League of Losers

The Final Season of the MAGA Shit-Show Arrives

Now that the midterm elections are behind us, what stands out? What are we to make of the prospects for our democracy, now that the Democrats have retained the Senate and the MAGA-Republicans have gerrymandered their way to nominal control of the House of Representatives?

The MAGA-Republicans have already informed us of their highest priority. Is it inflation? The made-up “crime wave” supposedly gripping the country? Is it domestic terrorism, including January 6th? Is it the economy, or climate change, or true election integrity?

The correct answer is “none of the above.” Instead, the GOP has already begun crowing about their intentions, beginning with priority #1: Hunter Biden’s laptop (the 2023 version of Hillary Clinton’s email server). With that as a starting point, their plans include impeaching Joe Biden (for reasons to be determined), thwarting attempts at meaningful legislation, and trying to stop any actions by anyone, anywhere, designed to hold Don Corleorange and his cohorts in Congress accountable for insurrection, obstruction, and a plethora of other crimes committed.

We could look at the next two years as a predictable exercise in hubris, by a fascist faction interested in locking-in power as quickly and shamelessly as possible (as opposed to any legitimate governing).

But there’s another, genuinely more appealing vision of what is likely to unfold between now and the general election of 2024. And it’s one based on something as predictable as sunrise: the Republicans always over-play their hand, and this time it will finish off what’s left of their sorry excuse for a political party.

Let’s start with how we got here: Beginning in 2016 (if not sooner), what used to be the Republican party was inspired by the Orange Smear, and made a deal with the devil. They saw political advantage in enlivening the worst of human instincts, appealed to the primal fear of the most vulnerable in its many forms, and purposefully created a Frankenstein coalition of misinformed miscreants, now known as the MAGA-Republicans.

They looked at the political lay-of-the-land, including rapidly changing demographics, and determined that without some sort of unifying principle to motivate their ever-shrinking base, they might never again gain power in a legitimate election. And this is when they recognized that besides racism, sexism, and disdain for the disadvantaged, there was even more power in an embrace of the “Big Lie” strategy (that Trump somehow won in 2020, despite all evidence to the contrary). Concurrently, the GOP began to recognize there was no longer any middle ground for traditional Republican politicians. It was either “ALL IN!” on the Big Lie, or your future in politics was no more (at least not in the new MAGA-dominated Republican party).

Said another way, the tangled web of lies had now wrapped itself around no less than a third of the existing Republican caucus in the U.S. House (more than 145 of them voted not to certify Joe Biden’s win in 2020). The Big Lie strategy also ensnared scores if not hundreds of down ballot GOP office holders and state office candidates across the land, including the hapless harpy of Arizona, Kari Lake, who even weeks after losing the election, still pursues her claims of election impropriety; again with zero evidence, and even after being rebuffed by the sitting Republican Governor of Arizona, the Republican head of the state’s elections, and most of the conservative Arizona news media.

So that’s how we got here, but what’s likely to happen over the next two years is the real story. It goes something like this:

The most extreme wing of the MAGA-Republican party will try to dominate the political headlines (already in process), blinded by their own personal ambitions — an army of engorged ticks eager to suck even more lifeblood out of what’s left of the the GOP and the country in general. They will bully their more “moderate” party colleagues into submission. They will taunt “the libs” as a unifying war cry and endeavor individually to grift as much money as possible from their trusting base. The greedy manipulating the gullible, all over again, and again, and again. The Trump playbook, but without the narcissist-in-chief at the helm.

Donald Trump will be indicted, and if there is any justice left in the justice system, he will be sentenced to time in prison. There are too many crimes he has committed; many in plain view. If he somehow manages to put off the inevitable incarceration, it will be by making life even more ugly for everyone, including former friends and family he throws under the clown bus. But eventually, he will pay for his crimes. And that will be the reliable indicator that the final season of the MAGA show is well underway.

Don’t get me wrong, these next two years won’t be pleasant, by any means. All of the wanna-be Trumps in MAGA clothing will see the grand idiot’s personal demise as simply a cosmic invitation to follow in his fascist footsteps. The auditions have already begun, and a willingness to be as audacious, accusatory, hyperbolic and as mean-spirited as possible seem to be the personal and political ante.

But here’s the thing: The GOP doesn’t know how to read the room. They misread it big-time throughout the recent campaign season, and they paid the price on midterm election day. But that kind of halter-jerk would never be enough to slow this crew down. And besides, they’re now stuck with the “big lie” strategy, and unfortunately for them, that strategy is ultimately a loser. Many of them know that. But it’s already too late. And the only thing keeping this gang of MAGA-misfits going as we enter 2023 is them pretending (to themselves as well) that they are not in a league of losers, a league of their own making.

So, in a nutshell: The MAGAs will grab the microphone in January, and continue to remind everyone in America (and elsewhere) of exactly how ugly, anti-democracy, and straight-up un-American their behavior has been, from the beginning, and continues to be. Working hand-in-hand with right-wing media, they will spend the next two years trying to frighten Americans into believing that MAGA represents half of the country, when it’s really more like 10%. They will act as though they have some sort of God-given mandate to drive our democracy into submission, in the name of “freedom,” because after all, they hold hands and pray before every fascist activity they undertake.

But ultimately, these are acts of desperation by those who know they are destined to lose. The MAGA Republicans are at war with whatever better angels they once entertained. They have given up on governing, given up on honesty, even on integrity itself. So, after forcing America to binge-watch their increasing ugliness for the past six years, their only move now is to make democracy fight for its life for another two years. But that will be small consolation for their ultimate demise and descent into oblivion.

Despite representing only a small percentage of actual registered voters, they will act like their recent drubbing in the midterms was actually a divine calling to be even more outrageous, even more loud, and vicious, and unscrupulously driven to take down our democracy, while wrapping themselves in the flag. And in so doing, they will continuously remind every voter in America that the effort to rid our democracy of its fascist insiders is not over, and why it’s so important to finish in 2024 what was started in 2022 — to use democracy itself to vote out the remainder of these lying, cheese-headed traitors from all positions of public trust, once and for all. That will be a victorious turning point for our country. We will come to see that what did not kill our democracy did in fact make it even stronger — confident in its capabilities and ready to further serve the best interests of all Americans, regardless of party, as we look ahead to the many goals and challenges before us.

In the meantime, don’t let them own your own confidence. Just remember that democracy is a long game, and the MAGA shit-show’s final season is finally, mercifully, underway.