Zombie Apocalypse

The greatest threat to American democracy isn’t Donald Trump or the Russians; it’s the Republican Party. Or rather, Republicans. And it has absolutely nothing to do with policy, though Lord knows there are plenty of disastrous Republican policies and proposals to choose from.

No, the danger comes from the fact that the overwhelming majority of Republicans have become mindless sheep who will fanatically support anyone or anything as long as it’s stamped with an “R”. Even if the candidate or policy is directly contrary to long-standing Republican positions or violates deeply-held personal convictions. If the GOP nominated a gay, transgender, Muslim, illegal alien pornstar who performed abortions on the side, 85% of Republicans would crawl over broken glass to vote for them. If Trump suddenly advocated nationalizing the means of production and instituting a dictatorship of the proletariat, Republicans would weep with joy and take to the streets to support him.

Consider that “evangelical Christians” believed overwhelmingly that a president’s personal morality was important…until Trump got the nomination. Republicans overwhelmingly opposed intervening in Syria…until Trump staged a dog and pony show with smart bombs. Republicans considered Russia a major threat to America (Romney made the issue a centerpiece of his campaign!)…until the Russians helped Trump get elected.

Fortunately for the Republic, Trump has turned out to be precisely as stupid, lazy, and incompetent as he appears. Being a dictator is hard work and requires some brain pan. But what about the next guy? There’s already some very troubling polling that indicates a big chunk of Republicans would support martial law; what happens when a future Smart Trump calls for that? Then what happens?