The Coming Republican Whitewashing of Donald Trump

[peggysue2]

The Washington Post has an infuriating but absolutely accurate OP written by Greg Sergeant about the coming erasure of Trump's disastrous tenure. We're already hearing the initial strains of the attempt with familiar echoes: the debt, the deficit, the extremist Left. What is infuriating is that this ploy isn't new and has worked in the past. Think the Bush/Cheney lost years and the transferred accountability to Obama's Administration.

And just to get your blood pressure up, here's a quote from the odious Lindsey Graham:

“Our problem is tone, their problem is policy,” Mr. Graham said of the two parties. “We’ve both got to overcome problems, but I like our chances better because we can act better and it’s harder for them to legislate differently.”


And Cornyn:

“When Trump is no longer in office there’s going to be less focus on personality and ‘What did he tweet today, what did he say today?’” predicted Senator John Cornyn of Texas, adding, hopefully, that Democrats would soon struggle with internal divisions in a “Tea Party moment” akin to what Republicans faced a decade ago.

These fuckers are already mapping out the displacement of accountability, the mass amnesia they're hoping to conjure up.

We need to be prepared with an antidote in messaging because this is just as toxic and damaging as Trump. Maybe more so.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/21/gop-whitewashing-trump-stain-has-quietly-begun/

[katmondoo]

1. The Republican problem is the utter meanness, hatred and total disregard of human rights.

Did I say I hate most of them?

[peggysue2]

4. Graham thinks the Republican 'problem' is merely tone

Really beyond the pale! They're all complicit in nearly bringing the country down. Just as the Bush/Cheney years had us on our knees economically, nearly shoving the entire world's financial system over a cliff.

But as you said, it is the utter disregard for human rights, the cruelty and lust for power that truly defines the current crop of Republicans.

We need to gear up our own message machine, then push it into high, higher!

[ZZenith]

2. January 21st headline: "Why Joe Biden's Economy Is Failing"

[peggysue2]

5. Exactly!

That's the plan because it worked so well last time out and diminished the Herculean job the Obama Administration was tasked with after Bush/Cheney's mismanagement.

Makes my head want to explode!

[Irish_Dem]

3. Like with Reagan, became St. Ronnie in made up fantasy world.

I guess it will be St. Donnie too.

[peggysue2]

7. LOL!

If this becomes Saint Donnie, the Republicans will have pulled off a true miracle.

But as you stated, they managed a cool con job with Ronald Reagan and still claim him as the Anointed One of today's Republican Party.

Ugh!

[Irish_Dem]

8. I know, rehabbing Trump to St. Donnie is going to be a heavy lift.

A very heavy one.

[procon]

6. The transformation of Reagan was a masterfully done

piece of fantasy stage craft. Trump might not far so well since he can't hide all his misdeeds as readily as Reagan's rehab team did. With Trump, we have an extensive historical digital record of all his evils that is easily accessible in print, audio, video and photos. We didn't have the same depth of media coverage or the critical investigations in Reagan's time.

That lightweight coverage allowed Reagan's fluffers to take advantage of the information gaps and sketchy reporting to reconfigure his time in office. Trump can't hide from what he's done, he can't unsay the words he's spoken, or pretend that he was, with little doubt, the worst president the US has ever seen.

[peggysue2]

9. I agree with your assessment

Although as Democrats we need to push that digital evidence every chance we get. No allowing these horrendous 4+ years to get swept under the rug or explained away with twisted logic. Rewritten history and propaganda is a Republican art form.

As for Reagan? That recent documentary (on Showtime, I think) was a very good reminder/tutorial of who Reagan was and how the myth of All Things Ronnie was propagated. For those who didn't live those years, it's worth a watch.

[Johonny]

10. I think when all the distraction are gone, and people look at what he really did and didn't do

they will be horrified. I think Cornyn has it reversed. The distraction aren't preventing us from seeing the good. They exist to cover up the shitshow.

[peggysue2]

11. I hope you're right, Johonny

Because these last 4+ years have been genuinely horrifying. What worries me is the GOP's propaganda streams which have promoted the Big Lie in real time. One can only guess at how they'll shave the facts and details when this wretched period is over.

Will enough Americans remember or shake them selves awake from the stupor?

Personally, I'm still stunned at the considerable swath of Americans who have and continue to buy into the hogwash, going so far as encouraging Trump and his supporters to 'Cross the Rubicon'.

As if Trump were Julius Caesar. Beyond laughable.

What isn't laughable is the ultimate fate of the Roman Republic which these same people are either unaware of or are counting on the average Trump supporter's ignorance.

Either way, this craziness during the transition and into the future leaves the country vulnerable to the next wanna-be autocrat/strongman, guaranteed to be be far smarter and more politically astute.

That still worries me, even while hoping for the best and thanking our lucky stars for the incoming Biden/Harris team.

So ready to ditch 2020!!