From Where I Stand: What happened to the Republican Party – the political divide
More than 26 percent of Biden-Harris yard signs in Plumas County have been stolen or defaced. The Republican Party declares itself to be the party of “Law and Order,” but whose law? Apparently, Republican supporters see nothing wrong with stealing the personal property of people who have a different political opinion.
I can’t believe our country has come to this. The 2020 election is a critical contest for the “soul” of our nation. Four more years of trump could doom our country. We are at a “crossroads.” Should trump prevail in the election, there may be no possibility of regaining the institutions and principles of our Democracy.
Republicans who still believe in Democracy and our country have abandoned trump and are speaking out against him. They are passionately and resolutely raising alarms! Are Republicans listening? The Republican Party has been co-opted and is morphing into a party that is unrecognizable to the Republicans of a few decades ago. What happened to the Republican leaders who legislated with integrity and honesty, the party of Lincoln? There are no such leaders in the current Republican Party.
The list of disreputable if not illegal actions of trump is innumerable: abuse of power, soliciting foreign intervention in American Democracy, election tampering, campaign finance violations, emolument clause violations, attacking free press, undermining the balance of power, denying climate change, and the despicable act of separating children from the parents of internationally recognized, legally protected asylum seekers. Trump is criminally corrupt and morally bankrupt!
trump has told over 25,000 lies in the course of his presidency. His lies pertaining to the pandemic have contributed to the deaths of 225,000 Americans, crippled our economy, left 10’s of millions of Americans unemployed, and created a deficit of trillions of dollars while ironically benefitting corporate interests. trump has incited the rise of white supremacist groups and treats law abiding protestors with disdain and military action. His executive decisions have eliminated transparency in government and, by firing inspector generals of agencies, has also eliminated accountability of agencies and agency directors.
Under trump’s leadership of the Republican party, and those of his supporters, voter suppression has risen to unprecedented levels. The number of polling centers in largely minority communities have been drastically reduced, voter lists have been purged, and he and Dejoy have undermined the 2020 election nationwide by crippling USPS to make it incredibly difficult for voters, especially in swing states, to vote successfully by mail. That this was done during an epidemic is beyond appalling! It is deadly and reflects trump’s true feeling about the citizens of this nation: we, the voters, are merely pawns in his struggle to maintain power, and our deaths are purely collateral damage. It is not only our revered fallen military heroes who are suckers and losers, it is the American people who vote for trump oblivious to how they are being used. Through it all, Republicans, like LaMalfa and the Dahles, say nothing and revel in the monies that self-serving corporate interests throw their way. They are ultimately and irreconcilably complicit.
If there is a divide in the American people, it is a divide created by a Republican party which seeks power and control by brainwashing its supporters, crippling our institutions, and undermining the principles of our Democracy to ensure that power remains under their control regardless of majority public sentiment. This is a fight between those who would save our Democracy, and those who would destroy it. It is also a fight between those who seek true equality, and those who revere “white power”! We must vote Republican enablers out of office and restore Democracy before any unity is possible!
Faith Strailey
Plumas County Democrats Chair
Quincy