Words Matter
I try never to paint groups of people with the same brush but I will now.
In the modern history of the United States we've only had two great political parties: Democrats & Republicans. We have now been reduced to one.
Millions belonged to the Republican Party. They had some good ideas & stood for some principles. Some identified as “Conservative”, “Middle-of-the-Road” or “Compassionate Conservative” but you can forget that nomenclature. They have vanished; co-opted. Now we have Democrats & Cultists.
Cultists have only fealty to the dear leader & are guided by his lies and conspiracies. The truth escapes them. They live in an alternate universe and entertain such rich ideas as “alternative facts”. There. Is. No. Such. Thing; IT IS AN OXYMORON.
Consider Jones, Koresch, Rajneesh, Jeffs, Raniere & perhaps, the best known: Adolf Hitler. They all lived by “alternative facts”. Most who followed them lost everything, have suffered or perished.
Malcolm X argued that the word “integration” was only an invention to make middle class whites feel comfortable. The more accurate word, he argued, was “mongrelization”. Only as people intermarry, have families and successful careers in society will there be true integration.
Fast forward. Today, you rarely hear anyone use that word, “integration”, referring to race. People no longer march for integration. We are now beginning a discussion on “systemic racism”.
Those who once proudly identified as Republican can no longer do so. Thousands have resigned from the Republican Party. Some are simply disgusted. Some have become virulent Anti-Trumpers. Those who remain have sipped the Kool-Aid. They have morphed into the Alt-Right, Qnoners, Racists, Conspiracy Mongers, Purveyors of Misinformation, Bullshitters, Cowardly Lions; certainly not constitutionalists..
Current members of congress who identify as "Republican" can no longer claim to be the loyal opposition. They have done nothing to earn the title but have managed extreme fealty to Donald Trump. He paralyzes them, He mutes them. He has them running scared. He tweets at them. Oh my. They are no longer guided by truth & principle. Constitution? What Constitution? Truth? What truth? Law? What law? They are no longer "Republicans". They cannot debate with credibility, make statements or offer up ideas that make sense. Words matter. Stop calling these people “Republicans”. They are certainly not. Call them something else.
Journalists, opinionists, public figures & writers, please find another name. Remember words do matter. And stop calling the man in the White House “the most powerful man in the world”. He is not.
From 2015-2019 journalists "fumphered" around trying to describe Donald Trump’s exaggerations, untruths & flights of fancy. Only in 2020 did the mainstream media finally begin to call it “lying”. "Oorah"! That’s accurate and has made a difference in our collective conscience.
Meanwhile former “Republicans” need to find a new home and a new name. Many have found temporary asylum in the Lincoln Project but sooner or later, the Lincoln Project will morph into a political party with an alternate name, like, let’s say, “The National Union Party (United States)”. Check it out.
Abraham Lincoln was actually part of “The National Union Party” so were “Republicans” really the “Party of Lincoln”? When Lincoln ran for President under the “The National Union Party” banner, he won by a landslide. Of course, that was in 1864.
What makes this country viable is debate, voting and the law. Without “Republicans”, there can be no debate. You end up talking to yourself. That's what is happening now.
Discussion between Democrats and Cultists consists of “I’m right & you’re wrong.” One cannot discuss an issue with cultists who dispense conspiratorial smoke & mirrors and expect to arrive at a reasoned conclusion. But Democrats debating “The National Union Party”? Now that could be a healthy debate between equals.
We hear the “talking heads” use the phrase “words matter”. Yes, they do.So let’s start using more of them.
