Trumpism is cultism- #GQP

Editorial: Fed by Trump's lies, the mob laid siege to our democracy!
Echo editorial opinion published in the Corpus Christi Caller Times and the Austin American-Statesman, Texas.

During the gathering of Congress on Wednesday January 6th, to confirm the presidential election results soon became one of the darkest days for American democracy, since the Civil War.

Bloodshed. Shattered windows. Tear gas. Elected officials and their staffers huddled in locked offices while (dangerous!)pro-Trump (crazy!)rioters stormed the halls of Congress.

Donald Trump on Wednesday January 6th, delivered his American carnage. (Maine Writer- in a delusional self fulling prophesy, the former guy orated the conspiracy theories and the big lie to a crazed cult of domestic terrorists- QAnon, etc. )

It was a vile and seditious spectacle, and a wholly predictable one. Trump has spent the past two months refusing to concede to President-elect Joe Biden (The President!). He continued spewing (the big lie!) conspiracies about a “rigged” and “stolen” election and urging his followers to fight back. The protest, Wednesday, January 6th, Trump tweeted weeks ago, “will be wild!”

All of the Republican officials who echoed that rhetoric, who amplified bogus claims of voter fraud, who took extraordinary steps to try to overturn the election — all of them emboldened and legitimized the lawless mob that stopped our country in its tracks on Wednesday. Historians will record — and Texas voters should remember — the disgraceful acts of Sen. Ted Cruz, U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud and others who came to the Capitol, on Wednesday, January 6th, seeking to delegitimize votes from key states, while Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton plied the Trump rally (GQP) crowd with more falsehoods about a stolen election.

Maybe this was a political game to them?

But, the mob that poured into the Capitol wasn’t playing. 

They were fed a steady diet of lies that their country is being stolen from them and that their votes don't matter, they turned to violence to be heard.

The sickening events Wednesday, January 6th, underscored the value of our democratic norms and the weight of presidential rhetoric. In both his 2016, and 2020, campaigns, Trump sowed doubt about the legitimacy of American election results. 

Incredulously, the former guy refused to commit to accepting the outcome of the 2020 election. And, during his (failed!) reelection bid, he refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.

These are not optional features in a democracy. They are essential to its survival.

Even at the bitter end of his term — even after a person had been shot and killed on Wednesday, January 6th, inside our seat of the U.S. government, and the National Guard had been dispatched to quell violence at the Capitol — Trump couldn’t see past his ego to act for the good of the nation. Instead, the former guy took to Twitter to urge peace, yes, but also to regurgitate election grievances and tell the insurrectionists: “We love you, you’re very special." His message was deemed so reckless that Twitter took it down.

This is not an America most of us recognize. The Republican Party, indeed the nation, has been poisoned (!) by Trumpism. The country, which voted to purge Trump, can recover. But, will the GOP? #GQP

Maine Writer postscript: #Trupmism is cultism!