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(Mike Luckovich, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Republican establishment hack George F. "Effing" Will is in Official Panic Mode:
It has come to this: The GOP, formerly the party of Lincoln and ostensibly the party of liberty and limited government, is being defined by clamors for a mass roundup and deportation of millions of human beings. To will an end is to will the means for the end, so the Republican clamors are also for the requisite expansion of government’s size and coercive powers.
Most of Donald Trump’s normally loquacious rivals are swaggeringly eager to confront Vladimir Putin but are too invertebrate — Lindsey Graham is an honorable exception — to voice robust disgust with Trump and the spirit of, the police measures necessary for and the cruelties that would accompany his policy. The policy is: “They’ve got to go.” [snip]
About 900,000 of America’s Hispanic citizens reach voting age each year. In 2012, less than half of eligible Hispanics voted, but Republicans have figured out how to increase Hispanic turnout. (our emphasis)Will rightly makes note of the "invertebrate" Republicans running against Trump, but apparently has sensibilities too delicate to note the other "invertebrates" who have led the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid Party to this pass. One such "invertebrate" would be George "Effing" Will who, along with the vast majority of right-wing media, has fed hateful nonsense to the yahoos for decades. Nonsense about immigration. Nonsense about climate change. Nonsense about Obamacare. Nonsense about "voter fraud." Nonsense about the Iran nuclear deal. And on and on. For that, George "Effing" Will and his fellow fantasy bullshit artists deserve a great deal of credit. (As Matt Taibbi notes below, "America has been trending stupid for a long time. Now the stupid wants out of its cage, and Trump is urging it on.")
It's important to note that Will makes his argument against Trump's deportation policy in terms of "expansion of government's size and coercive power" and the electoral effect of firing up Hispanic Americans against Republicans. Passing attention is paid to the "cruelties." Also, if you go to the link and read his full op/ ed, he's perfectly happy to talk about
Trump and his far- right- wing nativist/ know-nothing/ fear- engorged claque has found a Petri dish in that part of the American political spectrum in which it has thrived and will continue to thrive. The biggest problem for Will and his fellow establishment Republicans is that Trump is a blaring horn, whereas they would prefer a dog whistle.
