Jennifer Rubin hits the nail on the head

I look forward to Jennifer Rubin’s surveys done in witty snark. Occasionally, though, she cuts to the chase and dispenses with the witticisms to punch through an issue. In her piece, The Republican Party has become a smash-and-grab operation (pay wall), Rubin says:

The Republican Party and its attendant operations personify Eric Hoffer’s admonition that “every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” In that sense, the president who bilked unwary customers with Trump University, whose charitable foundation was shut down and who paid hush money to women with whom he cheated on his wife is the perfect person to head this party. Trump has used the office as another profit-making scheme, shepherding foreigners and political allies to frequent his properties and allowing his daughter and son-in-law to make millions while nominally serving in office.

The reason Republicans turned their party over to Trump and feel no compunction about reversing one position after another should be obvious: Many of them do not believe in much of anything other than getting rich and maintaining their grip on power. The party has become a smash-and-grab operation — smash democratic norms and institutions, and grab the limelight and cash for however long they can.