Sadly, there are two ways this kind of thing can go. One is it will get worse, much worse, and only when people's lives across the country are so drastically damaged by it will they come to the realization that they made grave mistakes supporting completely corrupt Republicans. We are at that precipice because the Republican party is now dominated by a group of individuals that will do anything within their power to destroy our government and end the United States being a country based on a system of democracy. We have serious potential to go this route because the Republicans are well aware their voters are typically older and white and it is a naturally shrinking demographic. So, the only way to hold power to is to embrace some of the worst people in our society, push them to be as angry, misinformed, and militant as possible, and institute harsh voter suppression measures to control the vote in Red states and regain control of the vote in swing states through suppression and state laws that allow lawmakers to decide who their state is supporting rather than voters. This is all real and is happening.
The other way this can go is we recognize and attack the problem. As has been the case for some time the key people in this are the elected Republicans and then Republican voters. Sadly, these are two groups that are not at all reliable in fixing this. Most needed is for elected Republicans to speak up and denounce what has happened to their party. As we have seen, there are less than a handful willing to do this and when they do they are stripped of their duties (Liz Cheney) or demonized in their home state (Kinzinger) and then are inundated with death threats against them and their families. Courage is not something that is part of being a Republican and so whomever the other Republicans are that claim not to support going fascist with the Trump Republicans...well...they are claiming they can't speak openly about it because they fear for their lives and the lives of their families.
I understand their fear and not wanting to put their families in danger but the only way to put an end to that is to speak up and openly say what is happening. I think if they did that they would get support from enough Republican voters that don't believe their country and their representatives should be held hostage by death threats that it would bring down the fascist wing of the party. You can't keep telling people you don't support this but want to remain anonymous and off the record. This is not the United States and certainly not a free country if Republicans are afraid to speak up because Trump nuts are threatening to kill them if they do.
It is within their grasp to end it. Trump committed a whole host of crimes against this country as president, not the least of which was telling his Justice department to declare the election "corrupt" and let him and the fascist wing of the party do the rest. They should support prosecuting Trump. Yes, it might cost them their seat, it will likely cause them to have to hire their own 24-7 security to protect them and their families from the Trump nuts, but it would result in them doing the right thing for the country and bring an eventual end to this madness.
So far, I don't see them rising to the occasion. When your party leaders are uber-scum like McConnell and McCarthy...well...do not expect any rallying of the troops.
This leaves us with voters. We sit hoping Republican voters will recognize this vile garbage and move to oust them. Problem with the voters is they are swimming in a sea of misinformation so wide and so deep they don't have much grasp on what is happening. When Tucker Carlson is the number one rated show on FOX you know those viewers do not know which way is up. They are buried in lies, half truths, and utter nonsense. Swept up in culture war bullshit they can't see past and makes them furious.
Will they come to the aid of their country? Does not seem likely. They aren't going to listen to Democrats but they will listen to people that did not want to admit to them they had been vaccinated while filling their heads with paranoid fantasies to keep them and their families from getting vaccinated.
When the truth is that plain and yet Republican voters can ignore it...well...how can we rely on them being the cavalry and riding in to save the day?
The last wall of defense becomes the Democrats and institutions we have in place that are meant to protect us from this kind of corruption. Our justice system is a fire wall but remember Republican run states are moving as rapidly as they can to change the laws to eliminate the power of the vote and to win in court when they get there. The Republican rule is "If we can't win it fair, change the rules."
When Mitch McConnell wanted to pack the courts with dirty judges he changed the rules so that he could. He did not worry about what it meant to change the rules or if people disliked him for it. He did what he saw he could do to steal as much power as he could.
Democrats can babble all they want about getting rid of the filibuster and do nothing in the process but Mitch McConnell will bury the filibuster if he regains power and punish the Democrats for not doing it when they had the chance...and he will never look back. After he does he will institute so much garbage new legislation we can kiss democracy goodbye.
We listened to the long years of whining from Democrats about losing the Supreme Court...well...we lost it. The whining did nothing to prevent it. Mitch McConnell destroyed the courts and laughed all the way to getting it done.
The Democrats are in a window right now where they better act. If they talk and talk and talk...corrupt Republicans that care nothing about rules, norms, or decency will make them pay dearly for it.
