Departments

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Republican Party

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    1/21/2021

    Trump’s Parting Gift to Joe Biden

    by Ronald Brownstein

    Joe Biden's inaugural address was the first since Lincoln's in 1861 that used the term "disunion," emphasizing the severity of America's political division and Biden's potential to create a political realignment around commitment to democracy and democratic culture. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    1/16/2021

    QAnon Is Destroying the GOP From Within

    by Ben Sasse

    The Republican Senator from Nebraska, who holds a doctorate in American history, warns that his party cannot continue to "preach the Constitution while winking at QAnon," and suggests ways to repair the frayed social fabric in which conspiracy theories thrive.

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    1/13/2021

    Trump Is the Republican Party’s Past and Its Future

    by Lisa McGirr

    It's not a question of whether Trump voters are driven by racism, nativism or conspiracy theories, or by "economic anxiety." Republican economic policies have created inequality and instability that the party can only paper over by encouraging resentment, suspicion and hostility. It won't end with Trump's departure.

  • 1/12/2020

    The Long Overdue End of the “Serious Conservative"

    by Charles J. Holden

    Two darlings of the conservative movement – Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley – found themselves in hot water last week after supporting the false narrative of election fraud that inspired the Capitol rioting. It's part of a long legacy of media-anointed "serious conservatives" whose smarts have been inflated.

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    1/12/2021

    The Respectables

    by Adam Serwer

    The history of racist political violence in the United States means no one should be surprised by the presence of the economically comfortable and professionally accomplished among the Capitol rioters, who believe their right to rule, rather than their subsistence, is threatened. 

  • 1/10/2021

    Teddy Roosevelt and Josh Hawley's History Lessons

    by David Goldfischer

    Josh Hawley wrote a 2008 biography of Theodore Roosevelt balancing praise of the former president's vision of democracy with condemnation of his grasping for power. One wonders how the author of this book could have acted as the Senator did on January 6. 

  • 1/10/2020

    Will the Republicans Take the Fascist Option?

    by Kevin Matthews

    Before this past week, too many in the GOP seemed too willing to choose the fascist option.  Now they have seen what it looks like and where it leads.  The question Republicans must answer is simple: Will they choose fascism anyway? 

  • SOURCE: The New Yorker
    12/29/2020

    The Deep Origins of Latino Support for Trump

    by Geraldo Cadava

    "In the White House, Joe Biden will have the opportunity to show Latinos that they’re important to the Democratic coalition. First, though, Democrats will have to acknowledge that a shift did, in fact, take place."

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    1/4/2021

    Worse Than Treason

    by Tom Nichols

    "The majority of the Republican Party and its apologists are advocating for the overthrow of an American election and the continued rule of a sociopathic autocrat."

  • 12/20/2020

    To Be Or Not to Be... a Republican

    by James D. Zirin

    Donald Trump doesn't expect to prevail in the 2020 election, but may succeed in keeping hold of the Republican Party for years to come; his insistent claims of fraud are a test of loyalty. 

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    12/14/2020

    GOP Leader McConnell Congratulates Biden As President-Elect

    Julian Zelizer argues that the whole Washington Republican establishment has been involved in a dangerous effort to undermine faith in the election, even after the Electoral College has cast its votes and given Joe Biden a winning total. 

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    12/5/2020

    Trump’s Voter Fraud Yarn is Unraveling. But it can Still Help the GOP

    Rick Perlstein suggests that the Republicans' unwillingness to condemn Trump's wild theories about a stolen election are part of a historical pattern of fear that if the electorate expands Republicans will be lose. The theories won't overturn this election, but they will be used to justify future restrictions on the ballot.

  • SOURCE: Boston Review
    12/9/2020

    How Did the GOP Become the Party of Ideas?

    by Lawrence B. Glickman

    The Republican Party's reputation as the "Party of Ideas" in the late 1970s and 1980s was generally created by Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who derided the New Deal and Great Society as stale and outdated in a struggle to push the Democratic Party to the right. 

  • SOURCE: Heather Cox Richardson
    12/5/2020

    Letters From An American: 12/5/2020

    by Heather Cox Richardson

    There is an uncomfortable precedent in 1884 for Republicans' refusal to acknowledge Biden's victory. Is the GOP seeking to sow economic and public health chaos in an effort to reinforce their minority rule?