“Never Trumpers” and the Wheel of Life

It is nice to see some of the so-called “Never Trumpers” speaking up about the Stalinist-type purge that the Republicans executed in the House of Representatives yesterday. But what is it that they are actually doing, or planning to do, about any of it?

I caught a few minutes of Nicolle Wallace’s show, and she had Miles Taylor on, who was “Anonymous” who wrote that piece about how the good Republicans like him who held federal positions were doing their best to stymie Trump; then later identified himself. In his well publicized anonymous article, he wanted to be sure to say that he was a proud Republican, and was for so many of the ideals of that party, even though he was upset at what Trump was doing. He then wrote a book about it, as many of these people manage to do.

So he was talking about how 100 or so Republicans had written something about that if the Republican leadership did not change its ways, they would look to form a new party.. Well, that was certainly a rather unimpressive statement. If they do not change their ways? The Republican fascists have done all of these awful things; basically condoned the attempt to violently overthrow the government; said, “let’s move on”; continued to deny that Biden won the election; are passing greatly suppressive voting laws in states; and just purged Cheney for telling the truth about Trump and the insurrection. So Taylor and these others say,, “Well, you should stop it, or we will form a new party!”If the fascists stopped it right now, which they will not, so much harm has already been done,, perhaps irrevocably. It is far too late, Mr. Taylor, and even then you are giving them more chances to coax you back into supporting them.

Mike Murphy, who is one of those bare-knuckle Republican strategists whose ruthlessness was effective in getting Reagan and Bushes elected, is not happy with what happened yesterday. But he first wants you to know that, “as much as I hate the Left,” it is upsetting to him that Cheney was canceled, though he doesn’t use that word.

There are others of them who are pushing for Liz Cheney to run for President. Do not be misled into thinking that they have had some epiphany or conversion, and have decided to leave the Republican Party forever. No, they are still Republicans. They would support Cheney and her extreme right wing positions. They would actually support any Republican who was not Trump, or so closely allied with him as to upset their sense of morality.

There are some exceptions to this, but i is hard to count on. any of them. Nicolle Wallace, certainly; probably Jennifer Rubin, maybe Max Boot, that might be it. I cannot read the minds of all of these well-placed people who manage to continue to have a large forum to tell us that they are proud Republicans who just don’t like Trump, but are determined to save the Party. Obviously, we want whatever support from Republicans we can get in this critical battle to save the country. But it is appalling to me as to how much they are still committed to the Republican Party, and apparently think that if only we could get Reagan or GHW Bush or GW Bush or presumably Dick Cheney back in there, things would be great again.

What is it that “The Left” has done to Mike Murphy so as to cause him to hate it? What is “The Left?” Pelosi? Hillary? Obama? Biden? What policies have they pushed for which are so hateful to him? What is it that the Republican Party has accomplished, what actual policies do they have which he so much admires that he cannot even think of leaving that party?

Obviously, people have the right to vote for or support whomever they want. But one would think that among these mostly educated and well-off people, there would be more than a few who would completely disavow the Republican Party, and simply support the Democrats. But they can’t bring themselves to do it and likely never will.

It is unlikely that Trump will be nominated in 2024. That gives them the opportunity to convince themselves that whomever Republicans nominate–DeSantis, Cruz, Koenst, Haley,– would not be all that bad. Hawley might be too far for them, but someone will write some speeches for him, and they will convince themselves that he might be acceptable.

Actually ,it is very possible that if Republicans take back the House in 2022, the democracy is over. Some speculate that a Republican-run House would not certify any Democratic victory in 2024, thus throwing it back into the House, delegation by delegation, so that the Republican candidate would win. So if the Never Trumpers actually want to save the democracy, they should support all the Democrats in 2022.

But would that cost them book deals, or heading forums where they can commiserate with their fellow battered and bruised Republicans who yet still believe in “the principles of Conservatism?” To me their brand was always about lowering taxes on the wealthy, getting rid of all regulations on corporations, doing nothing to help the environment, doing nothing about assault weapons. Can anyone think of any other actual policies that the Republicans have had since, say, 1980? That is what they are fighting to keep?

As to a third party, I had written a few weeks ago that a third party made up of disaffiliated Republicans would help the Democrats. But rethinking it in light of current trends, maybe it would not. If there were a party like that, headed by Liz Cheney or someone of that perspective, who would vote for it , who would otherwise have voted for the fascists? Very few.

The votes which would go to that party would be from people who would perhaps otherwise have been “forced” to vote for the Democrats, if they voted at all. So would this actually hurt the Fascist Party? Perhaps not at all, it would just give the Taylors and Murphys a haven so that they could avoid having to vote for any Democrat. It is something to think about. Any vote which does not go to the Democratic candidate helps the Republicans take over the country. The 40% or so who are Trump cultists could be enough to win elections, particularly with the anti-democratic Electoral College rules..

So ultimately, one has to make a choice. There was a very powerful and memorable song from the ’60s, “The Great Mandala (The Wheel of Life)” by Peter, Paul and Mary. The refrain was, “Take your place on the great mandala/ As it moves through your brief moment of time/ Win or lose now, you must choose now/ And if you lose, you’re only losing your life.”

You do have to choose. That song was about a fictional person who did not want to fight in the Vietnam War, and decided to go on a hunger strike after being thrown in prison, where he died; and those in charge of things, blamed him, and said, “We are free now/ We’re not guilty.”This choice is not as intense as that one, perhaps, but it is every bit as important. Those Republicans who watch the ship go down when they possibly could have saved it, but just couldn’t bring themselves to get rid of the mad captain and officers who were steering it, are a lot less moral and intelligent than they consider themselves to be.