There's an old song, "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes," which was a hit for Dinah Washington. It might be more than "a day," but man, what a difference only two months make. Consider -- The day after the General Election on November 3, there was basic elation among Democrats for Joe Biden beating Trump. That was of #1 importance, and nothing else was a close send. Still, there were other important races at risk, and a certain amount of surprised disappointment seeped in about them. Not winning control of the Senate. Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins winning re-election. Losing too many seats in the House that resulted in a challenging, close majority. Ultimately, wonderful for Joe Biden beating Trump, but a certain letdown that the Republican Party was not only not repudiated and discredited, but even came away with some advances and a bit of confidence. That was only two months ago. The Republican Party lost the White House but was on a solid footing to give Joe Biden trouble and build for 2022. Just two months ago. And in two months -- The Republican Party lost control of the Senate. Trump and the GOP in full went on a full-blown meltdown crying for two months about what they claimed was a fraudulent election that the sane public could see clearly Trump lost by a massive seven million votes. The GOP exacerbated their infantile and growing anarchical image by losing 60 lawsuits -- winning only a single case that allowed moving up a voting date by three days. Trump looked even more lunatic, irrational and fascist by claiming he not only supposedly won the election, but won by a landslide. Trump was caught on a recording relentlessly trying to illegally coerce a Secretary of State to overturn a completely legal and certified election. Republicans focused their anti-democracy reputation even more by challenging the perfunctory Constitutional process of accepting certified Electoral votes. Trump invited insurrectionists to Washington where he said it would be "wild" and raged to the mob, inviting them to fight and go to Congress. Where the seditionists broken into the U.S. Capitol and threatened the lives of the Vice President, Speaker of the House and all of elected representatives. Around 150 Republicans in Congress still voted to challenge the certified Electoral votes even after the mob insurrection with pipe bombs, zip ties, and five deaths. Around 100 insurrectionists have already been arrested by the FBI, who says they have 100,000 tips already and are just starting going through them all. Trump became the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice -- getting 10 Republican votes, the most ever for an impeached president by his own party, double the next closest. Republicans will have to face dealing with the resultant trial in the Senate, and either vote to convict the man so much of their party still loves, or acquit the man the majority of the country saw promote the insurrection and believes is responsible for the violent sedition. Trump was banned permanently from Twitter. And from another dozen or so social media platforms. Numerous major corporations said they would not give donations to anyone in Congress who voted against accepting the legitimate, certified Electoral votes. Trump became such a pariah for promoting insurrection that banks began to send signals that none would lend money to him, all the worse for someone with perhaps $800 million in loans due soon. His sole bank, Deutsches Bank, cut ties with him. The major social media platform for the far-right and white supremacists lost its hosting service and has been shut down. Reports have begun to grow that Republican members of Congress may have assisted the seditionist mob in breaching the U.S. Capitol which, if true -- and it seems likely -- would be crushing to the Republican Party. All in just two months. And I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot. But two months ago, the Republican Party was in a very respectable position from some small but important, unexpected victories and had a solid foundation to build on for the mid-term elections. And now, only two months later, with us only a week from the insurrection and details only just starting to be revealed, FBI investigations in its very earliest days, and Congressional investigations not even having begun yet, the GOP is hanging on by a thread from being discredited as a party and crushed for its enabling Trump and being complicit. At the very best for them, they are deep on their heels, playing defense with total fear in their eyes. At the worst, depending on what the various investigations uncover, they are in complete disarray, every man for themselves. In just two months. Two months. Republicans snatched defeat from the jaws of success. In only two months. It's remarkable how the GOP not only imploded, but SO quickly to disaster while riding a high. But of course, its success was always built on a tenuous chimera -- starting with convincing people that the truth and reality were a lie. That said, there was no certainty it would fall apart. Though the very reasons which allowed the success of that fantasy world to be created were the same ones that always risked causing its destruction. Because as the strands frayed, there was no substance to sustain its weight. And so it's begun to fray. All in just two months.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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