R.I.P., G.O.P. The Party of Lincoln had a good run. Then came Mr. Trump.

[applegrove]

R.I.P., G.O.P.

The Party of Lincoln had a good run. Then came Mr. Trump.

By The Editorial Board NY Times

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.

Oct. 24, 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/opinion/sunday/trump-republican-party.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

"SNIP.....

Of all the things President Trump has destroyed, the Republican Party is among the most dismaying.

“Destroyed” is perhaps too simplistic, though. It would be more precise to say that Mr. Trump accelerated his party’s demise, exposing the rot that has been eating at its core for decades and leaving it a hollowed-out shell devoid of ideas, values or integrity, committed solely to preserving its own power even at the expense of democratic norms, institutions and ideals.

Tomato, tomahto. However you characterize it, the Republican Party’s dissolution under Mr. Trump is bad for American democracy.

A healthy political system needs robust, competing parties to give citizens a choice of ideological, governing and policy visions. More specifically, center-right parties have long been crucial to the health of modern liberal democracies, according to the Harvard political scientist Daniel Ziblatt’s study of the emergence of democracy in Western Europe. Among other benefits, a strong center right can co-opt more palatable aspects of the far right, isolating and draining energy from the more radical elements that threaten to destabilize the system.

.....SNIP"

[J_William_Ryan]

1. Trump is more symptom than disease.

As correctly noted: for some 50 years the GOP as pandered to religious fundamentalist, social conservatives, rightwing ideologues, partisan extremists, bigots, racists, and misogynists.

The GOP has become nothing more than a repository for the Nation’s fear, ignorance, stupidity, and hate.

[applegrove]

2. +100

[marybourg]

3. +1000

[regnaD kciN]

4. I'd say well before that...

While there certainly had been fervent anti-Bolshevism in the Republican Party in the 1920s, it was only in the aftermath of WWII, when Democrats held the White House for two straight decades, that Republicans seized on the notion of demonizing Democrats by linking them to the Communist Menace, rendering them, not just an opposition to strive against in the political forum, but a demonic force that had to be exterminated at all costs. (And, yes, there was a level of civility during the Eisenhower era, and even beyond, between politicians on both sides, but it existed alongside this thread of fear and enmity which was allowed to get louder and more powerful, era by era.) In truth, it could be argued that the beginning of the cancer in American politics began with Joe McCarthy and "this list which I hold in my hand," and the Nixons, Roves, Atwaters, Buchanans, Gingriches and Bachmans only helped it spread until it metastasized into the malignancy which is today's Trumpublicans.

[Beakybird]

5. That sounds like an accurate analysis.

[BlueMTexpat]

6. This.

SO much this! But don't forget Raygun!

tRump is just a natural consequence. And all those GOPers in the Senate and House who have slavishly followed his lead are every bit as bad, if not worse.

[Earthshine2]

7. The GOP will constantly be nipping at the heels of the Biden administration.

They will be a huge pain in all of our asses, constantly screaming about socialism and court packing.

They will be back in 2022 and 2024, and we must be ready for them, always.

A party generally supported by about half this country isn't going to disappear or be totally neutered.

I do expect that Trump will be out of the headlines, but never going to jail.

[NurseJackie]

8. He'll use Twitter to say outrageous things...

I do expect that Trump will be out of the headlines

He'll use Twitter to say outrageous things... and occasionally find the headline attention he craves.

And he'll be getting negative headlines too (I hope!) as we learn more and more about his criminal enterprise.