Rooting Against the United States
Recession: a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters.
If it is (a recession), it is surely the weirdest one ever. There are enough contradictory numbers, like strong employment growth, that it would be hard to call this a recession even though, technically, the GDP has been down for two quarters. And a lot of the signs of a coming recession – layoffs, declining consumer spending – aren’t there.
Have you noticed how quick your GOP friends were to pronounce this to be a recession? But it’s not just that they declared this to be a recession.
Have you noticed how thrilled they are that it’s happening? Seriously, isn’t that weird? If you honestly believe we’re headed into a recession that is going to cause untold misery, would you react with glee? “People will be out of work, untold college dreams will come to an end, hunger and homelessness are sure to increase, many more people I consider freeloaders will be using food stamps, and my 401(k) will probably take a hit, but a recession might improve our chances in the midterms. … Isn’t that great?”
So tell me, when did the Republican party stop rooting for America? When did they start cheering when we lose?
Sadly, it’s not a recent thing.
It goes back at least to 2009 (doesn’t everything?). The first time I remember understanding that the Republicans preferred for the US to lose if winning meant a win for a Democratic came when the International Olympic Committee rejected the US bid to host the 2016 Olympics. Remember “The Ego Has Landed?” or the headline “Cheers Erupted in the Weekly Standard Newsroom?” Later that year, the Republicans fought hard to make sure the recovery from the Bush recession would be as weak and prolonged as possible – even though it meant their own constituents would be suffering.
And in the past few weeks, we saw the Republicans not just vote against a “motherhood” bill to provide aid to veterans dying from exposure to toxic chemicals, but we saw them celebrate and fist bump when the measure went down.
By now, it seems to be baked in. And why not, I guess? The Mitch McConnells and Ted Cruz’s of the world never seem to pay a price. Until Republicans pay a price for rooting against America, expect them to keep doing so. To paraphrase Adam Schiff discussing President Trump: “[They are] who [they are]. You cannot leave a [party] like that in [power]. You know it’s not going to stop. It’s not going to stop unless the [voters do] something about it.”
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This series is written to promote political discussion and organizing. Permission is given to use this in fact sheets, talking points, letters to the editor, etc. We’d appreciate if you notified Gettysburg DFA (leonsreed@gmail.com) of any uses. Written by Leon Reed.