From the GOP to the Tea-OP to the Q-OP, What’s Next?
Since anti-Obama protesters donned three corner hats adorned with dangling tea bags, the Republicans have proven, over and over, they are followers, not leaders. After some consultation, the so-called “grassroots” group removed the tea bags because of the sexual connotation of being called teabaggers. Hence the Tea Party. As it turned out, the Tea Party was more AstroTurf than organic. Conservative PACS founded and funded the group. Their co-opting of the Republican party exists today because the Republican party thought they had control of a burgeoning block of voters, the outraged. They also brought with them their racism, sexism, and anger. What the GOP did not count on was the monster ravaging the village.
The metamorphosis began once they realized that the GOP would back down, and the Democrats ignored their lust for power as a joke. They were driven by anger, not the stated purpose of Taxed Enough Already. Unlike the Occupy Wall Street group, they had and realized a political agenda. They wanted to convert one of America’s two major political parties into a conspiracy-laden, xenophobic, gun-defending nationalists. They revealed themselves by bringing posters of former President Obama depicted with a bone through his nose and countless references to his Kenyan heritage. The Tea Party birthed a caucus of Congress people who for a while wielded unfettered power.
The birth of QAnon was a natural progression. Once you lend credence to conspiracy theories, open bigotry, anti-Semitism, guns, and racism, Fascism could not be far behind. A lot of America laughed and giggled at a group naming Oprah and Tom Hanks as baby-blood-drinking ghouls. They now have two members serving in Congress—the public is aware of— Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, spouting off nonsense and displaying their lack of basic decorum. Whether chasing down a surviving school shooting victim or calling Congresswoman Ilhan Omar an “evil” and “black-hearted” terrorist, they will push the line until it snaps. Evidence of that was the insurrection of 1/6. The investigation into how many Republican members of Congress may have aided the riot and attempted coup goes on. The push to be armed on the House floor by Republicans was refused by the Speaker[Nancy Pelosi]. Instead, she maintained the House rule against being armed on the floor. What is next for the GOP? They turned a blind eye to the Tea Party take over, and when the titular head of the Republican party [Donald Trump] refused to denounce QAnon, all the shackles were off. After feigning ignorance about the group, Trump went on to say, “What I do hear about [QAnon] is that they’re very strong against pedophilia, and I agree with that,”
That sort of equivocation instead of condemnation allows groups to go further. When asked during a presidential debate to denounce white supremacists groups, Trump addressed the Proud Boys. Mr. Trump told them to “stand back and stand by.” His message inspired the Proud Boys and other white supremacy groups who eventually were a part of the masses that descended on the Capitol. I am not sure if the GOP is the Tea-OP or the Q-OP, but their slow descent into Fascism is dragging us down with them.
Continue to Vote for Change
