By Brad Shepard
Donald Trump’s presidency has revealed a plethora of important truths to the average voter—tens of millions of people have swallowed the red pill. Although waking up the people is not a policy per se, it will go down as one of his greatest political accomplishments.
MAGA-March
One of these important truths is that our government is an establishment uniparty which has failed working-class Americans for decades—the political ruling class sold them out to the highest bidder. Corporate feudalism is the ultimate agenda of the establishment uniparty. What that really means is unsustainable spending, endless wars in the Middle East, oligarchs helping run the country, and policies that make the lives of the 1 percent better, while making the lives of everyone else far worse. Whether the policy is considered liberal or conservative, it must align with that agenda in some way.
The Grand Old Party (GOP) has been complicit in this betrayal—there is certainly nothing grand about a political party that does this to its base. A more fitting name for the GOP might be Geriatric Old Party. A nod to how outdated and out of touch the modern GOP and its policies are.
Look no further for an example of this than how the GOP has sabotaged President Trump at practically every opportunity. You expect it from Democrats. If you understand our political system, you should also expect it from Republicans. Rising stars like U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz are outliers. The GOP is not America First, and it probably never will be.
At face value, it should not be a difficult decision. President Trump received more votes than any sitting president or Republican in our nation’s history. That is the biggest endorsement of America First a politician can receive and the establishment uniparty will fight it every step of the way.
There is currently a battle within the GOP to take over the establishment by force and transform the party into America First. A significant number of Trump supporters are refusing to return to the GOP's old ways, and rightfully so. A significant number of GOP politicians, however, are refusing to change. They are beholden to their corporate masters and want to keep the status quo.
We are at a standstill, and perhaps finding ourselves on the precipice of a political revolution. Will America First Trump supporters overtake the GOP or will they create their own political party?
It would seem that the easiest option, in many ways, would be overtaking the GOP. It is an existing party, with an existing infrastructure. It has an existing voter base, brand value and financial stability.
Outside of those ready-made advantages, why else would Trump supporters be loyal to the GOP or the two-party system? The GOP tried to sabotage Trump’s campaign in 2016. It wanted Jeb Bush. (Please clap.) It never thought Trump would win. The GOP had the House and Senate for Trump's first two years in office, yet fought him on funding for the wall, failed to replace Obamacare, refused to act on DACA/immigration, and was not interested in improving our infrastructure—all key elements of Trump’s platform. In many cases, he accomplished great things without overwhelming support from the GOP. Of course, Republicans were more than happy to allow tax cuts, deregulation, military spending, and the confirmation of conservative judges.
We expected a lack of cooperation from Democrats. They resisted every America First policy the president had, knowing full well in some cases it would harm working-class Americans—they did not care. Much of the betrayal of President Trump, however, has come from within the Republican ranks. As with Democrats, they have betrayed working-class Americans for decades. The GOP establishment loves tax cuts for big corporations and the rich, cheap labor from foreign countries, and endless wars in the Middle East.
Now, we find ourselves watching the GOP betray Trump, yet again. It has advised him to concede. It told Congress not to dispute the electors. It told the corporate media that Trump is threatening our democracy simply by letting the Constitutional process play out. And while it did all this, it had the nerve to aggressively shame Trump supporters in Georgia into voting for two Republicans that have thus far refused to fight for President Trump and help repair the integrity of our elections. It gets worse. Leading up to the Georgia Senate runoff elections, the GOP passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) without acting on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, in direct defiance of President Trump. With millions of Americans out of work due to the restrictive policies stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Senate Republicans passed a giveaway for Big Tech which would allow Indian nationals to monopolize the green card system. They passed a massive relief package that provides only $600 to Americans who've been out of work for months.
The GOP does not believe it owes it to President Trump to fight for him, but it does believe you owe it to them to fight for its precious Senate majority. Forget for a moment that a slight majority would not make much difference considering that GOP Senators are already committing to working with a Biden agenda. Leaders such as Mitch McConnell would love nothing more than returning to an Obama-era government stalemate, where they can advance an agenda of corporate feudalism while telling their voters they couldn't accomplish what they promised because of those wacky Dems—all the while raking in donor money. At this point, you must ask yourself why you are still voting for the GOP and how it's earned a vote that's clearly been taken for granted. The lesser-of-two-evils mindset is a loser mindset that continually happens with a two-party majority system.
Trump supporters are better off creating a new political party in the long term—an America First, nationalist, populist, patriot party. Even if it is painful in the short term, wouldn’t it be nice to have candidates you can be proud of because they believe what you do and are willing to fight for that? The same goes for Democrats. The two-party system has failed us, and we can change that. Sticking it to the traitors in the GOP ruling class by refusing to support them would be the icing on the cake.
Brad Shepard is an Army National Guard veteran. Shepard's breaking news stories have been credited by Fox Business, The Washington Post, New York Daily News, New York Post, CBS Sports, NBC Sports, Chicago Tribune, Deadspin, Yahoo Sports, Forbes, Golf Digest, Bleacher Report, Sporting News, The Sun, NESN, Breitbart, Zero Hedge, and ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, among many others. He focuses on issues surrounding government accountability, Constitutional rights, and societal culture. Brad also co-hosts with Paul Harell the “What it REALLY Means” podcast, a hard-hitting conservative podcast discussing important political news and topics.
Twitter: @TheBradShepard
