In his latest Facebook post, former VA Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) – a supposedly more “moderate” Republican, except for the minor detail that Bolling’s announced he’s voting for the wannabe dictator, felon, nutjob, far-right-extremist, etc. Donald Trump!!! – the topic is Christofascist Rep. Bob Good (R-VA05)’s loss to Trump cultist/insurrectionist John McGuire in their recent Republican primary. As you can see from my comments (in blue/bold/italics), Bolling starts off well, but then…nope, he can’t manage to keep it up, instead descending into brain-dead false equivalence, “both sides-ism,” etc. Also note how he never reconciles the fact that HE HIMSELF is voting for Trump? It’s really a classic example of “cognitive dissonance,” as well as psychological “projection,” etc. Check it out.
BOB GOOD: THE LATEST VICTIM OF POLITICAL PURISM [this headline really should read, “BOB GOOD: THE LATEST VICTIM OF THE GOP BECOMING AN UNHINGED, LOYALTY-ABOVE-ALL-ELSE TRUMP CULT“]
Bob Good is the latest example of the purist and pariah like instinct that infects the modern Republican Party. [Yes, true…but again, how about saying the name of the scumbag/felon/traitor/insurrectionist/rapist/racist/etc. YOU ARE VOTING FOR TO BE PRESIDENT AGAIN!!!]
In today’s GOP, if you’re not a full blown ideological extremist you’re not welcome, and God help those who defy the Tea Party or the MAGA movement. [Very true – so WHY ARE YOU STILL A REPUBLICAN AND WHY ARE YOU VOTING FOR TRUMP???]
In Virginia, this started in 2014, when Rep. Eric Cantor, who was in line to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, was ousted by political neophyte Dave Bratt [sic – the correct spelling is Brat].
Cantor’s sin? He had supported the Dreamers Act, which created a pathway to citizenship for the children of some illegal immigrants who were brought into this country at a very early age.
Bratt [sic – the correct spelling is Brat] lasted four years, before he was defeated by Abigail Spanberger, turning the very red 7th district over to Democrats. [False – VA07 wasn’t “very red,” it was a “purple” district rated a “tossup” by the Cook Political Report, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, Inside Elections, etc]
In 2020, the same fate awaited former 5th district Rep. Denver Riggleman, who was ousted by fellow Republican Bob Good.
Riggleman’s sin? He officiated at a gay wedding for a long time personal friend, earning the ire of the far right in his very red district.
And now, Good himself has been ousted by the ever opportunistic State Senator John McGuire; perhaps fitting payback for the job Good did on Riggleman four years ago. [Agreed – this is VERY much “fitting payback” for Good]
Good’s sin? He endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president, earning the ire of former President Donald Trump and his MAGA followers.
Make no mistake, we see this same kind of extremism and demand for ideological purity in the Democratic Party as well. It’s just more pronounced in the Republican Party. [And here is where Bolling goes off the rails into false equivalence, both-sidesism, etc. In fact, in the Democratic Party, we most certainly do NOT see “this same kind of extremism and demand for ideological purity” – just look at recent primary results, such as this one, for instance. Also, study after study has shown that the Republican Party has lurched to the far right – similar to European extremist parties – in recent years, while the Democratic Party remains a normal center/center-left party, similar to Labour and the Liberal Democrats in Britain.]
For example, just last year two very respected Democratic State Senators from Fairfax County – Chap Peterson [sic – it’s spelled Petersen, not Peterson] and George Barker – were ousted by the far left in their respective districts. [It’s absolutely false that either Stella Pekarsky or Saddam Salim are “far left.” In fact, they are both totally mainstream Democrats, with the 2024 VAPLAN progressive scorecard rating Pekarsky #7 and Salim #9 out of 21 Virginia Senate Democrats. As for Chap Petersen, the problem is that he went completely off the rails, joining far-right-extremist Dave LaRock in suing Gov. Ralph Northam over COVID protections, for instance. And George Barker was a big Dominion Energy guy who played a major role in pushing the fatally flawed redistricting amendment, so he richly deserved to lose the primary to the excellent Stella Pekarsky.]. They were replaced by two true liberal stalwarts because they were not “liberal enough.”
We talk a lot these days about threats to democracy. But there is no greater threat to democracy than these ideological extremists on both sides [Bolling literally says “both sides,” demonstrating the aforementioned point about his brain-dead “both sidesism”] of the political isle [sic – he means aisle, not “isle,” LOL] who demand philosophical purity from elected officials.
Our entire system of government was designed to resist ideological extremism and support moderation and compromise.
But these days, that sort of responsible leadership is seen as weakness and betrayal. In reality, it is the essence of a working democracy. [Again, Bolling fails to call out HIS PARTY and HIS PREFERRED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, who have been overwhelmingly if not 100% responsible for “ideological extremism” and the decline of “moderation and compromise.” Even worse, again, Bolling actually has announced that he’s VOTING FOR the candidate, Donald Trump, who’s overwhelmingly responsible for all the ills Bolling decries. It’s just completely internally contradictory by Bolling…not that he cares, apparently.]
We would all do well to remember the warnings of James Madison, who in Federalist 10 warned that political factions and unbridled political passions would lead to mob rule. Unfortunately, not even Madison realized how powerful the mob could be. [Again, that “mob” is 99% on one side – Bolling’s Republican Party-turned-Trump-cult. But he’ll never call it out!]
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