By James B. Ewers Jr. Ed.D.
What started out with loud voices has morphed into quite whispers. Crowds chanting it’s a new day are now almost silent. Bluster has now turned into being barely noticeable.
Sometimes talking too much and too loudly will backfire on you. Those supporters once taking front seats are now sheepishly taking back seats. Some don’t even bother to show up. Maybe they have lost hope.
At one point, some elected officials were holding meetings with their constituents when they were home from Washington DC. Their central theme was everything is fine and the country is doing great. They signed autographs and took pictures with everyone.
It was what I would call one big political lovefest. If you were in this party, it didn’t matter if you were at the local, state or federal level. Everything was coming up roses and aces.
I hear this expression among young people, and it is, “what had happened was”. It is said in both a funny and a sarcastic way.
Well, what had happened was the Republican Party lost its way. It is a classic case of going from fame to shame. The Grand Old Party has splintered leadership and is divided among itself.
Some are asking how can that be? It can be because philosophically they don’t know who they are. Do they want less government interference or don’t they? Do they want the war in Iran or don’t they?
These are just two of the many questions facing the Republican Party. For example, every poll they see is against them. More than half of the American people don’t want us at war.
Let’s get right down to the real nitty gritty, lyrics made popular years ago by Shirley Ellis. Last year at this time, the price of gas was about $2.78 per gallon. We could go to the gas station and not feel overwhelmed by the price. Now the price is over $4.00 per gallon and over $5.00 per gallon in some parts of California.
Food prices at grocery stores are out of line with our pocketbooks. We are having to pinch pennies more each day. Shelia Fields, a retired nurse in Galveston Texas said, Like yesterday, we went to three different stores here in town. And we bought only what was a really good sale. So we got no meat at all. Because it’s just too high.”
Republicans are going down a dead-end road. They are being met with pause and pessimism. Many Republicans are lukewarm when it comes to policies coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Citizens are seeing top federal officials being fired. They are political pawns on a chess board, and they are being swept away. Kind of like, here today and gone tomorrow.
Most recently, Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired just a few weeks ago. It didn’t matter how many times she shouted out his name. Don’t forget about Susan Monarez, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who was terminated in August of last year.
Financial donors to the administration’s campaign aren’t immune from facing termination. Billionaire John Phelan was fired as Secretary of the Navy. The reason given was over a new class of battleships. I guess they couldn’t agree.
Strangely, being fired in this administration is like wearing a badge of honor. You wear it proudly. Isn’t that funny? You will never hear from these people again.
Republicans who want to see America great again are gearing up for the midterm elections in November. They are a nervous group right now because they can see the handwriting on the wall. It’s in big bold letters and it simply says, “I’m cooked. Just stick a fork in me because I’m done.”
Some GOP folks spout out make America Great Again. It begs the question, make America great for who?
