GOP dying to get elected; and taking voters with them
By Sid Schwab / Herald columnist
There was a time when it was impossible to believe elected Republicans would deliberately damage the country and its residents for political gain. After all, how could such a thing be considered a positive? Well, it’s come to the point that it’s really the only explanation for what they’re doing. And not doing.
In Congress and in state houses around the land, Republicans are making sure Americans will continue to get sick from the pandemic, and are planning to run for reelection on it. Ban mandates. Shut the government down to make it happen. They’re saying so, openly (Politico: tinyurl.com/shutgov4u).
As there remain millions of people refusing to be vaccinated, even as their anti-vax “influencers” make deathbed repentance and call for vaccination before dying of the virus, Republican leaders see a perfect constituency. (It’s possible followers only of right-wing media haven’t even heard of those prominent deaths.) Latest example: Having pushed to end unemployment benefits in the now-discredited belief that it would stimulate a return to employment, suddenly they’re all for extending those benefits, but only to those who quit their jobs rather than be vaccinated. “We’re here for you, anti-vax conspiracists and QAnoners. Refusers to be microchipped and magnetized. Remember us, if you’re still alive, on election day. Let’s go, Brandon.”
The logic must be that they count on their in-pocket media to make sure voters only note that, say, the pandemic is continuing, or that the economy is struggling in some areas. Memories are short and facts in short supply on the dark side. So if the pandemic rages on, or help for the economically impacted vanishes, it can only be the fault of President Biden and Democrats. The message will resonate through the airwaves, online, and be force-fed through one-channel TVs. By next election, memories of Republican blockages and refusals, if they once noticed, will vanish like Greenland’s glaciers.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/schwab-gop-dying-to-get-elected-and-taking-voters-with-them/