“WHAT’S IT TO YOU?”

Greetings. I am a voting constituent in rural west Texas. Today seems good for an analogy. While at the local clinic this a.m. for a blood draw, the older woman technician, always friendly, always professional, told me a recent experience she had. As she was preparing to draw blood from a 10 year old child, she routinely asked him his date of birth. He replied, “What’s it to you?” While his mother just stood there. This seems a perfect example of what happens when the adults in the room just stand there, saying, doing, nothing when things happen they should, and do, know are just wrong. That’s the current GOP. The party of Lincoln has been invaded by parasitic forces that are eating the body politic from the inside out. And the voices of reason that might remain either keep silent for a myriad of selfish or misguided reasons, or leave the important jobs they hold protecting our democracy because life has just become too hard for them. Too hard because voices from an alternate reality have fired up the fury of their supporters to the point that death threats are the norm, dangerous and vile rhetoric is a given, and physical intimidation is an acceptable method of disagreement. So as the responsible voices in the GOP dwindle, leave the party, leave the service of their country, what remains? Replacement by voices that represent the worst tendencies of human nature. With power. Power to stoke destruction. And the most depressing thing is that most of the anger comes from disinformation and lies. From deception. From intentionally making the citizenry believe the unbelievable. History shows time and again that this is how dictators, authoritarians, strong men rise to power. Bit by bit. Bite by bite. While those of you who have the power, moral authority, and responsibility to do anything about it, stay under the radar and hope it all blows over. Or worse, go along to get along, thus enabling and normalizing the unthinkable. “What’s it to you?” Is that really going to be the new GOP mantra?