Conservative Icon George Will: Republicans are "Frightened" of Their Own Voters

Long-time Conservative columnist George Will made an interesting point on Sunday regarding the GOP. In discussing why Republican legislators wouldn't vote to establish a January 6th Commission, Will said this:

Will, ABC's This Week: "Well, it's controversial for one reason. We have something new in American history. We have a political party defined by the terror it feels for its own voters. That's the Republican Party right now." "Every elected official is frightened of his voters, therefore doesn't respect his voters and doesn't like his voters and is afraid that a vote for this would be seen as an insult to the 45th president."

Will's point is that Republican elected officials like Senators Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and Marco Rubio, have decided that they have to go along with all the MAGA, "deep state," "election fraud," nonsense to protect their jobs despite understanding just how dangerous and deluded such thinking is. They have chosen their careers over their country.

However, Will is also hinting at a much more important point, one that keeps political scientists up at night. These same Republicans think that they can harness the MAGA madness and eventually redirect its adherents toward a more realistic and rational set of priorities more in line with traditional conservative values. In other words, they plan on riding the tiger without getting eaten.

In his comments Sunday, Will noted just how dangerous such thinking is. He understands that the assault on the Capital on Jan. 6th might just be the beginning of the nation's slide into political turmoil and Republicans who think that they can control Trumpist mobs are deluding themselves.

Will, ABC's This Week: "I would like to see January 6th burned into the American mind as firmly as 9/11 because it was that scale of a shock to the system."

Will is right to be concerned. There is a growing element on the right that doesn't believe that they can achieve their goals through the ballot box and have little use for old guard Republicans like Cruz, Rubio and Graham. Moreover, there are plenty of new faces in the Party like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Lauren Boebert, Rep. Matt Gaetz, and Rep. Paul Gosar, to name but a few, who are more than willing to feed the mob ever more bizarre conspiracy theories and coddle their feelings of resentment.

Will and many other commentators are coming to realize that we are reaching an inflection point in America and that our democracy might be a bit more fragile than we had hoped. The GOP's leadership needs to understand that a January 6th Commission is essential to purging the most dangerous elements from their Party and taking a step back from the edge.

#news #politics

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

By: Don Lam & Curated Content