Please indulge me for a short thread. Please don't @ me with all the obvious things - money, kompromat, votes. I'm genuinely puzzled, and writing sometimes helps me to figure things out, although I doubt I can come up with an answer.
Republicans, particularly of the Congressional variety, are lining up behind Trump's lies about Ukraine, which just happen to be coterminous with Russian propaganda about Ukraine. 1/
To draw the sharpest comparison, I'll go back to the Cold War Eastern liberal internationalist variety of Republican - Nelson Rockefeller, Henry Cabot Lodge. We could even include Dwight Eisenhower and, with a stretch, Richard Nixon. 2/
They were knowledgeable about the world and their policies were based on that knowledge. Which is not to say that they weren't influenced by each other, but it was not a mindless parroting of The Line, as we are now seeing. 3/
I have seen references to equally mindless support of Nixon during his impeachment hearings, though, so perhaps this is what happens when partisans become defensive. 4/
There are a number of Republicans who have been quiet. Perhaps they are waiting for the right moment to make their statements, if they are not lined up with Trump. I would agree that the time for them is not yet, although I would remind them of first-mover advantage. 5/
The Republican Party is smaller and more extreme than it was in the days of Henry Cabot Lodge. Today's Party is more like the John Birch Society, which was a fringe until Barry Goldwater became a presidential candidate. 6/
I'm horrified at what the Republicans are now doing and trying to figure it out. Maybe there will be movement as the impeachment hearings proceed. But this makes a little sense to me. 7/
It's the explicit parroting of Russian propaganda that I find most disturbing. That wouldn't have happened with the Birchers. But perhaps the breakup of the USSR changed things for that faction. 8/
As I promised, no clear answers. But I now see a historical path for one part of the Republican downfall. 9/9
Feel free to chime in with your thoughts now. Thanks for listening! 10/9
