Atrocious: How Low Can the Republican Party Sink?

I’m publishing this series of articles to share and discuss my ruminations on coping with a troubled and messy world. You can “follow” me to never miss an article.

It gives me no pleasure to write repeatedly about the depths to which the Republican Party has sunk. I write because the Threat to American Democracy is so grave.

Two items in particular deserve consideration.

The Tuesday, October 11 edition of The PBS Newshour featured a long segment on Christian Nationalists. They are staunchly opposed to the separation of Church and State because according to a fundamental tenet of theirs, America was founded as a White Christian Nation, period! Once again, a deep sense of aggrievement is justification for Whites via the Republican Party assuming power by any means possible.

The Wednesday, October 12 edition of The New York Times featured an Op-Ed by Michelle Goldberg in which she noted the hypocrisy of Republicans by which they play the same gambit again and again[i]. First, they make outrageous Racist or Anti-Semitic statements, Then, when they experience righteous pushback, they claim that they are the ones being discriminated against. Ms. Goldberg cites the case of Kayne West who delivered an Anti-Semitic rant in effect wanting to kill Jews. In short, he’s a perfect example of the Right’s playbook.

If ever those of us who stand for that which is Good needed to speak out, that time is now.

[i] Michelle Goldberg, “Here’s Where the Right’s Troll Politics Lead,” The New York Times, Wednesday, October 12, 2022. P A23.

Ian I. Mitroff is credited as being one of the principal founders of the modern field of Crisis Management. He has a BS, MS, and a PhD in Engineering and the Philosophy of Social Systems Science from UC Berkeley. He Is Professor Emeritus from the Marshall School of Business and the Annenberg School of Communication at USC. Currently, he is a Senior Research Affiliate in the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management, UC Berkeley. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Management. He has published 41 books. His latest is: The Socially Responsible Organization: Lessons from Covid, Springer, New York, 2022.

Photo by Jason Blackeye on Unsplash