There is an idiom, allegedly with biblical origins, that most people have heard and clearly understand to mean that one’s “actions dictate the consequences.” After marveling at their base’s racial animus targeting an African American man the majority of the population chose as their President twice, there are reports that Republicans are freaking out over a rash of white supremacists and Nazis running for public office under the GOP banner. Members of the Republican Party should not even feign outrage over the Republican Nazi ascendancy because the party’s standard bearer considers white supremacists and avowed Nazi fascists “very fine people;” the kind of people Trump warned the opposition to “just be careful” of criticizing or incurring their wrath for not worshipping the fascist in the Oval Office.
Republicans are only opposed to white supremacists and Nazis running for office as Republicans because they fear an electoral backlash – not because they have a problem with racists, Nazis, or fascists. After all, Party members are solidly behind, and desperate to protect, the chief Nazi, fascist and white supremacist they allow to stay in the White House; a place he shouldn’t be allowed to visit, much less occupy.
In fact, the only reason the dirty Nazis and racists feel emboldened to publicly promote their hate is because, as they are wont to claim, “this is Trump’s America now.” It is a favorite call before, during, and after attacks on people of color, immigrants, and people adhering to the wrong religion whether it is Judaism, Islam, or Catholicism.
Over at Vox, Jane Coaston penned a fairly comprehensive piece describing the GOP’s self-professed white supremacists in “at least five state and national races across the country.” No doubt there is some validity in claiming the GOP is dealing with what it considers “an uncomfortable problem,” but it is a problem of their own making; they are “reaping what they’ve sown” and it began long before Trump’s poorly attended inauguration.
Actually, it is more accurate to say that Republicans are reaping what their tacit approval has sown over the past ten years. Trump is part of the “uncomfortable problem” state and national Republicans are harvesting whether they like it or not. If the official GOP response to white supremacists and racial animus in their base was zero tolerance and robust condemnation during President Obama’s tenure in a place he belonged, it is likely the group unabashedly making their presence felt now would still be hiding under sheets – where Republicans like to keep them.
They certainly liked it when their nasty base openly displayed purely racist animus towards President Barack Obama as evidenced by their silent, but implicit approval. The filthy hypocrites have no right criticizing the self-described white supremacists, anti-Semites, and “card carrying Nazis” now after allowing them to rage and hate with impunity for eight long years; and that does not include the past two years they sat idly by and allowed dastardly Don to express his racism and adoration of white supremacists, Nazis, and fascists.
For a sample of what Republicans fostered over the past ten years only to fear the consequences in an election year, North Carolina Republicans are suffering a white supremacist pig, Russell Walker, who is running for the state House of Representatives. According to his personal website, replete with regular use of the n-word, Walker claims that “god is a white supremacist and racist” and that “the jews (sic) are NOT semitic they are satanic as they all descend from Satan.”
Another Republican who embraces “Trump’s America” and openly touts his disbelief that the Holocaust occurred, is Illinois candidate for a congressional seat in the House, Arthur Jones. Jones brags about being a proud member of the American Nazi Party. Illinois’ Republican Party is beside its collective self over a candidate it labeled “morally reprehensible” and a “complete nutcase.” It is curious, indeed, that the state Republican Party cannot bring itself to support a “morally reprehensible, complete nutcase” in a midterm race for Congress, but the “nutcase” in the White House has the Party’s unconditional approval and support.
In Virginia, the chair of the state’s Republican Party apparently “had to resign” over allowing a “pro-Confederate, alt-right candidate,” Corey Stewart, to win the state’s Republican primary. In addition, Republicans are gnashing their teeth in Wisconsin because they ignored the seriously nasty racist, Paul Nehlen, Nehlen is running to fill Paul Ryan’s seat in the House of Representatives. It is similar in the Blue state of California where the state GOP is disavowing a flagrant Nazi who argues vehemently that the concept of diversity is just a nasty Jewish plot.
It is true that the racists supporting Trump have always existed, and some were very proud to express their white supremacy and racist bona fides among their friends and under the radar. Now, however, they are emboldened by Trump who regards them as “very fine people” to the point that they are wearing their hate and racial animus as a badge of honor; and as a reason to vote for them in November. That Republicans are either criticizing their candidacies or disavowing them as “not good Republicans” is beyond stunning; especially after implicitly cultivating their hate throughout President Barack Obama’s tenure, and then supporting the racist in the White House.
Trump, like the Nazis and white supremacists presenting an “uncomfortable problem” for the GOP, was a beneficiary of the Republican implied approval of the racists throughout President Obama’s two terms in the White House. The only reason Republicans are being vocal about racists, card-carrying Nazis, and white supremacists now is because they fear the electoral consequences of Nazis running as Republicans. They certainly were not concerned during Barack Obama’s Presidency and they have not shown to be the least bit “uncomfortable” with their Nazi standard-bearer’s racism.
It is unclear if any of the racists, white supremacists and Nazis will win in November, or if their candidacies will be a detriment to other Republican candidates; one certainly hopes that is the case. However, this is Trump’s America now and racists, Nazis and white supremacists have been officially deemed “very fine people” by the head racist. That White House approval has given the green light to racists and Nazis across the nation to wear their hate and racial animus with pride because like Trump, they are what he considers “really good Republicans.”