies, who nevertheless blames the Biden administration for his arrest.)
When millions of Trump voters lose their Medicaid, they aren’t going to blame Trump, either. They’ll blame Congress.
And what does Donald Trump care if a bunch of Republican losers get tossed out of Congress? He has no use for congressional Republicans. He is an aspiring autocrat who rules by fiat. Passing legislation is not anywhere near his list of priorities. Whether or not the House and Senate are controlled by Republicans is of little importance to him.
All of which is why Trump’s party is about to stab millions of Trump-loving Republican voters in the back instead of just throwing more money at the problem.
Trump knows who he is, what he wants, and how to get it. His party, on the other hand, is a bunch of delusional sad sacks. Which is why he will win and they will lose. Again.
At least we can take some satisfaction from the prospect of those “delusional sad-sacks” looking in their mirrors and seeing a greying and flabby reality looking back.
I wonder if any of them will regret providing the Kool-Aid to the cult members who elected them…
does Todd Young read these posts? Does he have a mirror?
I have stopped calling them “Republicans”. They should be known as “the MAGA Party”. We could claim a bit of rhetorical advantage by using that monicker all the time. Always and only refer to the, from now on, by the MAGA Party. Let it be written. Let it be done.
Jonathan hit most of the notes on this analysis except one: Trump and most of his Republican colleagues are sociopaths. If you have a conscience like most people on this blog, it’s hard to imagine people without one, but they exist. Not only do they exist, they thrive as executives and politicians. Do you think they honestly feel remorse for screwing their voters? LOL
As Sheila and Jonathan point out, they’ve intentionally delayed many of the cuts, and if Democrats take back Congress in 26, they will get the blame. Trump knows he has the ace in his hand should things go south before the mid-terms; he’ll cancel the elections.
Screwing over the poor hasn’t caused outrage with his supporters. I don’t have any idea how Fox News is spinning that part of the bill, but I’m sure they are telling folks that “lazy blacks” will be forced to work under their bill. What’s not to like about that if you’re a racist?
I have a few remaining right-wing friends on social media, and they said the bill had nothing to do with billionaires. They weren’t being advantaged even though democrats claimed they were, so Murdoch has concocted one hell of a story for the cult.
No, the OBBB didn’t raise the blood pressure of Trump supporters, but “closing the Epstein Case” has surely raised their temperatures. Alex Jones and Laura Loomer are screaming, and Alex even broke down in tears. Their icon, their fearless leader, is a coward after all. The one case that epitomizes the little guy versus the deep state, and Trump is whiffing on it. It’s causing a meltdown within MAGA. However, if you suggest that Bondi, Patel, and Bongino are protecting Trump, they laugh at you. Despite all the visual evidence to the contrary, Trump is innocent. Despite all the lawsuits against Trump, he’s innocent. Despite all the research behind the books written, the cult leader is innocent.
Sociopathy and ignorance are a deadly combination…but these are the people who buy their way into heaven by sending $10.00 to Joel Osteen. LOL
Ill go with JT, the magat party.. theres no ignorance to what the republicans are,and they are not ignorant. its obvious that are today what they were when they put that suit on. whos foolin who? its a so called conservative party like reagans welfare/that buck slogan was. in your face bigotry. now those politicians today have followed that same line. they are legal bigots. its not going to change. we now have a justification mode to hate,via those who control the magat party, heritage,turning point,alec,etc. you dont run unless your fueled by those who anoint you..
MAGA members will end up just like all those KKK members from the 1920s. When they finally have to face the fact that their leader is a liar, a cheat, a rapist and now a pediphile, they will leave the cult in droves and spend the rest of their lives trying to deny to family and friends that they ever were a part of this horror.
You reap what you sow.
Theresa, no doubt there people who denied their membership after Stephenson’s conviction, but the scarier part is that many more simply moved along in life. They might have folded their robes and put them in a box that they took to the attic, but their beliefs didn’t change and they had guns. An ISU Master’s thesis, by Marvelyn Norris, ” Political influence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1925 Indiana General Assembly,” is rather interesting (& yes I can be a real geek). The bottom line: Stephenson didn’t have that much of an influence. That … is … scary.
One thing about this administration is the buck doesn’t stop anywhere near the Resolute desk! Apparently OJ has little to no information about what his minions are doing, including the pausing a shipment of defensive weapons to Ukraine. Could it be our Secretary of Defense, who seems to have no problem violating long-standing security policies, such as the prohibition of the use of unsecured communications methods? I’m pretty sure that OJ had something to say about that during his first two runs. Let’s all chant together, “Lock Him Up !”
Todd,
If there is an election and it doesn’t go his way, do you think that OJ will send in the Guard in just blue states or will he send them to the cities in all states?
Indiana had just under 3 Million people in 1923, the height of the KKK regime. Its membership comprised almost a quarter of the white males in the state at that time. Thousands of women were active in auxiliaries, even children’s groups were formed.
If you think that the hate and bigotry died with the D.C. Stephenson’s downfall, then how to explain the virulent racist policies that continue to this day in the state? White flight to the metro counties in Indianapolis is not unique to Indiana but it still exists. Vouchers? DEI policies banned? The rise of white Christian nationalists (Beckwith)? That ideology went underground but was kept alive around the kitchen tables and private “clubs” of so many white strongholds. The bigotry that was much more subtle is now out and proud once again.
Interesting to note that the records of membership in the Hamilton County KKK held by the Indiana Historical Society became publicly available as late as 2020. The story of how those records were obtained and access restricted reveals how deep-seated the legacy of that ugly past remains a century later. Tim Egan’s recounting of that period in Indiana history, “A Fever in the Heartland” is practically a blueprint for what is happening now, not only in Indiana but in most of the red state U.S.
Read it and weep. As the humanities and arts get decimated in favor of “job training” in our public high schools and universities, the bigotry and misogyny of that era gets more firmly institutionalized with every board appointment by Braun and every suit brought by Rokita. RESIST.
JD, Of course the bigotry and racism did not end when the KKK membership left. Those white, Christian former members took it all with them and passed it onto the next generation. But in the meantime, they and their descendants took, and still take, great efforts to hide their once membership to the KKK.
Indiana got the way that it is today due in large part to its legacy of a population seeped in hatred, intolerance and bigotry.
KKK = Tea Party = MAGA
Different name, same beliefs.
Peggy, I imagine he will have ICE and the military in most of the large cities in Blue States long before the 2026 election. However, he just instructed Texas to gerrymander the districts even further, so they might move into Red States, too.
Also, a side note to consider is Elon Musk’s American Party. Will Musk spend millions on getting Democrats elected over Republicans, where he can’t slate candidates? Trump said he’ll deport Elon if he funds the Democrats. Trump has removed Elon’s mentor from the head of NASA and replaced him with a knee-bender. The breakup might get expensive…
Since the Supreme Court decided the only way to deal with corruption committed by a US President is by impeachment in the House and conviction in the Senate, shows how cowardly and complicit the Maga Congress is. Maga Congress is relinquishing their power, to protect trump, promote his agenda and hurt their own constituents. When the pain and hardship increases will any Magas realize the cause and act accordingly in a civil way?
Jonathon Last and Sheila provide great analyses of the MAGA congress and Todd’s addition of sociopath is spot on.
I just boil it down to the old motto “I got mine; F*** the rest of you”.
To JT’s comment: Stacy Abrams advises. don’t call them MAGA, extremists. fascists say REPUBLICANS! The American people must never forget which party enabled the destruction of our Democracy and government institutions. I think she is correct.