The strongest evidence yet that the Republican Party has become a far-right party has come, oddly enough, from something Republicans haven't said. Last week, word got out that Debbie Dunnegan, the Republican recorder of deeds in Jefferson County, Missouri--south of St. Louis--asked her military friends on Facebook if they had the right to remove Obama from office since he was a "domestic enemy." She tried to calm the firestorm by telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that she meant "no ill intent," and it had all been blown out of proportion because it was an election year. When I wrote about this earlier in the week at Liberal America, I was stunned at the complete lack of condemnation from any Republican in Missouri of these outrageous remarks.
Well, as of Saturday night, that still stands. Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder? Nothing. Senator Roy Blunt? Silence. The five Repubs in Missouri's congressional delegation? No comment. Republican state lawmakers? Bupkis.
Call me naive, but you would think that something this outrageous, even in this climate, would have brought immediate denunciation from all sides of the spectrum. But are Missouri's elected GOP officials so worried about being primaried that they aren't willing to condemn this? If they are, then it would go a long way toward explaining how Todd Akin could actually feel compelled to take back apologizing for his "legitimate rape" comments.
It's hard to believe that just a quarter-century ago, when Lee Atwater put out a memo suggesting that Tom Foley was a closet gay, Bob Dole took to the Senate floor to condemn it as garbage. Sadly, any Republican who took such a stand today would be killed where he stood politically.
There have been calls for Dunnegan's arrest for sedition. However, it sounds like she stayed just barely within the lines of protected speech. If she'd asked her military friends, "When can we get together to make plans to march from St. Louis to Washington and throw out this domestic enemy?" it would be a different ball game. What is clear beyond all doubt, however, is that she is manifestly unfit for office. In a sane world, she would have been forced to resign and disendorsed by the GOP. The fact neither of these things have happened, or that no Republican has risen up to condemn her statements, is more proof the Republican Party is now a far-right party.