An Ode to The Grand Old Party by Barry Rosenbaum

The Republican Party is dead.

It had long stopped being the Party of Lincoln, but it still had its share of 20th-century statesmen.

Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, Rockefeller, George H.W. Bush

But the lyin’ King put an end to all of that.

He stuck the Party with his steely knife and twisted with all his vileness.

Congressional Republicans dug the blade deeper until they collectively killed the beast.

I will not forget the Senate traitors to our democracy — Collins, Cassidy, McConnell, Cornyn, Tillis, Grassley, Young, Moran.

Oh, I well know that there were so many more — but these were the anointed institutionalists, the ones that claimed to care about democracy and the structures that supported it.

They professed loyalty to our Constitution and were members of the branch of government once known as the world’s greatest deliberative body.

Yet, when truly tested, they failed spectacularly.

Some claim they were afraid of being killed — afraid of the MAGA mob that they helped create and perpetuate.

 Well, what do you say to the families of Pretti, Good, or the dozens of other victims of ICE’s violence?

What do you say to all the other patriots who had the fortitude to reject this authoritarian monster?

You created the modern Gestapo and set them free to wreck American cities.

Do not think you will escape judgment because you profess love for this country?

You are even more culpable because of this, since when this country needed you the most, you shriveled up in cowardice.

As long as I live, I intend to retell this story as a witness to the Republican Party’s creation, support, and allegiance to this horror that we call Trumpism.

I hope my descendants will continue this practice.

I want to ensure that history forever remembers your weakness and your complicity.

You were nothing but power whores.

You gave up your soul to retain something that was never yours.

It is the people’s power — and we, the people, will never forget the abuse of our power that you so shamelessly hoarded as you made the Republican Party into nothing more than a vessel for your greed.

You personally can try to check out any time you like — you essentially already have — but the stain that you have left on this country will never be forgotten.