Republicans Love The Paddle, Another One Sir?
THANK YOU, MR. TRUMP. MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?
When I hear the reactions of certain Republicans to Donald Trump’s 2024 Presidential campaign, I can’t help but be reminded of one scene from 1978’s classic comedy, Animal House.
in the film, a fraternity pledge is being harshly initiated by having his bottom repeatedly whacked with a wooden paddle. I have always wondered if the pledge is showing strength and determination or just reveling in his own masochistic tendencies. I have no such confusion when it comes to any number of prominent Republicans and conservatives, however. Masochism is the only explanation for their continuing support for the man who insulted, threatened, and otherwise mistreated them. I’m not even including any political talking heads on TV or other media. Whether or not Donald Trump was a successful businessman is now an open question. But it is undeniable that his manic behavior and unhinged speeches and posts have been good for their businesses. Likewise, I am excluding the hundreds and hundreds of Trump acolytes who stormed the Capitol on Jan 6 at his bidding. Trump hasn’t insulted, threatened, or technically mistreated them. After using them as tools, he has simply ignored them and washed his hands of their fates.
I want to focus on a couple of other groups and some individuals who have suffered the “slings and arrows” of Trump’s wrath and still keep coming back for more. First, every US senator and representative that was in the Capitol building on that day of violence and sedition. Every one of them was in danger of injury or death. The mob didn’t know or care who was a Republican or a Democrat; they were there to “Stop the Steal” at Trump’s command. And yet a fair number of GOP senators and dozens of House members have since declared their undying allegiance to the man who imperiled them and their staffs and endorsed him for another Presidential run. And then there are these characters:
Donald Trump has attacked some of these other Republican candidates by name and insulted them all as a group. While skipping a debate, Trump pointed to a photo of the group and asserted that they were all just looking for a Cabinet position in his administration or hoping to be named as his VP running mate. He questioned whether any of then - including Mike Pence! - looked like Vice-Presidential material. and still, every candidate except Chris Christie agreed that they would vote for Trump if he were the GOP nominee. “Thank you, sir, may we have another?” indeed!
There are others, but the Bill Barr saga sums it all up. Bill Barr was Trump’s final Attorney General. Barr’s political career was built on his notion of the unitary executive; a stance which gave a sitting POTUS power over all aspects of the executive branch and denied the independence of even the DOJ from Presidential interference. He was Trump’s hired gun until the end, when - in an obvious attempt to salvage his own reputation - he claimed that he knew all along that Trump’s claims of a stolen election “were bullshit”. Trump has since called his former greatest defender a “gutless pig”. Barr now maintains that Donald Trump has neither “the temperament or the persuasive power to be a leader”, but he would likely still vote for him in 2024.
Yep. Even those who know Trump best, who saw his lack of integrity and intellectual capability firsthand, who have actually warned about the clear and present dangers he embodies to this nation and its institutions, are still willing to vote him back into office. The only defense they offer for such spinelessness is the vague and juvenile assertion that “Any Republican is better than any Democrat”. It has been a long time since there's been an adult in that room.
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