Not So Sudden

Still-conservative, though very anti-Trump George Conway no doubt was singing Joe Scarborough's tune when on Morning Joe he remarked

They hate the United States military because it's part of the United States government and this is basically- the Republicans have become anti-American, anti-government, anti- United States now- that's their shtick now. That's why you see them attacking law enforcement, the FBI, the Justice Department, state and federal prosecutors, and they attack institutions that normally Republicans were very, very supportive of and what now is just their nihilistic attack on American institutions.

.@gtconway3d:

“Republicans have become anti-American, anti-government, anti-the United States. That’s their shtick now.

That's why you see them attacking law enforcement. The FBI…Institutions that normally Republicans were very very supportive of.”
(Video: MSNBC) pic.twitter.com/6ot8jrEHvB

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 5, 2023

 

For those who aren't fans of the ex-President, there are three ways to account for the impact of Donald Trump upon his party.  He may be viewed as what is wrong with the Republican Party: as the intimidating individual who has hijacked the Party, brought it down to his level; or has merely exposed the GOP for what it is.

Take it from a long-time Republican strategist:

When I say Trump didn’t change the Republican Party, he revealed it, @RichLowry is a perfect example. https://t.co/eSDVieod1n

— Stuart Stevens (@stuartpstevens) August 2, 2023

When the 40th President of the USA died in 2004, professor government and politics Ronald W. Walters noted "Ronald Reagan, it is fair to say, was really an anathema to the entire civil rights community and the civil rights agenda." Moreover

Walters, in his book “White Nationalism/black Interests – Conservative Public Policy and the black Community,” argues that George W. Bush’s election in 2000 secured the domination of American politics “by the radical Conservative wing of the Republican party, a project begun when Ronald Reagan was elected to the White House in 1980.”the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

This domination of American politics began with the election of 1980, was re-energized by the election of 2000, and has descended into the sewer in recent years. George Conway, bless his soul, says that "the Republicans have become."  But this didn't start today, yesterday, or when Donald Trump was elected. Ronald Reagan deserves credit for much of the continuing attack on American government, now including federal law enforcement and other institutions and the damage it is already bringing.

 

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