Republicans are not in “disarray”: They’re united in their assault on American democracy – By Chauncey Devega (Salon) / May 6 2021
There’s no serious conflict within the Republican Party. Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney are being purged for disloyalty
The hope peddlers, stenographers of current events, professional centrists and too many other members of the mainstream American news media have a new obsession. They keep telling the American people that the Republican Party is in the midst of a “civil war,” is in “disarray,” is “tearing itself apart” or experiencing a “crisis of meaning” and fighting for its so-called soul.
Unfortunately, none of that is true. These are comforting and self-gratifying stories, fueled by a desperate desire for a return to supposed political normalcy and business as usual. Such fables are also colored by no small amount of liberal schadenfreude and a desire to give the American people — especially the millions who voted Donald Trump out of office — a sense of reward and accomplishment.
Joe Biden is president of the United States. The Democrats also have control of Congress — by a tenuous and razor-thin margin. But the Republican Party and the larger right-wing movement remain largely unified in their effort to overthrow America’s multiracial democracy.
It’s true that Sen. Mitt Romney was booed last week at the Republican state convention in Utah. It’s also true that Rep. Liz Cheney and other Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his crimes against the United States are being censured and otherwise attacked by members of their own party. But those are not illustrations of fratricide or disarray within the Republican Party. Instead, they are examples of the way right-wing and other extremist political movements consolidate power by purging dissenting voices within their ranks.
