Republicians are Gone

The Party of Lincoln Is Now the Party of PrumpTutin
We’ve passed the “just a phase” phase and the monster is among us.

There was a time—not ancient history, just a few cracked headlines back—when Republicans wore Lincoln’s legacy like a badge. Abolisher of slavery. Defender of the Union. The party of principle. Of “a government of the people, by the people, for the people.” That was the brand.

Now?

Now they wave Russian flags at rallies—with Trump’s name printed across them like a brand logo. They parrot Kremlin propaganda. They cheer for a man who cozies up to dictators, calls NATO a burden, undermines Ukraine, and calls American journalists “the enemy of the people.”

They’re fine with tanks rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue. Fine with purging civil servants who won’t swear fealty. Fine with dragging us backward through a dystopian costume change—The Handmaid’s Tale meets COPS, with worse dialogue and fewer civil liberties.

We’re told not to panic. That this is just about the economy. Or gas prices. Or immigration. Or “wokeism.” That it’s complicated. That it’s temporary.

It’s not.

This isn’t a tantrum. It’s a strategy.

This is what authoritarian movements do. They start with outrage, feed on grievance, and end in silence. The silence of censored press. Silenced votes. Silenced dissent.

The GOP isn’t lost or confused. It wasn’t hijacked. This is the plan: power without accountability, elections without competition, rule without consent. Cult over country. Obedience over truth.

They’ve already gerrymandered the map into submission. Stacked the courts with loyalists. Redefined “freedom” as the right to obey. And now they’re testing the waters—parading the military like we’re North Korea’s opening act.

And still—still—half the country wants to believe it’s a phase. That the fever will break. That democracy snaps back like a rubber band.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t a phase. It’s a pivot. A calculated turn away from pluralism, away from truth, away from democracy. Toward something colder. Meaner. Simpler to control.

We are not watching a debate. We’re watching a demolition. A slow-motion gutting of the institutions we thought would hold. The GOP’s flirtation with authoritarianism is long over. They’ve moved in together. Built a man cave. Engraved their names on the mailbox.

Lincoln warned:

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

He was talking about moments like this. When fear replaces principle. When loyalty outweighs law. When the party of Lincoln becomes the party of Putin—and acts like it was always meant to be.

Well.
Here we are.

Full disclosure: The trumpers were waving Russian flags with trumps name on it didn’t mean to. Some damn Democrat was handing out the flags and the trumpers didn’t realize what they were doing.