Playing for Keeps - Republicans Are Going for the Throat (Again)

Democrats must show government can protect people’s right to vote, and restore our basic social contract.

By Timothy P Holmberg

When future historians write of 2021, the most likely analogy they’ll draw will be to the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, the prelude to a dark chapter in human history - ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch). 

It was ten years after that infamous event, Hitler finally seized full power over the German state and systematically vanquished his enemies. Steve Bannon and Donald Trump are on track to embarrass Hitler and do it in less than two years after their January 6th coup attempt. 

If that seems like a stretch, you have not been paying attention. While the antics of Trump and his supporters may seem cartoonish and performative, they are far from innocuous.  There is a deadly snake lurking in that grass. For months now, Bannon has been working diligently on the ground across several key battleground states to stack what seem like mundane and thankless election related boards and posts. He hasn’t even bothered to cloak his motive. 

On his regular podcasts he puts out his call to enlist an “army” of Trump’s most deranged supporters to take posts in election related offices of any kind. His band of Q-bots will then be in prime position to assure that whatever electoral fantasy Trump (or his anointed candidates) gin up can be used to topple election results, or tip them to Republicans outright. 

Trump and Bannon aim to turn American democracy into an electoral version of foie gras. And you should know what happens to the geese after the stuffing is complete. 

Republican members of Congress are already key enablers, having cast aside any loyalty to the country following the insurrection. That was in fact the key test. Those that failed, are being systematically excised from the party and any meaningful power. Whatever moral dilemma the remaining members may have is eclipsed by cowardice and a desire to remain in power. 

Democrats would do well to read Mein Kampf, Trump certainly has. His manipulation of both his base and other politicians reflects a deep understanding of how to twist grievance and drive people from their own decency. 

In the book Hitler sets up a series of villains as bearing chief responsibility for economic and social pains of post WWI Germany. Chief among them, Jews, Marxists, Communists and Social Democrats. Never mind that Germany’s problems were largely from external factors surrounding the Treaty of Versailles.  If this does not sound familiar, think it through. A pandemic and a struggling supply chain (external factors) are combining with other social problems decades in the making to cause real concern and pain across our country. Add to that the dwindling influence of the white middle class, and the emergence of minorities determined to finally dispel American mythologies of meritocracy, and the parallels should come in to clear focus. 

Trump will not be shamed from his demonizing rhetoric by the media holding his words up to a light. Nor, it seems will almost any Republican. He will identify black and trans people, Democrats, cancel culture and “Socialists” as being responsible for calamities he actually helped create. Hitler would blush with envy. 

At this critical moment, Democrats are lost in a naivety about the true nature of the threat forming in front of their own eyes. Senators Manchin and Sinema ignorantly press the virtues of bipartisanship while playing into Trump’s hand by giving breath to terms like “entitlement society”. Voting rights legislation that could thwart Bannon’s attempts swirls around a filibuster black hole the two senators refuse to confront.

Biden, for his part, a decent man, is too lost in his notions of Senates past to realize the game has changed. While he may not have created the problems haunting his presidency, he will be blamed should he fail to resolve them, and quickly.  

Biden is flirting with being compared to another one term Democratic president from the 1970’s. Carter too was a victim of many circumstances not of his making. He was caught flat footed on Iran, and an OPEC oil embargo had already jarred the nation. Those problems pale in comparison, but the country still has no appetite for excuses, no matter how valid they may be. And it is naive to think even one Republican Senator can be wooed to placing the needs of the country ahead of party politics. 

If Republicans win the Senate back in 2022, Mitch McConnell will have zero concerns about what Democrats might do if they regain the majority. He didn’t when he stole a Supreme Court nomination from Obama, or when he ramrodded the last two high court nominations through. He will kill the filibuster in 2024 with a wide grin on his face as he does it. 

Republicans know what game they are playing, and they are playing it for keeps. It’s time for Democrats to wise up. If the current trajectory remains the same, Republicans will retake the House and Senate in 2022. Then, in 2024, Trump or one of his kids will take the presidency back (however fraudulently). What horrors take place after that are the stuff of dystopian novels. But it’s not a stretch to say it will spell the end of American democracy and the beginning of a dark chapter in global history. 

It does not have to come to pass, of course. But avoiding the above, will require Democrats to decide that our Democracy is more important than any arcane procedure or whimsy of bipartisanship. Democrats must show government can protect people’s right to vote, and restore our basic social contract. They must show that government can work, and make our lives better in the process. 

The black community in Georgia showed up for Senators Warnock and Ossoff. Progressives showed up for Biden. Will those groups show up again with scant progress to show? No. They won’t. Will middle class whites show up if the supply chain and inflation are still bleeding them dry? No, they won’t. Will the youth vote still show up if they are stuck under a mountain of student debt? Will diabetics show up if they are still being extorted by big pharma? Not likely.

The key to electoral victory is progress. No progress, no victory. And a very bleak future for us all. 

***

Timothy Holmberg is a former staff reporter for the Gay & Lesbian Times, and has been published as an independent writer in several other publications. His focus has been on political, health and social issues.