Don’t drain the swamp

Whatever the details of Trump's conspiracy theory were, in his mind he knew he was on to something greater than him

The division inside America is not unheard of. However, what we are witnessing could be the start of something more sinister and uglier. The Grand Old Party (GOP) or the Republican Party didn’t just lose the presidential and congressional elections. They are losing relevance with a lot of Americans. They deny science and the truth. They stand in the way of an educated and more informed American citizenry. This party is coming to the defence of a man who only told lies and spread conspiracy theories from the White House.

Either GOP embraces a monumental change in many of its stances such as climate change denial, conspiracy theory addiction, increasing income tax for the poor and giving tax breaks to the rich, or risks becoming obsolete. There are two possible directions the GOP can go in. One is to have a GOP Obama — meaning some charismatic leader emerges from the Republican Party who is capable of rallying the nation behind him or her. That doesn’t seem doable in the foreseeable future. The other is that they don’t change their direction at all and prevent Americans from changing their direction. The only way their bizarre and mind-bending stances would remain relevant is for the American people to remain ignorant.

Many DC insurrectionists (terrorists) are being hunted by the FBI and some of them have already been arrested and charged. However, the over 74 million people who voted for Trump share the views of those terrorists. These are the same people who believe that a Washington DC pizzeria named Comet Ping Pong was the headquarters of a child pornography trafficking ring run by Hillary Clinton.

These people genuinely believe that the 2020 election was stolen from them by the so-called Deep State. Twitter and Facebook and many other platforms banned Trump. But these people are not going anywhere. In fact, this banning frenzy could become a game of whack-a-mole where this problem could rebound and make Trumpians believe conspiracies even more.

Winning the White House in the future would be a gigantic task for the Republican Party. Here is an important challenge the GOP is facing: if more and more Americans become more informed and educated, they will gravitate toward the Democratic Party and away from the Republicans. The GOP realises that an America embarking on a journey toward science and education would be almost impossible to convince with their outdated rhetoric. The worst, yet the easiest route the GOP would most likely settle for is to keep the people misinformed because their stances and rhetoric are incompatible with the truth. That would mean a more chronically divided and hateful America. A true friend would spew the harsh truth to correct one’s direction. A true enemy, however, would keep one on the destructive path as long as there is some benefit to be had.

Just yesterday, I came across a white working American here in Texas. He had a conspiracy theory like no other. He looked over his shoulders before breaking it to me with almost a whisper that Trump was actually a plant. I asked if he meant that Trump was planted, like installed. He said no, “Trump is a plant.” For the first few moments, I could not even understand what he had just told me. He added that QAnon (Q) was running the show from the White House. That part sounded familiar. He didn’t want to talk much and before leaving, said, “If you’re a true patriot, then Jesus and Q are watchin’ out for ya.”

Whatever the details of his conspiracy theory were, I’m sure in his mind he knew he was on to something greater than him. That is the kind of Americans voting for the Republican Party, which would never want to change their views. Either the party abandons lunacy or keeps America lunatic.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2021.

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