Lacking Ideas, Today’s GOP Just Hates
It seems that every time the Republicans run out of ideas, they resort to hate. Whether it’s hate for immigrants, minorities, or just anyone who doesn’t agree with them, it seems to be their go-to platform in advance of the November elections. Unfortunately, this most recent display of hate and racism by Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tommy Tuberville, and Kanye West reveals the bankruptcy of ideas of an extremist right that can’t or won’t do the hard yards of building solutions that advance the well-being of the country.
The Politics of Racism
President Lyndon B. Johnson grew up in the South and understood the politics of racism from the inside; he saw it as the cheap ploy used by political opportunists to divide, conquer and enrich themselves at the expense of everyone, but especially those who would buy the hateful lies. In 1965, President Johnson said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
It seems that not much has changed in the intervening years. Republican candidates are raking in the cash as the collective psychosis of racism and white supremacy rises to a fever pitch in advance of the November elections. Unfortunately, it seems to be working. But for those who haven’t voted yet, there is still time to ask yourself, “Is this the type of country I want to live in?”
A Bankruptcy of Ideas
While Democrats are not perfect, a Republican Party platform built on hate and bigotry reveals a party that is bankrupt of ideas. The party’s leaders can’t or won’t do the hard yards of building solutions that advance the well-being of the country. So, they’d rather tear down than build up; they would rather further divide us than unite us. But it’s a lose-lose proposition for the future of America and the world.
Hate may be easy, quick, and seductive, but it’s not a winning platform in the long run. If this is all that the Republicans have to offer us — hate and bigotry — then they have already lost. We deserve better than a party that is bankrupt of ideas and resorting to hate in order to win elections. We deserve better than a party that would rather tear us apart than build us up. America is better than this — and we will prove it come November.
