To be a Republican

To be a Republican in 2023, one must hold, or at least be willing to countenance, some sicko beliefs that were clearly beyond the pale not long ago.    

For instance, when I first read about Holocaust deniers, my first thought was that they were pathetically ignorant, or simply fools. It didn't occur to me they were anti-Semitic extremists following a plan to rewrite history. 

To be a Republican history rewriter in good standing one must claim to believe that it's best to ban books that present text and images that accurately portray American history, to do with slavery, the Civil War, the Jim Crow Era, the Civil Rights Era, etc. One must also say they truly believe the Capitol insurrection riot on January 6, 2021, was a peaceful protest demonstration protected by the First Amendment.  

Now there seems to be so many of Holocaust deniers and insurrection deniers that calling their twisted views "extreme" suggests the speaker just doesn't know how widespread such thinking is nowadays. In today's Republican circles, it now seems that openly hating Jews is easily shrugged off by the party's leaders. And, misogyny, in general, is openly flaunted. 

Speaking of shrugging off, to be a modern Republican one must be willing to turn a blind eye on all the mass murder episodes that have become part of our way of life. So, one must pretend that catering to the desires of self-absorbed people with gun fetishes is part of "freedom." 

Moreover, when the truth, according to the current version of the GOP, is simply whatever the hell Donald Trump says it is, well, that pretty much says it all. 

Bottom line: Yes, cruelty is the thread that connects all the dots. 

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