written 17 September 2023
published 24 September 2023
Last week, rain flooded Hong Cong (6 inches in one hour), Massachusetts and Rhode Island (9 inches), northeastern Libya (16 inches, 3/4 of the annual average, in 6 hours, bursting burst 2 dams, destroying 1/4 of Derna, killing at least 6,000), and southern China (18 inches). For the first time in history, all seven of the cyclone basins have produced category 5 storms in the same year. Farmers Insurance is fourth major company to leave Florida, citing climate risks.
A local columnist recently wrote that Democratic party goals have degenerated over time while Republican party goals have stayed the same: strong military, lower taxes, and smaller government. In addition to these traditional GOP goals, the party supported family values, the rule of law, and personal integrity. The GOP has changed.
Strong military: Senator Tuberville is single handedly threatening national security and degrading military readiness by stalling 300 top level military promotions, included Joint Chief of Staff, because of his personal abortion opinion. No Republican Senator is willing to publicly pressure him to change his stance.
Lower taxes: Republicans continue to push for lower taxes, but only for the very wealthy. Not being satisfied with just lower taxes, the IRS was defunded to the point where high value tax cheats weren't being audited because they were too labor intensive. Under Trump's rule, the national debt was increased by $7T to give tax cuts to the wealthiest, while social services were cut. Incomes over $160,000 don't contribute to the Social Security system.
Smaller government: Republicans assert government is a problem, with no social value. The chaos in the Republican "controlled" House shows no interest in actually governing, choosing political posturing instead, which IS a problem. The Republican abortion agenda now includes government intrusion into everyone's sex life. People driving across state lines will be investigated to make sure no abortion is intended. Miscarriages will be investigated for blood evidence of abortion pills. Medical procedures around women's health are legally scrutinized.
Family values: No longer even "pro-life" (now "pro-baby"), the GOP canceled a child tax credit, doubling child poverty in a stroke. Once a baby is born, the GOP wants nothing to do with it, unless you are rich.
Rule of law: The party now supports a candidate who has been indicted 4 times for 91 felonies, yet the GOP rallies around him. Many Republicans feel the Constitution is irrelevant. One of the standards of our Constitutional system is accepting the outcome of elections and a peaceful transfer of power. Trump has been described as malignant narcissist, so it is understandable that he is mentally incapable of accepting the reality he lost, but most of the GOP leaders have supported this delusion of a "stolen election", and the insurrection on the Capitol that followed. Recent evidence shows that Republican leaders have acquiesced out of fear of threats of violence against their families. Rather than accept responsibility for actions taken, and be tried as an equal under the law, the entire justice system is being is being demonized, accused of being weaponized.
Personal integrity: Fox News, an avid Republican supporter and significant in the conservative media landscape, has been found in a court of law to have lied, known about it, and didn't care. Honesty has no place in the modern GOP if it stands in the way of keeping power. Shutting down the entire government, reneging on commitments, is acceptable if it makes difficulty for the opposition party. Anyone who stands up for what they believe, if it is contrary to the "cult of Trump", is demonized, swarmed with hate mail and threats, primaried out of the party, and eliminated for consideration.
Whatever principles the Republican party once had are long gone. They have no policy plans that have support of the majority of voters, so they gerrymander the districts, purge the voter rolls, change the rules, lie, and mobilize violence, just to stay in power. These are the traits of an authoritarian regime.
The climate crisis is real, and continues to erode our material civilization as surely as being repeated attacked by an adversary in war. This is not a malevolent force, but the natural imbalance of our entire way of living on the planet. These times demand we mature, become part of life on the planet, not just parasitic consumers. The unity of the world demands recognition. The modern GOP has nothing to offer.
