Consolidating Power · 1:37am Aug 27th, 2020
So the Republican National convention started Monday. A couple things came out that I've been meaning to post here, but then life got in the way.
First, and most important is this:
Source: https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/media/documents/RESOLUTION_REGARDING_THE_REPUBLICAN_PARTY_PLATFORM.pdf?_ga=2.109560193.504857691.1598219603-2087748323.1598219603
That is a PDF download direct from the GOP website. It basically says that Trump and his policies are explicitly endorsed by the Republican party. You either support an openly fascist doctrine or you oppose the party.
The second is a direct result of the first. Republicans, en masse, are bailing. Even Faux News is covering it. If you don't want to spend half the article reading political mud-slinging, The Hill has an article too.
So now what about these? Well, I think it's worrisome because it means the party has basically issued a 'join us or leave' order. Although a lot of people are leaving, that means the ones who are staying will be the ones most dedicated to perpetuating this dumpster fire. There wasn't much dissenting opinion before, but now there will be none. If, powers forbid, Trump manages to stay in the White House (legitimately or not) we can expect the rampant abuses of power to not only continue, but to get worse.
He's already talking about a third term, despite the 22nd Amendment...
There is no Republican Party anymore. There is only the Party of Trump.
And they know damn well they did it to themselves.
Not only that, but they HAVE NO PLATFORM! No positions they support, their only position is that they support Trump, and that's it. It's so transparent that all they care about is staying in power; everything else is a secondary concern. I have no idea how anyone could ever support a party without a platform, and that's why I seriously doubt anyone who says they support Trump for his policy. His "policy" is a bunch of vague, hyperbolic bullshit. Sure, Trump is going to get rid of all the illegals, and I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.
For comparison, the DNC's platform statement is new and 80 pages long. Criticize them all you want, but they aren't just falling back on an old version and propping up a demagogue.
And they can't even be bothered to proofread the damn thing. What a bunch of idiots.
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The entire thing is actually 67 pages long. That's just Page 1. It's also a copy of the 2016 resolution re-used for 2020. Unfortunately, given recent events, it takes a surprisingly more sinister turn. And you're entirely correct. They don't have a platform other than 'praise be to the psychotic cheeto!'.
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Oh whoops, I forgot they included the rest of 2016 version, for all that it's worth.
It makes me wonder though, what is it about Trump that made US conservatives so enamored with him that they'd ignore any sense of policy? His tendency to loudly speak his mind no matter what rude and incredibly stupid thing he has to say? That he's saying the quiet part loud when it comes to conservative ideology? Are they just so frustrated and tired of American politics that they'd support someone so openly authoritarian and bigoted as Trump? Maybe all of those things put together, coupled with their belief that they are eternal victims of "the media", as if a huge chunk of American media doesn't agree with them.
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There are a large number of reasons. In the upper government, it's a power gamble. If you back Trump he lets you get away with just about anything. If you fight him he does everything in his power to undermine you. Look at the people he has surrounded himself with. They are all people who will happily carry out his wishes no matter how questionable. And they'll do it because it is personally very VERY profitable. The more power he consolidates around him the more dangerous it is to oppose him, so more people back him rather than commit political suicide. And once they start backing him they become entrenched in that position.
For the general populous, it's more nebulous. For many, they still believe that Trump is going to create some kind of working-class heaven where profitable businesses share their wealth with the workers (no matter how much you point out that 'trickle down economics' simply doesn't work). Others are people who want the validation provided by an authority figure behaving in a socially unacceptable way that they wish they could. Yet more people are stuck on "us vs. them" enough that it doesn't matter what Trump does as long as they can cry "Yeah! Stick it to dem libruls!"
Lastly, big business LOVES Trump. He's provided more and larger literal cash givaways than most other presidents combined. On top of that, Trump is notoriously easy to manipulate. If you can get someone close enough to hold his ear for five minutes you can likely get him to do something beneficial to you. I would no be surprised if this year sees some of the largest political spending ever by large companies. That mention earlier of Trump surrounding himself with 'yes men'? Look at who they are. Almost every head of every office is directly tied to big business in the field that office oversees. As I said, VERY personally profitable.
It all combines to make for a fanatical, well funded, and morally bankrupt support system to keep him in power.