What the Republican Party still is

David Masciotra is singing my song. That song being, "Can we please remember what the Republican Party has been for the last 40 years?" (Now we're supposed to think Reagan, Bush and the Cheneys are cool? They got us here Salon 05/09/2021)

I'll begin this post where he ends:

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, one of the country's most intelligent public officials — and unlike Liz Cheney, an actual public servant acting in the interest of his society — has warned that the U.S. risks internal assaults worse than Jan. 6 if Congress, the Justice Department and the FBI do not investigate (and potentially prosecute) Trump administration officials for ... their manipulation of science during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their role in Trump's attempted coup-d'état.

Referring to the Obama administration's refusal to pursue charges against the Bush administration for the use of torture, Whitehouse recently told the New Republic, "If Obama had not [said], 'We're not going to look back, we're only going to look forward,' the Trumpsters would have been a lot less bold about doing the reckless damage that they did." [my emphasis]

We the public need to remember what the Republican Party has been for four decades. And the Democratic Party across the board needs to stop pretending otherwise.

To illustrate, here's Shrub Bush on his authorization of torture while he was President, criminal in both US and international law:

Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet asked if he had permission to use enhanced interrogation techniques including waterboarding on Mohammed. ...

[Bush responded:] 'Damn right,' I said." (Bush on waterboarding: 'Damn right' CNN 11/055/2010)

And then there's this: Michelle Obama defends friendship with George W. Bush: 'Our values are the same'; Cydney Henderson, USA Today 12/11/2019.

Democrats need to stop doing this. They just need to stop.