Don’t let it be forgot
That once there was a spot For one brief tarnished moment That was known as Scamalot. The Republican Party spins downward so fast these days, it’s difficult to keep track of past transgressions going back to when Trump ran for office and then took over the party. And so each travesty gets buried and then forgotten as the new pile of garbage gets dumped on top the old every day – even though in ordinary times such galling, often ghastly outrages would be the unforgettable headline for months and often actual scandals. So, all this morass just covers up the other garbage, which gets pushed aside to make room for the latest. The other day, I noted the official statement made by the Republican Party that the January 6 insurrection was supposedly nothing more than mere “Legitimate Political Discourse,” something so deeply defining of the GOP as fascist – yet even that has been shunted into the dusty corner as more new indignations take its place at the top of the pile. I thought it would be valuable, therefore, to put together a list of just some of the Trump and Republican Party rubbish that has collected over the past few years – keeping in mind that anything “just Trump” has also been enabled and supported by his party. And these are only what I’m able to recall at the moment, others buried and lost in time. But the list isn’t final – I’m sure I’ll remember more and be reminded of others. And of course, there will be new GOP and Trump transgressions all the time. But there’s another, equally-important reason for having this list – which I plan to re-post from time to time as it grows. Not just to be a reminder, but also as an easy page to bookmark as a defense against far right “But What About-ism.” That’s the GOP standby gambit when you’re in a conversation about the latest Trump/Republican high-end debacles, and the only response your Republican enthusiast can offer in return is to try to change the subject with “But what about…??!” – and then try something like “…when Barack Obama wore a tan suit after Labor Day?!!!” As if that was an equivalent, let alone remotely on topic. (Or worse, when they “But what about…” something that didn’t actually happen, like “…stole the election,” “bugged Trump,” “hacked White House computers,” “want to get rid of the 2nd Amendment,” “eat babies in the basement of a pizza restaurant.”) Or when all else fails, “…Hunter Biden!” Or “Hillary’s emails!!” So, the next time I – or anyone – is in a debate and making factual, substantive arguments, and suddenly a “But what about…??!” gets thrown in to change the subject – now, whether the “But what about…??!” is an empty one, a non-existent one, or even a reasonable, single – but woefully off-topic – one, it will now be possible to say in return, “Ohhh, okay, so you want to play ‘But what about…??!”, do you? Fine. Here’s a list, here’s a link – so, then, what about ALL of this?!!! All of it. Answer that first, and then after we finish discussing this point we’re actually on, finally I will be happy to address your off-topic question.” Until then, though…what about – * * * The Republican National Committee calls the January 6 insurrection attempt to overthrow the government “Legitimate Political Discourse.” Trump calls murderous Russian dictator Vladmir Putin a “genius” as Russia invades democratic Ukraine. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praises Putin, saying “He is a very talented statesman. He has lots of gifts” and “I have enormous respect for him – I’ve been criticized for saying that.” Former Trump Attorney General William Barr writes a book that slams Democrats for “demonizing” brutal Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, while saying he looks forward to a “positive future” with the despot On camera in Helsinki, Trump says he trusts Russian dictator Putin, leader of America’s top adversary, and says doesn’t trust all the U.S. intelligence services. At the director of Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort, the Republican Party removed the plank from the party platform to provide military support for Ukraine in 2016. And kept it out of their party platform in 2020. Trump tried to blackmail the president of Ukraine by not releasing money for Ukrainian defense that had been mandated by Congress, which got him impeached. For the first time. Paul Manafort is convicted on eight felonies. Trump pardons him. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene addresses a white supremacist conference. At the State of the Union Address, Rep. Lauren Boebert heckles the U.S. President talking about his dead child who served in Iraq. Fox “News” claiming that DOJ lawyer John Durham exposed Hillary Clinton’s hacking crimes only to have Durham himself explain that he wrote no such thing about her. Both Democratic and Republican state senators in Arizona vote to censure Republican Sen. Wendy Rogers after she made “violent and discriminatory comments” at a white supremacist conference and also attack Ukraine President Zelensky on social media. Trump makes a deal with the Afghanistan Taliban to return the country to them by a specific date – after he’s out of office – with not concessions in return from the Talibon. Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo poses for a celebratory photo with the co-founder of the Taliban. Trump cited for 16,000+ documented lies. Trump calls Mexicans “drug dealers, criminals, rapists” and that “You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people, these are animals.” Trump caught on tape laughing about grabbing women by the "p*ssy.” Trump publicly asks Russia to hack computers in order to find his election opponent’s emails. Trump pulls the United States out of the Paris Accord, the only country in the entire world not to support the environmental protections to help save the planet. Trumped pulls the United States out of the nuclear sanctions against Iran – which soon after was cited for restarting its nuclear program. Trump calls third-world countries “sh*t holes.” Trump calls the press “the enemy of the people. Trump and Chief of Staff John Kelly caught on video joking about using a ceremonial sword to kill journalists. Chef of Staff John Kelly publicly slams black Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson for taking credit for getting federal funds to build the FBI field office in Florida – and when video of the event surfaces and shows Kelly to be completely wrong, he never apologizes. Rep. Paul Gosar puts out a cartoon video that has him portrayed as an anime-hero killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword and attacking President Biden with a sword. Trump slams Federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel for being “Mexican” – even though the judge was born in Indiana (not that that should matter). Trump relentlessly promises to not only build a Wall, but also keeps promising that he will get Mexico to pay for it, adding “Trust me.” The Trump administration separates children from their family who enter the country illegally and put the children in cages, a policy supported by Republicans in Congress. Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) tells his supporters that they should raise their sons to “grow up to be monsters.” Trump said that the neo-Nazis had some “very fine people.” Trump told white supremacist groups to “stand by.” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) tweets about the United States that “We are not a democracy.” The Trump administration ignored all advice by the Obama Transition Team, who counseled them on pandemics – including given them an extensive playbook manual and left storage of medical supplies, both of which the Trump people said didn’t exist. Trump closed the Pandemic Response Unit in 2018, before the pandemic hit. Trump cut $8.5 BILLION from CDC budget, before the pandemic hit. Trump fired the CDC expert in China in July, 2019, before the pandemic hit. When asked about his responsibility in the spread of the coronavirus, Trump – who was in charge of everything -- said, "I take no responsibility at all." Trump said the coronavirus will just “go away like a miracle.” Trump said the coronavirus was just like the flu. Trump said that children couldn’t get COVID-19. Trump suggests that drinking bleach and hydroxychloroquine and using deadly UV rays could kill the coronavirus. Again, just as a reminder, all of these issues with Trump were met with near-unanimous silence by the Republican Party, with no push back or even just disagreement, thereby enabling him and those positions. The Republican Party gets “outraged” when a publisher makes a business decision to drop six, very old books from its catalog written by Dr. Seuss that haven’t sold much in decades and have some parts in them that they felt are problematic today. The Republican Party gets “outraged” when the maker of the Mr. Potato Head and Mrs. Potato Head toys decides to package them together to save money. The Republican Party gets “outraged” when they claim Disney has censored The Muppets, though in reality they just moved a few episodes behind a pay wall, and all the episodes are available. Trump said he’d have a beautiful” health care plan in 2016. Over four years, he kept saying he’d have a “beautiful” health care plan, very soon, so beautiful you wouldn’t believe it. He never released any health care plan. Trump says he brutal, murderous despot Kim Jong-un of North Korea “wrote me beautiful letters, and we fell in love.” Trump said he and brutal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping have a “great relationship,” and “We love each other” and shared “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake.” Trump praised Philippine despot Duterte who has compared himself to Hitler, bragged about personally executing criminals, and whose bloody war on drugs has killed 7,000 people – condoning him with an invitation to the White House. Trump invited Egyptian dictator el-Sisi who seized power in a coup that killed over 800 protestors in one day – and invited him to the White House. Trump says the hated and brutal Turkish autocrat Erdogan is “a good man,” “a friend,” and “a hell of a leader,” someone who is “highly respected” around the world. Trump abandoned our Kurdish allies, who were holding 11,000 ISIS prisoners, by removing troops from the Syrian border with Turkey, letting Erdogan’s army invade, ISIS prisoners to escape, hundreds killed, and creating 130,000 Kurdish refugees, dismissing bipartisan criticism as “It’s not our border” and "If Turkey goes into Syria, that’s between Turkey and Syria” – quotes to remember the next time he tries to claim he’d have stood up to Putin invading Ukraine. White House senior advisor and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner supported a Saudi blockade of U.S. ally Qatar while trying to get a personal $1.8 billion loan from Qatar for his family business. Jared Kusher advised his friend Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after reports surfaced that American resident journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been murdered and dismembered on orders from bin Salman. Rep. Lauren Bobert says the United States should liberate Canada. Trump said he said he wasn’t allowed release his taxes (like every single president has done since Richard Nixon first did half a century earlier) because he was under audit – of which there was no evidence, but would have been perfectly legal and allowed even if he was), but kept saying he would release them. He never released his taxes – though did sue in court to keep them from being released, but lost. The Republican Party voted unanimously against emergency relief to Americans that polls showed 75% of the country wanted. Democrats passed the bill. Trump said there were airports in the Revolutionary War.
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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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