The aquittal of ex-president Trump for inciting the January 6 insurrection by the Republicans in the U.S. Senate was not a surprise, and could be one of the final acts of a dying political party.
The second impeachment of Trump has only tightened the ties that bind Trump to the GOP. But it most likely has simply strengthened the attachment of the dead weight of the Trump albatross around the neck of Republicans.
There appears to be a political realignment in the works post-Trump. Greg Sargent wrote about the war within the GOP over Trump, that is a part of this shifting landscape. Sargent puts the dynamic at play in the GOP: “The tension is this: On one hand, Republicans widely acknowledge that Trump cost them the House, Senate and White House. On the other, they continue to hail the Trump presidency as a great triumph — not just on policy, but a political success as well.”
He goes on to define that dynamic as: “Even as Trump drove a large diaspora of moderate, suburban, educated Whites to Democrats (who won the White House and Congress), Trump also brought millions of low-propensity conservative voters into the GOP coalition.”
A mistake that Sargent makes, along with many others in the media, is using the “c” word to describe Trump supporters. Calling them conservatives implies some kind of policy agenda, or at least preference. But the party of Reagan is dead. Sargent himself notes that the Trumpism animating the GOP today brings a “requirement that Republicans hew to QAnon-ified fantasies about the election’s illegitimacy, and that they aggressively hate on the constellation of phantom enemies…”
Also in The Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin points to the catastrophe in Texas as added proof the Republicans have become the party that does not give a darn. Governing and addressing real issues of concern to Americans, is not a focus for the party. The Trump Republicans have become the modern incarnation of the Know-Nothing Party, ignoring current problems in favor of anti-immigration, religious bigotry and grievance. Because we live in system designed for two parties, the longer Trump remains dead weight dragging down Republicans, the longer he is a dead weight dragging America down.
This seems like a good time for a Sidecar cocktail. We have this attachment that is not driving, but impacting our freedom to maneuver. Via Dr. Cocktail’s great book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, the Sidecar is:
1 oz brandy
1 oz Cointreau
1 oz lemon juice
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Cheers!
Gin & Bitters 