The Republican Party is kind of like the bully at school. He might have a few friends, but he is definitely in the minority and is completely dependent on threat and actual violence to get his way. The rules are always against him so they have to be bypassed and strong arm tactics employed.
The difference is the GOP took over the the student council, and by doing so they got to change the rules. They cheated to do it, scaring enough students not to vote to be able to take over the reigns of student government and make rules that would allow the stronger kids to take what they wanted for lunch from the geek table. That was the Trump era.
Well, the regular kids won their government back and it seems like the strong arm is starting to backfire. Although the filibuster is the last line of defense of an unpopular party with even less popular positions on things with overwhelming public support, Democrats are navigating their way around this arcane obstruction. Budget reconciliation has been expanded as of Monday allowing for twice as many bills to be passed without a super-majority, but there is movement to change the filibuster rules as well. It is very uncertain how that will turn out, but it is clear that much will get done without them, though reconciliation will only effect legislation directly related to the budget.
State government is different. The voter suppression efforts and gerrymandering that were inflicted on the public in national campaigns had far more effect in state and district races, skewing state legislatures to the right often in spite of the majority of votes going the other way. The 2020 election made it clear that the Republican platform was not a winning one, so the only hope of winning was to stop people from voting who might vote against them. This became the only choice because changing the cruel and backward platforms and ideologies that drive the party were not up for debate. They were the core of the new Republicanism, and the ever dwindling base agreed, and the party has gone about making sure those were the votes that were heard.
But the cracks are showing.
Georgia passed a horrific piece of legislation that I detailed in my last video. I encourage you to watch it if you haven’t seen it (or read the blog post here) and don’t understand how disgraceful this bill really is. It will break down some of the most egregious parts of that bill and end all argument that this was done to protect voter integrity. You will not be able to defend it if you understand it.
Well it seems that more and more people are understanding it. The people of Georgia are getting it, and they don’t like it. There are currently at least four lawsuits moving forward in the federal courts to challenge the constitutionality of the new law, and it has become a catalyst for Democratic activism in the state. The backlash has been quick and dramatic, national in scope.
That national nature of the outcry triggered the next counter-reaction to the legislation. Major corporations call Georgia home, for the simple reason that the economy of Georgia is so poor corporate deals are easy to get and vast in scope. Cheap land and labor that has become accustomed to low wages thanks to a Republican power structure makes Georgia a corporate wonderland. Both Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola have taken advantage of the impoverished state and called it home, but Georgia doesn’t define these behemoth’s financial well being. No, you and I do, and all the people across the nation who buy seats on airplanes and millions of cans and bottles of soda a year. These are companies that are driven by the predominant direction the country takes. Their advertising reflects whatever nuances of public opinion appear, their identities morphing to the needs of their customers.
Their customers want Georgia to pay.
Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian was quick to respond to criticism levied at his company on social media. Many had chastised the company for not speaking out as the legislation was coming together in the Georgia legislature and there was a good argument to be made for the attacks. Bastian had supported the lawmakers as they worked on the bill stating that the law had “improved considerably during the legislative process.”
It didn’t take long to realize he had been on the wrong side of this legislative coup, and he quickly crafted a narrative that made Delta look like the good guys. He assured the public that Delta and others in the Georgian corporate community had tried to “remove some of the most egregious measures from the bill.” He made it clear that “the final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values.”
Governor Brian Kemp denied that Bastian had voiced any opposition to the bill at all. Whether he did or not, it clearly had no effect as the bill swept through the House and the Senate and was signed by the governor all in a single day.
Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey echoed the objections to the bill. “Let me be crystal clear and unequivocal, this legislation is unacceptable.”
Though the statements were certainly unequivocal, they were after the fact. With nearly forty more states considering similar voter suppression bills the calls for corporate push back have become deafening. The public is overwhelmingly against these attempts at an overthrow of their will and corporate America can not afford to turn their backs on the hands that feed them.
The Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court freed corporations to be a financial tsunami in our political discourse, but suddenly corporations were not reliable stooges for the Republican Party. Mitch McConnell, one of the most staunch supporters of corporate influence, suddenly had a change of tune. He said “I found it completely discouraging to find a bunch of corporate CEOs getting in the middle of politics. My advice to the corporate CEOs of America is to stay out of politics. Don’t pick sides in these big fights.” Mitch’s hypocrisy is well known and frequently parodied, and he added fuel to the fire with his prickly press conference.
It seems that the GOP may have cut their own throats.
Though they currently have the legislative majorities that will allow them to get these bills passed, passing them may be the final straw come 2022. As the Republican base dwindles with the party supporting hate groups and excusing insurrectionists, efforts to install blatantly unfair voting laws are accelerating the abandonment. It’s a death spiral. As their membership leaves, the need for voter suppression increases, the efforts get more egregious and more people leave. They have to win this battle. They have no other play. Actual votes have become the Republican enemy.
There is some indication that some party members understand this is the way to oblivion.
In Arkansas the legislature passed a bill preventing doctors from providing gender-affirming care to transgender minors. When the bill landed on the desk of the Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson he vetoed it, describing the bill as a “vast government overreach.” This was one bill of many around the country putting transgender people directly in the sights of GOP lawmakers. The Arkansas bill was roundly criticized by medical experts and LGBTQ advocates around the country. The governor pointed out that the bill would force minors currently under such treatment to stop. “That makes my heart break to think about it” he said. He also acknowledged that it is likely that his veto will be overturned as only simple majorities in the Arkansas House and Senate are required to make his efforts irrelevant. He was right. The veto was overturned one day later. It is unclear why the governor took the action, as he had signed other bills that prevented sports participation by transgender people with others they identify with.
It is possible that Hutchinson is now seeing the writing on the wall, that the Republican Party has been left behind in a country that has moved on from the hate speech and division. His may be an attempt to survive the fall, to separate from the inevitable catastrophe the Republican Party is bringing on itself.
The biggest fallout of all of this may bring us right back to the filibuster. If it is so clear that the GOP is an intractable force, that no amount of public outcry will stop them from trying to enforce a permanence to a White Male Party, it just may push the Democratic holdouts to changes in the Senate filibuster rules to cross over and support the changes. There is no other way to unleash democracy on a country desperate for it.
Why does this channel encourage older people to remain or become progressive? Because the alternative has simply become ghastly. Let’s all go down swinging for those yearning to be free.