In his Substack titled, “The Convention Spoke and Told Us: The GOP is Dead,” Kinzinger explained various examples of how the RNC demonstrated that Trump has succeeded in turning the GOP into a “cult of personality.”

From that Substack article:

It was called the Republican National Convention, but in fact, it had nothing to do with the GOP most of us once knew. Gone were the party’s serious policy debates and platform planks. In their place was a celebration of Donald Trump, who has succeeded in converting one of the country’s two major parties into a cult of personality. When it ended, the delegates sent a ticket into the presidential election with no true Republicans on it.

. . . Because it is now the Trump Party, the crowd in Milwaukee lapped up Navarro’s message of fear which, after all, is the gateway to rage. Few noticed that, contrary to tradition, past Republican leaders – former President Bush, past nominee Mitt Romney, and former Vice President Dan Quayle – were all absent.

. . . I won’t hide the fact that I grieve the old GOP and fear the cult of Trump. I am equally concerned, though, by Democrats who are shrinking from the fight, concluding that Trump’s election is inevitable. I would say that given a remnant of traditional Republicans remains, and independents must be turned off by a Trump who wants to be emperor. It’s time to gather our courage and energy. The fight against him is not lost.

  • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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    4 months ago

    Trump didn’t do this, he’s just one in a long line. If you’re mourning the GOP of Trump but longing for the GOP before him…it’s the same picture. Just a lot more open about their true beliefs. Feel sorry for the old GOP of Eisenhower if you want to get any credit of missing a different party.

    • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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      4 months ago

      Yeah it’s a continuum of garbage, it’s just that all the trappings of reasoned debate have been jettisoned. They’re literally just screaming to kill people now. They ruined it for the centrist Republicans of yore. (And the mysterious and elusive ‘swing voter’)

      • DancingBear@midwest.social
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        4 months ago

        Hey now, that’s mean. I’m seriously having trouble choosing between a full bowl of shit and a half bowl of shit over here

    • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Yep. Donnie just gave them a permission structure to be even more vocal about how awful they truly are. Like everything else in his life, he has created nothing. He just waltzed in after Palin laid the groundwork for him and slapped his name on the place.

    • Nougat@fedia.io
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      4 months ago

      Even before Eisenhower, the GOP was shit. They were against social security during FDR.

        • Irremarkable@fedia.io
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          4 months ago

          Yes*

          *besides a handful of key figures, who was actually involved in the business plot is entirely a he said/she said situation. Some theories implicate a wide range of sitting congressmen, some keep it mostly limited to the businessmen themselves, and there’s some everywhere in between.

          Personally, I think the idea that it was close to happening is way overblown.

        • Nougat@fedia.io
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          4 months ago

          Oh yeah, I haven’t finished reading Prequel yet, thank you for reminding me.