Thanks, Mike Pence, for making the fight for our nation in this midterm crystal clear.
Republicans keep insisting on blaring out their extremist plans: national abortion ban, killing off Social Security and Medicare, more guns, more tax cuts for the rich. So convinced are they of their supremacy (or maybe their ability to steal elections), they are out there proudly trumpeting all the most unpopular things possible. Or maybe they’re doing it because no matter how outrageous they are, the traditional media continues to report this like a horse race, letting their lies and their extremism just sit there, as if it were all normal.
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Pence’s bombastic tweet came in response to President Joe Biden's pledge to the American people that if they give him the necessary congressional majorities, the first thing they will do is make access to abortion the law of the land legislatively.
It follows Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) promise of a national abortion ban: “If we take back the House and Senate, I can assure you we’ll have a vote.” To back that up, he introduced the legislation he wants to see pass, much to the chagrin of many Republicans who are not so comfortable with all the tea being spilled so publicly.
Like, say, Mitch McConnell, who fought a losing war against Republicans saying anything they were actually running on this year. It was all supposed to be Biden, Biden, Biden, gas prices in McConnell’s plan. Oh, well.
So you keep having Republicans tell us about how they want to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it. Not only that, they’re declaring war on the economy, promising they are willing to blow it all to smithereens if they don’t get their way on these programs. Or at least promising to threaten it when they get in the majority.
Just that threat—after everything that’s happened at MAGA hands, including a for-real, violent coup attempt by Trump—would be enough to shake up world markets if Republicans are in a place to make it. It’s the madman theory of political science writ large, out of the war-games sphere and into real life. These people haven’t just pretended to be nihilistic enough to do something like overthrow American democracy in order to get some kind of concession in negotiations. They have proven they’re not just willing to do it, but are eager to.
And yet, the congressional and White House reporters covering the campaign insist on presenting all of this as if it were just how politics works. As if they’re going to have a democracy to report on freely if Republicans regain power.
So, yes, when they say “national abortion ban,” they mean it. When they say they would consider putting the nation into default, they mean it. When they say they want to enact policies that will bring an end to Social Security and Medicare, they mean it. The traditional media is going to continue to pretend like this is all normal. It’s in their interest to do so—that’s where the future book deals lie.
We can’t afford to do so, which makes it all the more imperative that Democrats win this November. In every place and every race in which they are on the ballot.
There are thousands of elections on the ballot this year, and Democratic campaigns all over the country need your help to get out the vote. Mobilize is your one-stop shop to get connected with campaigns anywhere in the country that need volunteers to call, text, write, and knock on doors. Click here to view GOTV opportunities near you.
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