Fascism, Madness, The Texas Taliban


The Eyes Of Texas Are Upon You...



So there’s a scary-ass article over on the Texas Tribune’s webpage this month. Entitled, “‘God’s will is being thwarted,’ Even in solid Republican counties, hard-liners seek more partisan control of elections,” the piece is a co-production between the Tribune and ProPublica, and it looks at how Trumpian nutcases are attacking even their fellow Republicans.


In particular, the story looks at Hood County, where Trump won overwhelmingly in 2020, with a good 81% of the vote. But, the elections administrator in Hood, Michele Carew, is supposed to be nonpartisan. That isn’t enough for the local GOP. For the Republican Militants of Hood, election officials aren’t supposed to be nonpartisan. They’re supposed to be rabid Trumpists, and to certify the election for Trump without bothering with little things like “counting the votes.”


So it is that hardline Republicans have demanded that she be fired. Or…and here is where things get really interesting…that her functions be transferred to the county clerk, and who just happens to be another hardliner, and who frequently shares “Impeach Biden” material on social media. 


This is, of course, terrifying on any number of levels. Basically, in Hood County, as in Texas, the Republicans are attempting to create a situation in which voting wouldn’t matter. Regardless of who won or lost at the polls, Republican Loyalists would simply certify the Republican candidate as the winner. 


The scary thing being, of course, that this happening all over the country. Texas is just ahead of everywhere else. Wherever there are Republicans, there is an effort to end elections, and replace them with “selections,” where-by party favorites are simply imposed on the nation by fiat.


Of course, in the long term, this may not work out well for the GOP. The article in the Tribune cites growing strains and stresses in the party as hardliners come into conflict with everyone else. It would be nice to think that, eventually, GOP moderates would seize the leadership of the Party and end its drift toward Fascism. 


But, frankly, the Deplorables seem to be winning in the GOP. The stresses are there, but Republican moderates don’t seem to be able to fight back effectively. Which means that…it may be…something binary might be in our future. Either the Republican Party will cease to exist, or Democracy in America will.


Which is another way of saying that America itself, as we know it, will fail.


~mjt



Source: “‘God’s will is being thwarted.’ Even in solid Republican counties, hard-liners seek more partisan control of elections,” by Jeremy Schwartz, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica Oct. 1, 2021, https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/01/texas-election-official-hood/



Copyright©2021 Michael Jay Tucker




Please visit my webpage: https://www.michaeljaytucker.com/

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