Greetings. I am a voting constituent in rural west Texas.
At long last. I’ve finally completed all five stages of grief as we watch the GOP stage its own long, drawn-out death.
Denial: the belief that what you’re watching and seeing and hearing can’t possibly be true. But day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year of such behavior can’t be an accident.
Anger: venting as a constituent about what I perceive to be despicable actions and behavior. You obviously have a different interpretation of despicable. And truth. And reality.
Bargaining: trying to reason with my elected officials, in the hope that they would realize that history will not be kind…but that it’s not too late to change the self-destructive course. But logic won’t work on group madness.
Depression: wondering why I even care…since it’s obvious you don’t. And won’t. Democracy lives. Democracy dies. Does it even matter?
Acceptance: that’s where I’m currently at. Greater minds than I have tried over and over to dissuade, condemn, shame, and persuade your party to go back to your core beliefs. To put country before party. To no avail.
So acceptance is the current mode. Not acceptance of the ever-increasing violence your party foments. Not acceptance of the rhetoric designed to further divide and alienate the citizens you represent. And certainly not acceptance of tearing down the country based on the lies of one seriously damaged man.
But acceptance that you will not change. That what your party is is what you made it into. What you chose. What you allowed.
And you are just fine with it.
Until, like all moms have said at some point, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.”
But even that’s happened and it doesn’t seem to bother you.
So you’ve obviously reached the acceptance phase too. And are staying there.
What a low bar you set for yourselves, the party of Lincoln, and America.
