(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . THE RNC: Beyond Corruption [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-07-12 “The RNC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Trump Inc.” That prescient comment by conservative columnist, Margaret Hoover, correctly positioned the current state of affairs in the Republican Party. Rather than being the party of law and order, the Republican Party now openly supports, and even advocates for crime. The evidence is clear as the Republican National Committee (RNC), under the direction of Ronna McDaniel, makes obscene and exclusionary rules, that all but ensure Trump will be the Party nominee for the 2024 election. Not only is the RNC is determined to stick with an established loser, they endorse norms that are counter-theoretical to those of the Party under Reagan let alone Lincoln. To be explicit, the RNC frontrunner, and individual they are backing, Donald J Trump, is a criminal. For his entire adult life, Trump has been a con artist. As proven repeatedly by the thousands of lawsuits against him, Trump has fleeced investors, employees, and the general public alike. For decades Trump has been an equal opportunity confidence operator. He willingly will throw anyone under the bus, no matter how loyal they have been. In Can American Democracy survive Its Electorate I listed a number of his close appointees Trump routinely betrayed (Barr, Mattis, Tillerson, Mulvaney, Milley, etc.). Just consider the plight of his obsequious former White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany. After hearing her on Fox News, Trump stated, “The RINOS & Globalists can have her. FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!” As his niece, Mary Trump, and many others, have noted, “You can never love a narcissist enough.” Note that Mary Trump has been the victim of Trump’s legal vendettas in which the former POTUS is accused of siphoning off her inheritance. When you are willing to defraud your own family, strangers should be on notice of a significant character flaw. All that is well-known, yet the RNC still throws their support behind him. Clearly, the RNC has no respect for America or Americans. To lead their party, the RNC knowingly chooses to support an amoral, self-admitted sexual predator, who openly and illegally interfered with the 2020 election results. He attempted to incite an insurrection and unabashedly, but unsuccessfully, moved to block the peaceful transfer of power. His overt actions created the most difficult transition of power since 1861, when the southern states seceded from the Union. Then, under Mitch McConnell’s guidance, most of the Republican Party remained silent during the second impeachment, and allowed their chance to prevent recurrence of that travesty to go unchecked. Rarely do indicted individuals plead not guilty before trial, then make public comments admitting their guilt and complicity. Trump did just that. Almost every American has seen strong evidence of Trump’s criminal activity regarding the retention of classified material at Mar-a-Lago. By supporting Trump, the RNC is forsaking the U.S. military and the entire Intelligence Community. Placing many lives in jeopardy, they willingly support an individual who places ego above country. Therefore, they too are complicit in undermining national security. And most people believed that the Republicans were the Party of strong national defense. It has been a cornerstone of Republican policy for decades. Their support for Trump makes that position a total hypocrisy. Traditionally, the Republicans claim they value a strong national defense. Obviously, that is not true and the problems go beyond Trump. Consider the actions of Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville who has personally blocked the promotions of hundreds flag level officers, including the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Repeatedly the he has been warned of the adverse effects of his actions. While football coach Tuberville has been acting independently his Party has been silent on the matter. For all their clamor about the rise on China’s military posture, Tuberville’s actions adversely impact the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Despite those repeated warnings from DoD about the negative effect on national security, there is no overt clamor by other Republicans to counter his aggreges interference. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that, based on their actions, and inactions, the GOP is actually weak on national security. In the 1970’s the GOP ran on a policy of traditional family values. Of course, that meant no talk of gays or lesbians. Now, the RNC’s concept of family values includes supporting a candidate who paid hush-money to a porn star he was screwing when his wife was just giving birth. And that was hardly his only public affair. The infamous National Enquirer catch and kill story of former Playmate, Karen McDougal became highly publicized. While that affair was consensual, one can only wonder how many other family values affairs went on. Remember, there are the more than 25 nonconsensual-sexual incidents that have resulted in a series of lawsuits. In addition to his former wife, Ivana, accusing him of rape (which she later retracted), a jury in New York finally found Donald Trump liable of both sex abuse and defamation in the E. Jean Carroll case. Character assassination is a tactic he has employed many times against most of his accusers. No doubt he was just following the time-honored GOP family values of repeatedly defaming women who report sexual crimes. The Republican tendency toward isolationism is well-established. Trump’s banner cry of America First was actually America Only. Seemingly oblivious to global interrelationships in all areas, the GOP limits our projection of strength by pandering their false narrative to their base. Gone for more than a century is the notion that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were buffers that could protect the country. Trump’s disdain for, and degradation of, NATO are well established. His actions severely undermined the cohesion and collective power of that alliance. America has been through periods of isolationism. It has never worked out very well. Another favorite Republican tactic is to attack the weak or vulnerable. Counter to what most consider a true American value, rooting for the underdog, and protecting the weak, the GOP with the Christian-right across the country, have moved against selective groups with a vengeance. This year there have been over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ laws initiated in states across the country. These are predominantly initiated in traditionally Red States. Saved for particularly harsh condemnation are those in the “Transgender” community in which legal prohibition against their health care has been enacted and supported by the courts. Constituting about 0.5 percent of the population, they are an easy and vulnerable target for GOP candidates and rightwing media. It is well-known that many of them are emotionally fragile, especially as their sexual identity is being established. Despondency, leading to suicide, is prevalent as stated in an NIH Article: “Data indicate that 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide, with suicidality highest among transgender youth.” Easy targets for the GOP legislatures across the country. Possibly even more disconcerting are the reactions of the Trump base voters to his criminal activity. The more crimes, findings and indictments, the more money they contribute. There should be no doubt that the RNC, in supporting Trump, is responding to the tens of millions of their voters who support crime. Not only is the GOP supporting crime, so is their base. Tribalism is a key factor with many GOP voters. Many, unwittingly, seem oblivious to the massive political changes that have taken in the Republican Party, especially over the past couple of decades. This ain’t your granddaddies GOP any more, not even close. Lest you think it is only progressives and RINOs (like me) concerned about the fate of the country, consider the following. The discontent should have been clearly evident when neither former President George H.W. Bush nor President George W. Bush endorsed Trump’s candidacy. They also refused to attend the inaugural ceremony. It is unheard of in politics for former presidents not to support their party’s nominee. But W chose to take the controversy further. In an interview he stated the Republican Party was “misinformation,” and described them as "isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist." Remember, that is the former leader of the clan who recognized that they had gone over the cliff. The same article noted, “Former Republican House Speaker John Boehner teared up last week as he talked about what had happened to his party.” The message has not gotten to the rank and file. Wyoming serves as the rocky lighthouse beacon as to just how far the Party has sunk. To her credit, Liz Cheney chose to do the honorable thing and serve on the January 6th Committee. For her efforts of loyalty to the country and Constitution, House Republican Leader, the invertebrate chameleon, Kevin McCarthy, had her removed from her key Party leadership position to be replaced by a sycophant, Elise Stefanik. And then the Republican voters of Wyoming, booted, Liz, Daughter of Darth, from office as not “Republican” read “corrupt” enough for them. Yes, they truly do support crime. In a recent presentation in New York, she correctly identified the problem saying, “What we’ve done in our politics is create a situation where we’re electing idiots.” And went on to state, “Because of the situation that we’re in, where we have a major-party candidate who’s trying to unravel our democracy.” Unfortunately, it is far more than a single candidate, but an Amoebiasis infection that has overcome the Republican Party leadership. Finally, extortion is defined as “the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.” Trump’s first impeachment was based on his naked and illegal attempted extortion of Volodymyr Zelensky by threatening to withhold funds that Congress already had appropriated. In his infamous “perfect call,” Trump demanded Zelensky initiate an investigation into Joe Biden in return for the money being released. That is extortion though the actual charges were “Abuse of Power” and “obstruction of Congress.” Despite the impeachment, the Republican dominate Senate refused to remove him from office. Yes, the Republican Party, and the RNC, under Ronna McDaniel, overtly support crime and criminal behavior. To advocate for a cult of personality, the RNC has proven it will overlook national security, Constitutional duties, moral turpitude, and host of other failings. Like so-called Banana Republics, they practice corruption on a scale previously never imaged. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/12/2180787/-THE-RNC-Beyond-Corruption Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/