I was deeply moved by what NBA Coach Doc Rivers said in 2020 after the shooting of a black man at point-blank range, in front of his three children, by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Expressing frustration that even after the George Floyd killing, another Black man was killed, he said: “It’s amazing why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back. It’s really so sad.”
In several media outlets, especially after the failed assassination attempt of the former president, there continues to be a plea to tone down the political rhetoric and treat each political party with dignity and respect. They continue to adhere to the principle of both sides-ism where the press strives to be impartial and provide equal access to both political parties.
In principle, I believe in this plea if it were normal times and the GOP were a normal political party. I also believe that it is important to have at least two (or even more) robust normal political parties so that there can be a healthy discussion of various policies and points of view in a democracy.
But in today’s political environment, I find it difficult to see that this plea should be adhered to especially when one party has openly expressed MAGA ideas that attack the very foundations of our democracy.
I want to love the GOP political party, but it does not love me back when it nominates a person to be President who says he wants to be a dictator on day one of his Presidency and threatens a bloodbath if he loses.
I want to love the GOP political party, but it does not love me back when it nominates a person to be President who calls the convicts, who attacked the Capitol, the Capitol Police, and the peaceful transfer of power, patriots and hostages and wishes to pardon them for their crimes against our democracy.
I want to love the GOP political party, but it does not love me back when it nominates a person who tells his supporters they only have to vote one more time because after he gets elected “you won’t have to do it any more. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote any more.”
I want to love the GOP political party, but it does not love me back when it nominates a person to be President who continues to spread the Big Lie that the 2020 election was rigged thereby sowing doubt about our sacred democratic election systems.
I want to love the GOP political party, but it does not love me back when it nominates a person to be President who calls the free press the “Enemy of the People” and “Fake News.”
I want to love the GOP political party, but it does not love me back when it nominates a person to be President who wishes to use the full power of the Department of Justice to prosecute his perceived political enemies simply for his warped sense of retribution.
I want to love the GOP political party, but it does not love me back when it nominates a person to be President who believes he is above the law,
I want to love the GOP political party, but it does not love me back when it nominates to be President a felon convicted on 34 counts of business fraud relating to his sexual encounter with a porn star in order to influence the 2016 election.
I want to love the GOP political party, but it does not love me back when it nominates to be President a convicted sexual assaulter.
I want to love the GOP political party, but it does not love me back when it nominates a person to be President, who insults veterans, who risked their lives for our country, by calling them suckers and losers,
And the list can go on and on about this man of such low moral character who has no respect whatsoever for our democracy, but only for himself and his quest for power and money.
The Bucks County Beacon has done an excellent job documenting the authoritarian anti-democratic nature of the MAGA enterprise. The Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board also has come out firmly and very early against Donald Trump’s quest to return to the White House. I commend both of them for their clear vision. They value our democracy over pandering to a MAGA controlled party which seeks to destroy our democracy and its freedoms. I wish more media outlets would take this stand and continually report the lies, the criminality, the admiration for dictators and the attacks on our democratic allies and our own democracy that this convicted criminal president and his MAGA supporters espouse every day.
These are not normal times, so we must act differently with respect to this existential threat. We must call out such authoritarian assaults and not give oxygen to the lies that fuel the attack on our democracy. Some say it (fascism) can’t happen here, but I am afraid we are already on the road to authoritarianism. We must not give equal time to a party who has lost its American way. We must not be shy about calling out their fascism, their lies, and their attacks on our democracy. We must recognize the threat that is before us, rise to the occasion, and reveal to the American people how dangerous the MAGA agenda is to the future of our beloved democracy. Once the MAGA agenda is finally defeated and discarded, then, and only then, can we welcome the GOP back into the normal fold of our democracy.
