Oakland, CA. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The branding of MAGA creeps as “weird” is horribly unfair to all the decent weird people in this world. Let’s get this straight: Donald Trump, JD Vance and the MAGA acolytes are not weird. They are very creepy, destructive and mean-spirited. “Weird” is a misapplied euphemism in their case.
I was never a Republican, though I interned for one right after high school, Rep. Robin Beard (TN). Though Beard championed himself as a “conservative,” used the word “liberal” on pejorative terms, and was one of President Richard Nixon’s last defenders; Beard was a true conservative. He was fervently anti-Communist, as all conservatives and Republicans had been since World War II, and a balanced-budget hawk His objections to self-help and social entitlement programs were rooted in genuine concern for fiscal sense, rather than a cruel philosophy that poor people don’t deserve better lives. The Heritage Foundation used to promote the same brand of conservatism, but now bring the proposed Project 2025, which gives Trump a fulfilled wish list, to dispense with all those pesky government “guardrails,” against Fascism. It calls for:
– Sacking of thousands of civil servants, expanding the power of the president, dismantling the Department of Education, sweeping tax cuts, a ban on pornography, halting sales of the abortion pill, and more.
– Proposes that the entire federal bureaucracy, including independent agencies such as the Department of Justice, be placed under direct presidential control – a controversial idea known as “unitary executive theory.” And eliminating job protections for thousands of government employees, who could then be replaced by political appointe
-Despite the embarrassing failure of Trump’s border wall proposal, and the $millions wasted on it, Project 2025 calls for increased funding for a wall on the US-Mexico border – one of Trump’s signature proposals in 2016 – is proposed in the document. Project 2025 also proposes dismantling the Department of Homeland Security and combining it with other immigration enforcement units in other agencies, creating a much larger and more powerful border policing operation. Other proposals include eliminating visa categories for crime and human trafficking victims, increasing fees on immigrants and allowing fast-tracked applications for migrants who pay a premium.” I could go on, but that’s disturbing enough. (Explore the link above.)
My internship was in the summer of 1973, which coincided with the Watergate hearings, and I was honored to attend in person on two occasions. Frankly, I thought the Republicans under Nixon were getting pretty weird, when some of them started crying that Nixon was too liberal. They always wanted somebody meaner. As I studied the ideologies of the Democrats and Republicans before I started college, I sensed that Republicans could someday be vulnerable to megalomaniac takeover by someone such as Trump, and use it as a springboard for full-bore Fascism in the US. But I never dreamed that Republicans would ever favor Russia (the old or neo-USSR) over NATO and the western alliances crafted after World War II. I often counter pro-Trump acolytes and arguments by saying, “Oh, so I guess you weren’t happy with the results of the Civil War or World War II.”
For all his evil deeds, Nixon gave the US a lot of great things including EPA, expanded social programs for food stamps, Infant nutrition; Endangered Species, Clean Air and Water Acts; ended the military draft and began the withdrawal from Vietnam, lowered the voting age to 18, and he signed Title IX of the Civil Rights Act. Nixon was a hero for women’s sports! He also gave American Natives self-determination over much of their tribal lands and sacred burial grounds. Nixon did all that, which today’s Republicans are too mean and creepy to support. But it was weird that Nixon chose the “CREEP” acronym for his presidential re-election campaign, (*The Committee to Re-Elect the President.). Nixon deserves credit for foreshadowing the branding of today’s Republicans.
“Trump Creepy,” Digital, Dream/ Dark Fantasy, 2024.
Trump’s proposed agenda, if re-elected makes no attempt to hide his intent to supplant American Democracy with full-bore Fascism. He expressed intent to undermine or “fix” the Justice System to protect himself, as Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has done. He promises/threats to use the Justice Department as a tool to persecute and imprison his political rivals, and carry out mass deportations of foreign nationals, even if they hold US citizenship. The idea of American concentration camps was already realized by Stephen Miller, with the Trump campaign to separate families at the Mexican border, and detain children in inhumane conditions. His campaign is supported by Republican governors’ stunts to bus asylum-seekers out of their states, and into locales with progressive political leaders. The war on gays and LGBTQ culture would be amplified, and local school districts would lose control over their curriculum choices, leading to more book bannings and burnings.
Trump, Vance, Miller (He was kicked out of all 12 Tribes and can no longer be considered Jewish) and Steve Bannon are not weird; they are dangerously creepy and scary.
Today’s Republicans would HANG Nixon for all his relatively progressive initiatives and accomplishments. Maybe they’ll hang JD Vance instead, who may not realize what he signed on for. Obviously, he didn’t consult Mike Pence.
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