Recently Morning Joe discussed a conversation he had with a fellow Republican he has known for years, but didn’t disclose his name. This person stated that the Trump GOP wants to “replace” the U.S. government. What they wanted to replace it with never made it into the conversation. Maybe because it’s clear they have no policies, unless one could call misogyny, incivility, deceit, greed, law-breaking, violence, witness tampering, and more, “policy.” There seems to be no evidence that Republicans know how to govern. Least of all, their leader.
Yet the party has supported Trump-endorsed candidates — believers of the Big Lie — as candidates for office. One thing we know for sure: Steve Bannon, when a member of the Trump administration, said the goal of said administration was to deconstruct the present American government. He never suggested a replacement either, but he spoke a great deal about “chaos.”
The New York Times reports that the Archives and National Records people are said to believe that the documents Trump gave them (and said “that’s all”) could be evidence of criminal actions. Trump’s response was: “Look out, they are coming for you!”
The evening news shows that the governor trying to out-Trump Trump, Ron DeSantis, has made an all-out assault on public education. He launched state sponsored professional development training for teachers who must pay $700 out of pocket to indoctrinate children through revisionist history. (Not sure if he or others crafted this but sure he had lots of help.)
A small sample of the history to be taught to your children and grandchildren and mine includes: originalism, which reinterprets the U.S. Constitution to “mean” it is based on Christian fundamentalism and that it defies separation of church and state. This should make happy hordes of voters who have one religious view that should be imposed upon everyone.
Then there are all of those colored people in the history books found in the Antebellum South on plantations in the fields, in the kitchens, in the nursery. Did you know that these people mostly came from South America, but really, the majority of them were born here in the U.S? They didn’t come here by boat.
Meanwhile, what have the Democrats done? American Recovery Act; Inflation Reduction Act; infrastructure investment; Jobs Act; Chips and Science Act (manufacturing computer chips here in the U.S.); help for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits; Medicare/ Medicaid negotiated with big Pharma with a top of no more than $2,000 out of pocket for people with cancer and other deadly diseases. For people who pay for their own health care (not seniors), a three-year extension to buy coverage for less than $10 per month, and tax credits, five years. Most ever lowering of healthcare costs in U.S. history.
To be fair, there was significant support for much of this legislation from Republicans, which is the reason so much of it passed. Thank you one and all!
Shirley Rickett lives in Alamo.
