The GOP knows exactly what it's doing

But of what I AM (fairly) certain is that a number of “people of real substance,” these “educated professionals,” DO INDEED “see it.” Foremost among this group are GOP politicians who want no one to suspect or question their motives or, Heaven forbid, discover their subterfuges.

These GOP politicians see that Trump lost the election. They see that asking a Secretary of State to find an extra 11,780 votes is wrong in every sense of the word. They see that the electoral vote has installed in the White House two republicans who lost the popular vote. They see that Roger Stone and his Brooks Brothers riot stopped the recount in Florida. They see that 22 Senators representing the eleven least populous, mostly red states represent a population equal to that of California which has only two Senators. They see that much of the push to enact restrictive voting laws occurred only after a democrat was elected president and two democrats were elected to the Senate in the South. They see that electoral boundaries should, of course, be drawn by bipartisan commissions. They see that voting fraud, which does not give either party an edge, is a convenient scapegoat to enact restrictive voting rights which do give the GOP an edge. They see that expanding voting rights is obviously good and just. They see it all, but to admit to seeing it would be to give away their strategy. Their game plan is to blame Antifa and tourists for the January 6 insurrection; their tactic is to get vaccinated covertly while telling the “rabble” that mask and vaccine mandates are unconstitutional. They are recruiting the “rabble” to — unwittingly or otherwise — do their dirty work.

What they seemingly do NOT see are any future effects their unscrupulous actions will have on our country, though Liz Cheney (Republican Senator from Wyoming) did publicly muse what effect Republicans’ refusals to obey federal subpoenas will have in the future when a Republican-lead Congress might want to subpoena a Democrat. Furthermore, if the GOP truly believes they know what is best for the nation, then staying in power at all costs must be the ordained path to take. The ends justify the means even if those means be illegal or immoral (and what better avenue to justification than to stack the Supreme Court with as many conservative judges as possible?). Beyond political infighting and cutthroat campaigning, though, I worry about there not being enough “good people on both sides.” If Red versus Blue devolves into the new Blue versus Gray, I have little doubt which side would prevail.

Thank you, Athens News editor, for letting me dish out some food for thought. I truly hope my two cents worth spurs a reader or two to fact-check what I’ve said and counter with all the underhanded things the Democrats have done, which would be fair and balanced. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Chris Hager lives in Athens