I’m woke. Woke and proud. I’m proud—and relieved—that I awoke to the rank hypocrisy and hollow rhetoric of the Republican Party and “conservative” movement I was formerly devoted to.
I sleepwalked through my 40-plus years as a loyal, God-fearing, commie-hating Republican. I finally woke up in 2016, when my party—my fellow God-fearing Republicans—enthusiastically chose Donald Trump to represent them. This man’s words and actions make Bill Clinton look like the clichéd church choir boy. At that time, I knew only a smidgen of the myriad misbehaviors committed by the former reality TV show host. And that alone was enough to sound my wake-up alarm. But over the next four-plus years, I’d see much more of the massive iceberg of Trump transgressions that hung in the murky nadir below the surface.
I tried to alert my fellow conservative, white evangelicals that Trump would sink their Titanic, but it was too late, they’d already crowned him as their new messiah, and a true believer does not easily forsake his savior. They were confident of their bloated ship’s seaworthiness. And if by chance it were to descend to the depths, they were ready to go down with it, they supposed. But they’re not concerned. They believe Trump is their capable captain, steering them to a paradise of “conservative” values. He is, rather, the hazard their rudderless ship is doomed to collide with.
The Trump Avatar
Donald Trump became the avatar of the new, hypocritical populist/conservative movement, but his hypocrisy is by no means unique among the stars of the new GOP. This “anti-woke” political party that champions “conservative” family values and scorns anyone who doesn’t abide by their strict rules of conduct is led by a horde of hypocritical deviants.
Here’s a small sampling of the sundry plausible sexual allegations against prominent GOP politicians:
Matt Schlapp, chairman (don’t call him chair; that would be woke) of the far-right American Conservative Union and chief organizer of the Conservative Political Action Committee, has been credibly accused of sexually groping several young men within the organizations’ ranks.
Roy Moore, former far-right judge and failed U.S. Senate candidate (who sought to place the Ten Commandments in public places throughout Alabama) has been credibly accused of sexually propositioning several underage girls.
Brett Kavanaugh, during his Supreme Court appointment hearings, was credibly accused of sexual assault by several women.
Madison Cawthorn, former Republican congressman from North Carolina was credibly accused of sexual assault by several women.
Eric Greitens, former governor of Missouri, has been credibly accused of sexual assault.
Matt Gaetz, ultra-MAGA Florida Republican congressman, has been credibly accused of engaging in sex with underage girls.
Pat Meehan, former Republican Pennsylvania congressman resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct.
Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor and prominent Trump acolyte, was accused of "notorious adultery" by his former wife.
Other Republican politicians who faced proven and/or credible allegations of sexual misconduct include Jeff Hoover, Jeff Kruse, Jack Latvala, Wes Goodman, Tony Cornish, Herman Cain, Chris Myers, Newt Gingrich, Phillip Hinkle, Christopher Lee, Mike Duvall, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Vito Fossella, Larry Craig, David Vitter, Charles R. Boutin, Bob Allen, Mark Foley, Don Sherwood, James E. West, Jack Ryan, Steve LaTourette, Henry Hyde, Helen Chenoweth-Hage, and the list goes on and on (see https://www.ranker.com/list/republican-sex-scandals/web-infoguy).
But What About?
We know, of course, the MAGA crowd’s predictable response to this list of Republican sex scandals: “What about the Dems who do the same thing?” Yes, many Democratic politicians have fallen into the same sordid types of misbehavior—though not in such vast numbers. The obvious difference is that Democratic politicians focus their attention on policy issues like preserving Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, while Republicans are more likely to bloviate over the need to preserve traditional family values (while they are clandestinely flouting those same family values).
So, I’m finished sleeping through the MAGA party’s duplicity. After more than 40 years as a registered, loyal Republican, I switched parties. I’m a Democrat now. I don’t agree with every policy the Democratic Party embraces, but at least I know what its leaders really do support. When a political party largely frees itself from posturing pretense, it’s better able to serve all the people rather than pandering to a noisy minority who claim to want to preserve a way of life even they fail to uphold.
I’m woke, and I hope more Republicans wake up to the hypocrisy that is sinking their once honorable party.