FROM TEA PARTY TO MAGA

 

In 2007 the Democrat Party dared to run a black man for President.

 

Seeing the opportunity to coalesce the racist base of the Republican Party into action, the Koch Brothers financed a Tea Party movement.

 

They hired organizers to reach out to their more gullible constituents. They paid for buses to transport protestors to targeted areas and furnished them with signs, placards, and support.

Without realizing it, the Koch brothers were training the inmates to take over the asylum.

People who had never been the center of attention suddenly had a chance to be filmed by major news networks.   Not the brightest bulbs in the Republican light show, these people showed up with tea bags hanging from their hats, don’t tread on me flags, dressed as Uncle Sam, etc.    They screamed and yelled and received their fifteen minutes of fame.   But they also found they had a movement they could belong to.   And by remaining organized they had a controlling power over the Republican Party.

More and more of the lunatic fringe joined the movement.  The only thing lacking was a leader. 

Then came Donald Trump; not a particularly bright person, but as P.T. Barnum said, you only have to be smarter than the rubes you are conning. 

 

The circle was complete.  The Tea Party became the MAGA cult. 

 

After attempting a coupe, there was a chance to eliminate MAGA, but Republicans, still afraid of the MAGA base, refused to impeach Trump and remove him from office.  

But not just the Republicans: the milk toast Attorney General Merrick Garland had the chance, but delayed holding Trump accountable for the insurrection of January 6 for two years.

 

So now we live in a MAGA republic, whether we like it or not, and Trump’s desire to delete the Department of Education pretty much says it all.   

 

the Ol’Buzzard

 

 

 

OWN THE LIBS VS MAGA REPUBLICANS

 A MOON VIEW

"From out there on the moon, international politics looks so petty.   You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, 

'Look at that you son of a bitch'. "

Edward Mitchell

Apollo 14 astronaut

the Ol'Buzzard

UNITED STATES SELL-BY DATE: NOVEMBER 8, 2022

 

I find this a particularly hard time to blog.  The MAGA world has brought violence and intimidation into the political processes to an extent not seen since the Civil War; and the Supreme Court is moving the country toward the fundamental Christian far-right.  I fear I am seeing this country, its stability I have always taken for granted, move toward becoming a fascist theocracy.

 

(Fascism: a form of far-right authoritarian, characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, exultation of nation and race above the individual, with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader.)

 

This country has a history of good things and terrible things, but it has always strived toward a vision of democracy outlined in our Constitution.

 

I spent 22 years in the military.  When deployed among other nation’s troops I was always proud of the display of the Stars and Stripes – the symbol of our country.

 

But that was in the past.  Now when I see our flag its connotation is insurrection, rebellion and fanatical cult allegiance to a monumental con-man and would be dictator.   To me, the American flag has now become the symbol of the destruction of the democratic government that I have lived under for over eighty years.

 

Perhaps this country is past its sell-by date. 

 

the Ol’Buzzard