INTRODUCTION
Increasingly, the Rule of Law has come to the forefront defining what is or is not acceptable behavior for citizens, and politicians, and protesters.
Over the last six months, republican politicians have been publicly admitting that the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 midterm elections were accurate and valid.
This is a big improvement from 2020 election after which Bill Barr (AG), Mitch McConnell (Senate), and John Cornyn (Senate) were among the very few republicans who publicly said Trump lost, Biden won, and there was no election fraud.
As recently as 2021, 95% of republicans were election deniers; and many voted to prevent investigations and holding the perpetrators responsible.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS NOT WORKED ON USEFUL ISSUES
Instead, they have in most states enacted voting laws harassing minorities. Their justification is voter fraud--which is virtually nonexistent. The elections, including 2020, have been the most fraud free ever. The accuracy of the vote counts show less than one percent error. For full information on the amount of error or fraud in voting go to : (https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/analysis/Briefing_Memo_Debunking_Voter_Fraud_Myth.pdf)
Furthermore, republicans boldly announce their legislation targeting those who violate conservative republican social norms. For example, criminalizing how LGBTQ+ express their gender identity.
A new NPR poll indicates the GOP risks being out of step with voters. Found at:
(https://www.npr.org/2023/03/30/1166969963/are-republicans-on-the-right-track-they-are-pushing-culture-war-issues).
A "culture war" is a conflict between social groups and the struggle for dominance of their values, beliefs, and practices. It commonly refers to topics on which there is general societal disagreement and polarization in societal values. Found at: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_war#2012%E2%80%93present:_Broadening_of_the_culture_war)
Common culture war issues are:
- Respect for the values of others versus verbal mocking, confrontation and outright verbal assault
- How much political correctness is appropriate in various social settings
- Homosexuality and LGBTQ+
- Virtually any visualized styles or verbalized beliefs can elicit defensiveness from their owner on the one hand and/or aggressiveness from the observer.
Some disgruntled GOP contributors won't be contributing in 2024, like billionaire Mr. Peter Thiel. Fox News reports that one source told the news outlet that Thiel is unhappy with the Republican Party's focus on "hot-button U.S. cultural issues," including abortion and bathroom restrictions for transgender students." (https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/gop-mega-donor-peter-thiel-wont-fund-any-2024-candidates-report)
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM HAS BEEN DOING ITS WORK
Following the January 6th insurrection, more than 1000 persons have been charged for offenses. As of a few days ago 570 have plead guilty and 78 have been found guilty at trial (https://www.axios.com/2023/04/06/jan6-riots-doj-charged).
The
Justice Department, of which the FBI is a part, has methodically
investigated and prosecuted the January 6th rioters. Recently, The
militant leader of the Oath Keepers and his top deputy were sentenced to
18 years and 12 years behind bars, respectively (writes
in today’s Bulwark ). The
previous Bulwark link will take you to that valuable article.
Only after a couple years have we be able to be sure of what did or didn't happen on
January 6th and what lit the match to set it off.
Here are other recent signs that radical right republicans will have to exercise more common sense:
Arizona republican and election-loser Kari Lake's first and now second lawsuits have both been deemed unjustified by the court. As a result she was censured by the court for filing suit without evidence she's suffered damages (the election she lost was without fraud). She is now liable to pay expenses for her suit.
The
scandal-plagued attorney general of Texas, Ken Paxton, faces an
imminent impeachment vote, according to the New York Times. He was
investigated by the thoroughly Republican legislature. I get the
impression that there is a chance he might be convicted. But we'll soon
see. UPDATE: ON MAY 29TH HE WAS IMPEACHED.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Republicans tried to minimize the functioning of the January 6th committee investigation. That investigation could be watched on TV and I watched a great deal of it, including the testimony of the major witnesses. The witnesses were credible, and after the though investigation the Committee made recommends about charges to the Justice Department.
As noted above, 570 defendants have plead guilty and 78 have been found guilty at trial. Most importantly, Americans now have the best information for assessing the seriousness of the January 6th riot.
In my opinion, it is accurate to call it an insurrection. In fact, "insurrection" is what some defendants have now been convicted of. This is a major accomplishment for American democracy. Trump, however, has repeatedly spoken in favor of pardoning the convicted insurrectionists.
2. In the past year there have been republican congressmen who have switched to become libertarian or even democrat. There are republicans who are routinely honest, devoted to integrity, and keep us accurately informed (Bill Barr, Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Mitt Romney). They have made crucially important decisions to keep our democracy alive.
Citizens must grasp, comprehend, and value both liberal and conservative points of view. Open-mindedness is crucial for voters to learn what they need to know so they can make their vote meaningful.