How could a political party lose its soul, its integrity, its commitment and responsibility to serve the best interests of the entire nation more dramatically than the Republican Party has in recent decades? The current plunge is into the depths of irresponsibility, as the last vestiges of its moral fiber have disappeared with the advent of the Trump presidency and the party's calculated mixture of acceptance, toleration, and silence as it encounters the accumulation of fake news (i.e., open-faced lying) and the persistent self-promotion and self-aggrandizement of the president, regardless of the cost to the nation. His numerous violations of precedence and of laws in pursuit of his self-serving ends have all been tacitly accepted by party leaders, as their only real commitment is to pursue their immediate political goals, e.g., repealing the Affordable Care Act, passing their Tax Reform act which so clearly favors the most wealthy, reducing financial and corporate regulations that previous administrations have passed to provide greater consumer safety and protection, and decimating attempts to counter the adverse effects of human-induced climate change. The list could go on. The bottom line is that the Trump Administration is intent on dismembering the very things that have made America a great nation, especially those that have been fought for and enacted during the last 50 years, starting with the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960's. This legislation was meant to further counter the greatest blight on our nation's history, that of slavery and the continuance of human rights violations and implicit white supremacy. Trump's clear desire, as a closet white supremacist, is to roll back the clock, and the GOP has been willingly complicit.
The GOP's fall into the very depths of depravity have been highlighted by its choosing to ignore the sexual harassment charges that numerous women have raised against Donald Trump, regardless of the presence of considerable evidence, including self-statements made by the violator himself. While some party leaders did draw the line and refused to support accused child sexual harasser Roy Moore in his bid for a Senate seat, their silence in regard to Trump's sexual history speaks volumes. Their agenda must move forward, in their eyes nothing is more important. It's a sorry sight for a nation that likes to proclaim itself as "exceptional", valuing itself as a worthy model for the rest of the world, and often even trying to export its way of life and governance to other parts of the world, through nation building efforts supported by assistance or by force. Leaders and populations of other nations are looking at us with bewilderment, wondering "what's going on, how could a usually reliable, level-headed nation and ally get so far off the track?" It is not just a question of how did Trump, an egotistic, volatile, self-serving narcissist, become President. The Republican Party's downfall, its loss of integrity, began much earlier, Trump is just the ultimate culmination. How that happened is a fair question, one that deserves a serious answer.
The Republican Party began its history on the moral high ground with Abraham Lincoln, and the new party with which he was elected president, taking on the monumental task of ending the grossly inhumane and unjust practice of slavery which had been accepted by our nation's founding fathers some 80 years earlier. No cost was too great for Lincoln to succeed in this endeavor, a war was fought, the fracturing of the nation was risked, his own life was lost to the hatred inbreed in the battle. It was that important! The slaves had to be freed, no human being in our nation should be sentenced to serving as a slave for life. The Republican Party also maintained much of the moral high ground during the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt, with his persistent efforts to preserve public lands, establish National Parks, and protect the interests of all Americans, not just the most wealthy, influential, and privileged among us. His battles in fighting corporations, trusts, and holding companies ultimately cost him the presidency, but he was fighting for the interests of all Americans, not just the few powerful string-pullers at the top.
The GOP also demonstrated high integrity through some of the significant programs spurred by the Eisenhower Administration of the 1950's. Taxes were high, in some cases more than double or triple what they are now, but the money was well spent on programs that served to benefit the needs of all Americans. Our public education system was greatly expanded and improved, at primary, secondary, and college levels. Our interstate highway system was developed at great cost but to the tremendous advantage of all citizens. Government was actively and effectively working to improve the quality of its citizen's daily lives. A final high note of Eisenhower's presidency was his issuing a warning, as a last presidential act, of the growing power of the military and defense industries, and the real danger of that power being misused. Tragic for the nation that the warning was not heeded in coming years, especially by two Republican presidents, Nixon in markedly escalating and expanding the Vietnamese War, and the Bush-Cheney Administration in initiating the Iraqi War.
The GOP's decline as a party that maintained some degree of moral integrity was clearly evidenced during the Nixon years, continuing a war that was dishonestly conceived and prolonged, and then, of course, his presidency ending with the Watergate debacle. It was hoped that Watergate would be a "never again" occurrence, an end to dirty, dishonest politics at that level. Unfortunately, such has not been the case. Politicians have just gotten better at concealing their underhanded tactics and dishonest ways to win. Reagan, for instance, was expert at pretending to be the friend of the middle class, to focus on serving their needs, and those in the middle class did tend to love him and to reward him with their votes. His tax cuts and policies, however, strongly favored the most wealthy, and the percentage of the nation's wealth in middle class hands began dropping steadily during his presidency, and has yet to significantly recover. No way were his policies a "friend" to the middle class. He loved proclaiming that the ten most dangerous words in the English language were "I'm from the government and I'm here to help". A perfect excuse for his Administration to end policies and programs that did serve public needs, and redirect those resources into programs that benefited his donors and wealthy friends.
The latest impetus to the GOP's descent into moral turpitude was their reaction, as a unified party endeavor, to block, resist, and defeat everything the Obama administration attempted to achieve, even if Obama was undertaking policies and programs that the GOP had previously embraced. Nothing was more important than ensuring the failure of Obama, the best interests and needs of the nation during his presidency be damned. Politics over patriotism! Once they gained control of Congress, GOP leadership used their power, not to present any proposals to counter the policies Obama was putting forward, but rather only to see that Obama's programs were defeated. Was it racism, or just short-sighted, self-serving politics? Either way, no wonder Congress's approval ratings hit all time lows, Obama's years were less successful than they otherwise may have been, and all of government was getting a terrible reputation. A perfect scenario for a totally wild card, anti-establishment, out-of-the-loop candidate to enter the scene. Too bad it had to be someone as unqualified politically and as destitute morally as Donald J. Trump.
As the opportunist par excellence that he is, Trump took ideal advantage of the situation that presented itself. The Republican Party leadership had gotten unpopular even with its own voters, he had little difficulty finding fault with, attacking, and dispelling 15 other candidates vying for the party nomination. The primary voters were angry enough to put up with his outrageous attacks, insults, slurs, etc., some even embraced and parroted them. GOP leadership dutifully stuck with their voters choice, perhaps not liking it, but readily becoming subservient to it. Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, etc., may be decent men in their own personal behaviors, but they are acting disgracefully in politically becoming beholden to, supporting, and applauding the policies and actions of a man as disgusting and despicable to Trump. Trump has incorporated into his Administration the very worst of the models presented by the Nixon and the Reagan administrations. He believes and acts, as Nixon did, that the president is above the law, can not be charged with any wrongdoing, so why not use his powers as president to enhance his own wealth and financial holdings, and share it with his family and those in his inner circle. Like Reagan, he claims to be a friend of the middle class, praises his voter base, presents past governments as their enemy but he will change all that. He does, in fact, the opposite, cutting programs which serve their needs, along with those of the vast majority of citizens, while serving himself, his ego, and his chosen few. In the meantime, the real needs of the nation are floundering.
How long will the GOP leadership continue to tolerate this situation? No one, of course, knows, not even the leadership itself. They couldn't like the predicament they are in. They have already seriously compromised their integrity and whatever principles they may have. They have to know that the nation is in serious jeopardy, but they seem paralyzed to do anything but what they have already committed themselves to, to plow ahead with an erratic, unprincipled, volatile bordering on crazy leader at the helm. It's unchartered waters, for the party, for the nation, and for the world. GOP leadership could regain some of their soul and rebel against Trump, but probably won't, they are too compromised already. Voters may, and probably will, increasingly rebel against Trump, the spectacle they are observing is too odious, and their real needs are being too damaged and neglected. Much of the world finds Trump so distasteful they will reject Trump's style, some of his policies, but will find it difficult to distance themselves from what the US, with its power and wealth, does have to offer to the well-being of their own countries. Both at home and abroad, it will become obvious that Trump's reputed skill at "the Art of the Deal" is a massive hoax, he is only skilled at fighting Winner-Loser battles, and if he is winning, everyone else is likely to be the loser. Many knew this before the election, but took a chance and hoped for the best. Now the reality is undeniable. The Republican Party is clearly a loser in continuing to support his presidency. If it begins to rebel against Trump now, it will likely fracture the party, and weaken the remaining GOP most likely for decades to come. Doing so would, however, put them on a road to regaining some remnants of the soul, of the integrity, of the patriotic spirit, that once was the hallmark of the Republican Party.
