The Republican Party was not always what we see it as today. Any of their moral  underpinnings they could have claimed were unfortunately abandoned when Mr. Limp took control of that party two years ago. While they have always been the Party of the wealthy, it has been decades since the the self-proclaimed “Party of Lincoln” has tried to live up to what they so often cite as their virtuous roots.

It is true that the early Democratic Party would be considered racist by any standards, voting nearly unanimously against the 14th and 15th Amendment. The Ku Klux Klan was their partner in arms. The shift in the policies of our two major political parties, began almost imperceptibly with President Truman’s Committee on Civil Rights that ordered the end to discrimination in the military in 1948. Republicans like to credit Eisenhower with ending segregation in the military while failing to recognized that it was at Truman’s direction. 

Another result of Truman’s Committee was a split within the Party. Strom Thurmond, at the time a Democrat, ran for President in 1948 as a Dixiecrat, winning the States of Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama. This Party lasted for one election cycle.

In the 1960’s, the transformation was in full swing, culminating with the passage of the Civil Rights act in 1964, the Voting Rights act of 1965, and the birth of the Republican Party’s Southern Strategy. This strategy, outlined by one of Richard Nixon’s campaign operatives in the New York Times was simply, “The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans.” In 1968, George Wallace, an opponent of integregation, ran for President on the American Independent ticket, adding Arkansas to the list of States won by Thurmond in 1948. Jesse Helms joined the Republican Party in 1970. Three of the periods most vociferous racists had left the Democratic Party, two of which were welcomed into the GOP with open arms.

In 1989, David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK ran as a Republican in Louisiana’s 81st District, and won. Twenty seven years later, citing Limp’s stance on not just illegal immigration, but legal immigration as well, Duke endorsed him during the Primaries calling him “the best of the lot”. In an Interview with Bloomberg, Limp half-heartedly rejected the former Wizard’s endorsement saying “A lot of people like me, Republicans like me, liberals like me, Everybody likes me.” Asked if he would repudiate the endorsement, he answered “Sure, I would if that would make you feel better.” 

In 2010, the RNC, was still claiming complete ownership of the 14th Amendment on it’s web site. At the same time, Mitch McConnell and Jon Kyle were calling for hearings into whether it should be modified. It seems as though they did not like that it was being used to grant citizenship to children born in this Country. Lindsey Graham introduced the idea as an amendment to end “birthright citizenship”. Is there any doubt as to who this is meant to impact?

In November of 1969, Nixon called on the “silent majority” for support. Although that specific term had been used throughout history, this time it was focused on those who had not demonstrated against the Vietnam War, those who had not joined the counterculture and those who did not participate in public discourse. Mostly made up of blue collar workers who were not active in politics, World War II and Vietnam veterans, and middle class voters who may have not necessarily been conservative but resented what they saw as disrespect for American Institutions. America, Love It Or Leave It. They were comfortable but wanted more and held a definite disdain for those who had less. Nixon’s use of the phrase was part of his strategy to polarize the American people. To divide and conquer, so to speak. 

This division has been exploited and advanced with nearly every Republican politician since. Ronald Reagan had his trickle down (voodoo) economics, which included huge tax cuts for the wealthy. His war on drugs, aimed directly at the less than privileged,  the imaginary “welfare queens”, and of course, Labor Unions. Unions whose members were sinking the economy with high wages and unreasonable demands upon their employers. If we could just get rid of welfare, drug users and unions, replace it with compassionate conservatism, we will all thrive by sharing the wealth they have been stealing from us.

The “autopsy” performed by the Republicans after their losses in the Presidential elections of 2008 and 2012 singled out the need to appeal to the growing minorities in Our Nation. These findings were endorsed by almost every single one of their 2016 candidates, lacking one, Donald Trump. He chose a different strategy, one aimed solely at the white, insecure and dwindling majority. 

Mr. Limp’s choice of “Make America Great Again” as the major theme of his campaign managed to re-energize the racism that many had hoped was long dead and buried in a modern and more inclusive United States. After all, hadn’t we just elected a Black Person to be President. Weren’t we living in a “post-racist” America?

When Ronald Reagan used a similar message in his 1980 campaign, he portrayed Our Country as shining city on a hill, one which all peoples and Countries should aspire to and what the U.S. could do for the rest of the World. A Country that “is not turned inward, but outward-towards others”. Limp, on the other hand, had promised to put America First. A clear departure from every other administration that wanted to be part of an ever changing Planet, not one that wants its own little rock. Nationalism at its most extreme.

In 2011, Limp was pondering a Presidential campaign and began questioning Barack Obama’s place of birth announcing that he had sent private investigators to Hawaii to see what they could find. Nothing was ever found, of course, and there are questions as to whether anybody was ever even sent. Was this just a scam to get a head count of the racists in Our Country? Obviously. As no one else will even partake in such unabashed racism, he has managed to put a number on those people who will solidly support him. Those who would not admit to such a bias in any polling. This is one of the first steps in building his base. To win both the Primaries and the General, he was going to build to that base.

So what other group would give him the most “bang for the buck”? People who should be diametrically opposite of racists. Good, “love thy neighbor” Christians. Jerry Falwell had proven them to be easily organized to exert  their political influence when he had founded the so-called “Moral Majority”.     They had worshipped Reagan (“Let’s Make America Great Again”) and hated the Clintons. What remained of them was not just your run-of-the-mill Christian, but the Evangelical Christian. Those who would put religion at the forefront of their existence. One who would not or could not be a racist and still consider themselves true to their faith. Historically though, they would be anti-Muslim. To even further cement their support, he would start espousing an anti-abortion view. A position that goes totally against his well established “Playboy” persona.

The fact that Limp never overtly exhibited any religious tendencies or attended any religious services regularly was never brought up. The Democrats, perhaps fearing that any questioning in that area would only steel the religious right’s attachment to the Republican nominee, chose to tiptoe around the issue. Or maybe it is because their long held view that religion has no place in politics. It never had until Falwell, otherwise a non-Christian like John F. Kennedy would have never been elected President.

Then you have the Republicans. Comprised of the established GOP adherents. Those who believe in less government, less regulation, lower taxes, and a laissez-faire attitude towards trade. Free-market capitalism, poor, disadvantaged and planet be damned. The “anything for a buck” group. These were the true “image” devotees. They believed that they had seen this faux billionaire rise to the top. He had his high-rise buildings with name garishly emblazoned on the top, his Taj-Mahal gambling palace, and now a top-rated network television show. This was a person they could worship and dream of being. All along, either ignorant of or refusing to believe, that Limp’s dad (a certified racist) had not only set him up in business, but bailed him out on several occasions, and at least once it was through a loan of questionable legality. There are also multiple bankruptcies where he walked away with boatloads of cash while leaving his investors holding the bag. This at least partially explains why most of his current debt is held by banks not of this Country. While he may have money, very little of it was earned in what many would consider an upstanding, moral way. If there is a god, and he employs an auditor, Limp will be setting in the outer office for eternity.

The amalgamation of these many diverse groups, along with a hatred of Hilary Clinton, both real and cultivated by Bannon and associates, gave us what we have today. While there was some misogamy involved in the 2016 election, I don’t believe it was that much of a factor when it came to casting the ballot. While it may have helped put Limp “over the top”, it was the racists, the rabid “Christians”, the bigots, and the GOP faithful that made the election a “race”. Without the care and feeding of these “deplorables”, Hillary would have won in the originally predicted landslide.

What we have today is the Party of Limp. Racists are the most significant, of which the Fearless Leader himself (along with his father) has a long and proven history of being. But White Supremacists are not the sole property of any particular political party. At times they even run on their own ticket. This cycle they just hitched their wagon to one of there own. After all, he was highly visible, may actually have a chance of winning, and he would certainly carry their “values” forward. And, best of all, he would be indebted to them. Bigly. The Evangelical Christians, Moral Majority, the Holier than Thou, Anti-Muslim really had no choice. Not if they wanted to stay politically relevant. Falwell let them taste power, and they liked it.  While the Democrats may welcome their support, both in money and soul-saving, their stance on Women’s rights, abortion, freedom of religion would little to satiate their recently acquired lust. If you have spent any time at all around the Democratic faithful, it won’t take long to hear complaints, or better yet, the envy expressed of their right wing antagonists’ solidarity in almost all things political. It was that cohesion that allowed them to thwart most every piece of legislation that the Obama Administration tried to get through Congress. So despite some of their early proclamations against Limp, when he did secure the nomination, the GOP establishment quickly fell in line.

That brings us to the Party of One. It is Limp’s Party. Not one of their other Presidential candidates in 2016 could have put this coalition together. They may have been able to bring the “regulars” together, and also pick up many of the racists along the way, not one of them could have achieved it with such solidarity. Perhaps a Ted Cruz/David Duke ticket???