Conservative writer turned Never Trumper Jennifer Rubin writes in today's WaPo explaining why Republican politicians are always talking nonsense. Spoiler alert: the ideas they want to sell -- tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, gutting gun laws, outlawing women's reproductive rights, etc. -- are broadly unpopular. In turn, they manufacture "issues" for their base to get outraged about -- critical race theory, "cancel" / consequences culture, etc. -- to distract them from their failures :
"Of the 15 poorest states, all but two (Maine and New Mexico) are also deep red. Among the 30 Senate seats from those states, 27 are held by Republicans.
By these or just about any other measures, Republican states are failing to meet the basic needs of their residents. Among unvaccinated Americans, infection rates are climbing. More will get sick in those places, and some will die. Republicans are unwilling or incapable of meeting the challenge.
This sorry sight is unsurprising given that Republicans have all but given up on the notion of governance. At the national level, they consume themselves with race-baiting (e.g., scaring Americans about immigration and critical race theory), assailing private companies (e.g., corporations that defend voting rights, social media platforms, book publishers) and perpetrating the most ludicrous and dangerous lie in memory — that the 2020 election was stolen." (our emphasis)
It's more and more dangerous and unhinged nonsense as the demographic and cultural handwriting on the wall becomes more ominous for the future of the Republican / Trumpist / Insurrectionist Party.
