Donald Trump's silver lining: Will his last-ditch coup rip the Republican Party apart?

[marmar]

Donald Trump's silver lining: Will his last-ditch coup rip the Republican Party apart?
Assuming the republic withstands this assault, Trump may have done us a favor — by demolishing the Republican Party

By BOB CESCA
JANUARY 5, 2021 12:00PM


(Salon) Despite the existential threat to American democracy Donald Trump is manifesting, there's part of me that's cheering for him to keep on doing what he's doing. I'll explain momentarily. Meantime, yes, he's committing treason by exploiting the office of the presidency to forcibly overturn the certified results of the 2020 election. If he were successful, it would signify the end of our system of government. Sure, he's much more likely to fail, but it doesn't necessarily mitigate the damage he's wreaking, especially to his own party.

Since the November election, Trump has not only been stress-testing our electoral system but also our judicial system and especially various state governments — not unlike the velociraptors in "Jurassic Park" testing the electrified fences as a means of escape. While he's been hilariously unsuccessful, he's essentially leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for the next Trump (who could literally be another Trump) to follow in his tiny footsteps.

It appears as if the system has held, this time around, yet party operatives are fully aware by now which Republican officials to replace (watch your backs, Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger) and which posts are most vulnerable to authoritarian extortion. Next time, it could be much easier for Trump copycats with tyrannical aspirations to seize power, thanks to the trail he's blazing for them as we speak.

....(snip)....

The lure of Trump's emerging party, much like the Dark Side of the Force, is easier and more seductive from a political standpoint. But again, this won't attract everyone — it won't be every single Republican. It'll be a whole lot of them, though, and the group will only get larger as the online reach of pro-Trump conspiracy theorists and OAN fanfic grows exponentially larger, collecting new Trump Party members as it snowballs, while leaving turncoat anti-Trump Republicans in its wake. Once the teams are decided, the party that once occupied half of the political debate in this country will see its power greatly undermined by Trump's shenanigans. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/01/05/donald-trumps-silver-lining-will-his-last-ditch-coup-rip-the-republican-party-apart/

[beachbumbob]

1. the outcome totally depends on the level of violence that we may see in coming weeks, if the

rightwing explodes with violence against America, they have effectively ended the GOP. I feel for those that will be killed or injured by the proud boy rebels but they will not be forgotten as we can actually focus on taking down the RW militias and organizations once and for all. We have lots of cages for those folks in south texas and Gitmo. Lots of cages

[grumpyduck]

2. I hope we don't have any violence,

but, apart from that, it'd be totally okay if the GOP gets ripped to shreds.

[Freddie]

3. Nah, they stick together no matter what.

Like my Congressman, Brian Fitzpatrick, the ONLY R Congressperson from PA who hasn’t signed on to the Sedition Caucus. I’m hearing crickets from him condemning any of this.

[sboatcar]

4. We can only hope

The republicans who value our democracy will stick to it, and the seditionists I can see starting a third party, or causing so much chaos in the republican party that it will be so weak that it'll only win in the reddest of red areas.