Biting political analysis of the McCain funeral from Jeet Heer:

[Garrett78]

28. This is what I wrote after Schmidt left the GOP:

Various Republicans, including members of the media and retiring Congresspersons, have been critical of Trump. Steve Schmidt, Republican Party strategist turned TV pundit and Trump critic, has even renounced his Republican Party membership. Schmidt tweeted, "29 years and nine months ago I registered to vote and became a member of The Republican Party which was founded in 1854 to oppose slavery and stand for the dignity of human life. Today I renounce my membership in the Republican Party. It is fully the party of Trump."

Now, let me preface what I'm about to write by saying the more people that recognize the horrors of the Trump Administration the better. But let's be clear about a few things. Trump and his base of support is a monster of the Republican Party's making, a monster who was 50 years in the making. The Southern Strategy and racist dog whistling has been modus operandi for the GOP for longer than Steve Schmidt has been alive. Schmidt turned eighteen as Ronald Reagan's administration was coming to an end. I imagine Reagan inspired Schmidt to register as a Republican. Reagan, the man who basically kicked off his 1980 presidential campaign by giving a speech about "states' rights" less than ten miles from Philadelphia, MS, where three civil rights workers were murdered. Every other Republican presidential candidate, from Nixon to Bush to McCain to Romney, has also engaged in dog whistling.

In addition, the Republican Party has engaged in race-based gerrymandering and race-based voter suppression. The Republican Party has also fomented and exploited sexism, misogyny, xenophobia, jingoism and hatred of LGBTQ persons. The Republican Party has undermined trust in government by infusing government with incompetence and corruption. The Republican Party has also fostered the "liberal media" myth, which has contributed to a highly irresponsible infotainment industry that promotes false equivalencies and seems unwilling to label facts as facts and lies as lies (out, I suppose, of some twisted sense of what constitutes fairness or balance).

All of the above made the rise of Trump or someone like him almost inevitable. So, all I can suggest to Republicans who are critical of Trump is that you keep scrubbing those hands. The blood won't come out easily, but what choice do you have but to keep scrubbing?

Let me make one more point before closing. Unless one is genuinely ignorant of history, it is utterly disingenuous to suggest that the Republican Party of today (or pre-Trump) is anything like the Republican Party that was started by anti-slavery Whigs. Nor is today's GOP the "party of Lincoln," as some like to claim (Lincoln, by the way, was no abolitionist). Mr. Schmidt, the pre-Trump Republican Party is no more the Republican Party of 1854 than today's Democratic Party is the Democratic Party of pre-1964 Strom Thurmond.

Why call out Republicans who are critical of Trump, one might ask. The reason is simple. Republicans need to take ownership. We need to be clear about who Republicans have been for half a century now. All persons of conscience must guard against this notion that all will be well or "normal" if we simply rid this nation of Donald J. Trump. All is not well. Republicans have very deliberately created a monster, which was born before Trump moved into the White House and will undoubtedly survive long after Trump is gone. Own it, Republicans. Own it.

Lastly, to all those persons of conscience, vote for Democrats in November. The party may not be perfect, but it's the only thing standing in the way of authoritarianism, the only thing standing in the way of fascism. If you've never voted before, 2018 would be a good time to start. Your Social Security, your health insurance or your child's health insurance, and your very life may depend on it. Please vote.