The two-party system relies on healthy negotiation and compromise between the diverse ideologies of Democrats and Republicans. That was the vision of the Founding Fathers. To avoid autocracy, each party was encouraged to engage in passionate debate about policies that support their approach to lawmaking, national security, and the preservation of democracy. The hope was that in the spirit of bipartisanship, the needs and beliefs of most Americans would be reflected in how elected officials implemented and protected the Constitution.
Throughout the 233 years of our constitutional democracy, the political parties have staunchly disagreed about how the republic should be run. Major conflicts about what approach to take on a national economic policy or what fair congressional representation should look like date back as far as 1787. However, bipartisanship was at the forefront of some of our presidents’ minds in an attempt to act in good faith in service to the American people. In 1860, President Abraham Lincoln appointed a Democrat, Edwin Stanton as his Secretary of War. When criticized, Lincoln said, “I have no right to deprive the country of its strongest minds just because they sometimes disagreed with me.” In 1945, President Harry Truman appointed a Republican, Senator Harold Burton of Ohio to the Supreme Court to find common ground with his opposition.
Extremist ideologies in our politics have made bipartisan governing an impossibility. The Donald Trump Presidency was built on the spreading of disinformation and the demonization of the opposing party. These strategies by Trump and his acolytes solidify the Republican party’s lack of understanding of or interest in bipartisan relations and allegiance to the constitution. The main political strategies of the GOP have degraded to:
- Spreading disinformation
- Propaganda journalism
- Dog whistling to white supremacist terrorists
- The demonization of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who oppose Trump and his autocratic ideologies
- Gaslighting and lying to the base about a stolen election and by accusing Democrats of destroying democracy
- Inciting ” white extinction” fears
- Fundraising millions of dollars off of the” big lie”
- Blocking all bills approved by Congressional Democrats and President Biden
- Voter Suppression Tactics in Republican state governments
- Tampering with ballots from the 2020 Presidential election to delegitimize Joe Biden’s victory.
- Spread narratives that any election that Republicans lose is fraudulent
- Promoting conspiracy theorists for elected office
- DEFENDING EVERY DISHONEST, CRIMINAL, AND IGNORANT STATEMENT DONALD TRUMP MAKES
Many Republican elected officials are opposing Trumpism in defense of the Constitution and are organizing and may go as far as forming a separate party. Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Mitt Romney are conservatives fighting back against the takeover of their party by the most dangerous one-term, twice impeached, federally investigated, an embarrassment of a former president. Republican members of law enforcement, the military, the intelligence community, and national security experts have joined in the opposition against Trump, his corrupt legislators, and his misguided followers.
Trump’s redundant cries of a ” witch hunt” sound like desperate attempts to delegitimize the probable, multiple indictments he will be facing in the coming months. His tax, and financial crimes in New York, the election interference he attempted in Georgia, the civil suits by women who have accused him of defamation and rape, and the lawsuits by members of Congress and the Capitol police for damages they suffered during the Jan. 6th insurrection that he incited. If the Republicans are willing to continue their loyalty and support for Trump for the sole purpose of winning the gang back in the House and Senate, they are guilty of detection of duty. Shouldn’t there be a law against that?
