Remember when presidential candidate John McCain was confronted at a townhall by a half-addled little old lady who (mistakenly) lamented that McCain’s opponent, Barack Obama, was “a Muslim”? He immediately, firmly, but kindly, corrected her, emphasizing that Obama was a good man with whom he simply disagreed. Weeks later, McCain was visibly shaken by the raucous boos and jeers at the mere mention of Obama’s name, sullying what would otherwise have been a graceful concession speech.
Fast forward to 2022. A preacher at an event for Herschel Walker, currently running to unseat Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, prayed thusly: “We ask you [God] to rebuke the devil so Satan will not get the victory.”
So, a minister asserts that Raphael Warnock (who, in addition to being a senator, is pastor of the same historic church once led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) is in league with Satan (if not actually a devil or Satan himself).
To which Herschel Walker says nothing. He lets a man with whom he shares a stage literally call another man Satan and makes no sound of protest.
This is where the Republican Party is today. At one time they could at least pretend to run the best race they could, and if they lost, they would pledge good faith to the Democratic victor and hope for better luck next time. (Democrats would do the same.) Now there are no pretensions of good will. Democrats are literally baby-eating cannibals, or tools of Satan, or the wiliest cabal of cheaters who have pulled off the greatest, most sweeping election fraud in American history and left nary a crumb of evidence. And even the Republicans who don’t believe these things let them be said as long as it benefits them. (GOP fence sitters may also fear being actually shot dead on the sidewalk for being insufficiently rabid and unconvincingly pro-Trump.)
Conservative talker Dana Loesch said it didn’t matter if Walker paid for an abortion (which, in Republican eyes is tantamount to paying for a murder). What matters is “control of the Senate.” She also said, “Winning is a virtue.”
Really, this is what is boils down to. Republicans have come *this close* to taking over the country, and the smell of power has driven what little sense they had out of their heads.
[Originally posted on Facebook.]