by Wayne Besen • December 10, 2019 • Lies with a Straight Face • Comments (0) • 1641

Will we die in a democracy? The Republican threat is real

I’m scared for my country. I’m alarmed for our future. I say this without hype or hyperbole.

This is a week of political tragedy. It calls into serious question if we are still the United States of America.

This week reveals that we are living in country so fundamentally divided that we are no longer one people. The Republicans have joined a cult and left America.

I watched the impeachment hearing yesterday. Why are Republicans defending the president rather than the Constitution? Where do they pledge allegiance? Why are they choosing party over patriotism?

It’s beyond frightening that roughly half this country thinks the role of Republicans in the impeachment hearing is to blindly defend King Donald rather than the nation.

I was born in a democracy. I assumed I would die in a democracy. I’m not so sure anymore. Are you?

What does the future hold when one of our two political parties no longer believes in the rule of law? When half of Americans appear to support autocracy bordering on fascism?

Daniel Goldman, the chief investigator for the House Intelligence Committee, put it succinctly: “President Trump’s persistent and continuing effort to coerce a foreign country to help him cheat to win an election is a clear and present danger to our free and fair elections and to our national security.”

That’s what happened. Those are the facts. The evidence is overwhelming and incontrovertible. And yet, Republicans think shredding the United States Constitution, using foreign help to cheat in elections and then covering it up through obstruction of justice, is okay. Roughly half the population agrees. Let that sink in.

Instead of facing reality, Republicans created an alternate reality. They invented a phony narrative designed to muddy the waters and manipulate America’s most gullible people. The game plan is to sucker the sheep. And once this bogus narrative is invented out of whole cloth, it’s broadcast on FOX News and disseminated on countless right wing websites. The Republicans also have the Russian propaganda machine repeating their lies to an international audience. In turn, the Republicans repeat the Russian government’s lies. They have become Putin’s parrots. Again, let that sink in.

The Republicans on the Judiciary Committee were shameful and unAmerican. They screamed, they interrupted, they bullied and they stonewalled. They perverted their oath of office to defend a man instead of the Constitution. A man, instead of the Constitution they swore to uphold. Their arguments were ludicrous:

1) They said the president did nothing wrong because he got caught while the crime was in progress and was forced to release the hijacked aid to Ukraine.

2) They claimed Trump was exonerated by the Ukraine’s president Zelensky. It’s laughable to expect Zelensy, who’s Trump’s hostage, to betray a petty and vindictive president who still has a loaded gun to his country’s head. How stupid do the Republicans think the American people are? They seem to be right about half of the population.

3) The Republicans argued that Donald Trump was only concerned about corruption. As if his former campaign chairman, national security advisor and personal lawyer weren’t in prison. Or, as if his family and cabinet weren’t the most corrupt in history. Trump being concerned about Ukraine’s corruption is a knee-slapper. A sick joke.

Later, on the same day, the Justice Department’s Inspector General released a report that concluded the FBI did nothing wrong in opening up investigations into Trump’s campaign. You know, the one teeming with shady Russians connected to Putin?

Instead of accepting the IG’s conclusion, the compromised Attorney General William Barr assailed the results to help his political master, Donald Trump. We have to come to grips with the very dangerous fact we don’t have a real Department of Justice. We have a quisling shill that works for Donald Trump, not the America people. Excluding Trump, Barr may be the most dangerous man in America. He’s also a culture warrior and religious extremist with deep animus towards liberals.

There can be no doubt, Donald Trump is trying to destroy the FBI. During his first two years in office, he attacked the F.B.I., Justice Department and intelligence agencies 277 times. Because he didn’t like that the IG report decimated his absurd conspiracy theories regarding the FBI, he is now targeting its director, Christopher Wray, who may soon be fired. Trump tweeted today:

“I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me. With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!”

Trump, Barr and much of the GOP are essentially foreign threats who habitually lie and put our national security in imminent danger. It’s difficult to accept, for those who still love America, but we can no longer afford denial.

We were born in a democracy. Will we die in one? That is the question. I don’t know the answer any more. This is the time to wake up and fight like hell to save our nation. Time is of the essence. The future is now, don’t let it slip away.