MAGAâs last failed gasp â the moronic lawsuit that tried to argue Texas has the right to nullify the will of the people in key states that swung to President-elect Biden â was actually the culmination of the authoritarian impulse that has long been metastasizing inside the Republican Party.
Trump didnât inject this disease. Heâs merely unleashed its most deadly elements.
Thirty years ago, Republicans began to nurture the belief that they had a divine right to rule and that the Democrats (buoyed by lots of voters who werenât white) were, by definition, less than legitimate. As historian David Greenberg pointed out, a conviction took hold of Republicans during the Reagan-Bush years that they were somehow the âmajority partyâ and had a lock on the White House.
Polman: Lest we forget, Republicans were un-American long before Trump trib.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from trib.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lest We Forget, Republicans Were Un-American Long Before Trump
by Dick Polman, December 17, 2020
MAGA s last failed gasp - the moronic lawsuit that tried to argue Texas has the right to nullify the will of the people in key states that swung to President-elect Biden - was actually the culmination of the authoritarian impulse that has long been metastasizing inside the Republican party.
Trump didn t inject this disease. He s merely unleashed its most deadly elements.
Thirty years ago, Republicans began to nurture the belief that they had a divine right to rule and that the Democrats (buoyed by lots of voters who weren t white) were, by definition, less than legitimate. As historian David Greenberg pointed out, a conviction took hold of Republicans during the Reagan-Bush years that they were somehow the majority party and had a lock on the White House.
POLITICO
Biden’s Congress Whisperer
Louisa Terrell is the quintessential Capitol Hill dealmaking pro. In 2021, are there any deals to be had?
President-elect Joe Biden delivers a Thanksgiving address at the Queen Theatre on November 25, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. | Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images
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Nancy Scola is a reporter covering technology for POLITICO.
It was just after Barack Obama took the oath of office in 2009 when Louisa Terrell got on the phone with Shawn Whitman, chief of staff to Sen. John Barrasso. It had the potential to be a painfully odd-couple pairing. Barrasso was a new Republican senator from Wyoming eager to make a name as a fierce conservative. Terrell worked in the White House legislative affairs office, and her job was to win senators over to the new Democratic president. For an Obama aide, getting assigned to Barrasso was “drawing the short straw,” Whitman said with a laugh.