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Tag: gop conspiracy theories
​Graph Shows GOP Is A Death Cult That's Killing Off Its Base

​Graph Shows GOP Is A Death Cult That's Killing Off Its Base

As the Supreme Court reexamines the merits of Roe v Wade, it's incredibly ironic to see how the Republican Party still considers itself pro-life. The party's seemingly bizarre hostility towards single mothers, the working poor, and same-sex couples already totally invalidates their vociferous "pro-life" position. But once you factor in the pandemic, the party suddenly becomes a death cult spiraling out of control in its lust for anti-science misinformation and daft conspiracies. Republicans seem keen on espousing anything that opposes President Biden and Democrats, even if it proves deadly to their own≥

The notion that the GOP has become a death cult is easily supported by the graph below:

Image via Independent Media Institute


The graph shows a higher incidence of death among Republicans in the 2020 Presidential Election. But things look even bleaker when broken down by state.

States that voted for Donald Trump in 2020 have higher COVID-19 death rates than those that went for President Biden. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the average death rate from state to state was about the same along party lines before vaccines were available. But since Feb. 1, states that went for Trump averaged 116 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 people, which is 52% higher than the average of 77 deaths per 100,000 people in Biden states. Not surprisingly, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and West Virginia--all won by Trump--had the worse per capita covid death rates.

What Does This All Mean And Why Would Republicans Want To Kill Off Their Base?

Even though nothing in this seemingly upside-down universe and toxic political landscape seems far-fetched or implausible anymore, it's difficult to fathom the Republican National Committee endorsing killing off its very own voting base as part of its 2022 midterms strategy. Complicating matters, however, and making all of this information even more difficult to digest is the fact that a large contingent of Trump supporters refuse the vaccine despite the fact that the former president is fully vaxxed and encourages his supporters to do so. In fact, former President Trump was just booed by supporters at an event with former Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly. So is this a mystery wrapped in an enigma?

Wilful ignorance, discrediting sound and unbiased science, and the complete and utter worship of misinformation were all hallmarks of the Trump Administration. With every unhinged, conspiracy-driven tweet and fact-free egotastic rally, former President Trump made wearing ignorance with pride as fashionable as a silly red hat. After all, it was Trump who claimed the worsening of the virus was a "fake news media conspiracy", ignored and discredited the science while promoting unproven therapies (bleach, anyone?), mocked mask-wearing, and encouraged his supporters to violate lockdowns from the very beginning. Trump even got covid himself, unsurprisingly.

In short, it's really no wonder that all the recklessness, loony conspiracies, and willingness to politicize a virus that cares nothing about party affiliation resulted in his sheeplike adherents dying off at levels far higher than Democrats.

‘Completely Unhinged’: Nunes And Jordan Blame Pelosi For Insurrection

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Four Republican members of Congress, including Ohio's Jim Jordanand California's Devin Nunes, on Presidents' Day sent Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi a three-page letter effectively blaming her for the deadly January 6 insurrection, urging her to end "this political charade."

The sum of their letter, that the speaker – and not then-President Donald Trump – is responsible for the events of January 6 flies in the face of a mountain of facts, including those presented during last week's impeachment trial. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell publicly agreed with at least seven other Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 2 independents, that Trump was responsible for the deadly riot.

Jordan and Nunes have been among Trump's most ardent supporters. Trump awarded both Congressmen the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Pelosi on Monday announced she is forming a 9/11 style congressional commission to "investigate and report on the facts and causes" of the January 6 insurrection.


The "political charade" remark was co-opted from a speech Pelosi gave after the November election, urging Republicans to admit defeat and end their "political charade."

Pelosi's spokesperson Drew Hammill issued a response to the Jordan-Nunes letter:

"Clearly, these Members are trying to deflect responsibility for the Capitol attack from Donald Trump," Hammill told Forbes. "We look forward to these Ranking Members asking these same questions of former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell."

Here's the Jordan-Nunes letter, followed by a few reactions from political experts:

The attempt to blame Pelosi started last week:


At Hearing, Ted Cruz Accidentally Blows Up GOP Conspiracy Theories

At Hearing, Ted Cruz Accidentally Blows Up GOP Conspiracy Theories

While Democrats grilled Attorney General Bill Barr on Wednesday over his mishandling of the end of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee used their time at the hearing to stoke the flames of conspiracy theories about the investigation into President Donald Trump and his campaign.

Essentially, the GOP and right-wing media have been arguing for years that the Russia probe was built on a flimsy basis that was really just a pretextual excuse to inappropriately surveil (or spy on!) the Trump campaign. This would seem to be completely belied by the Mueller report, which shows that there were many credible bases for investigating crimes, including extensive contacts between people connected to the Russian government and the Trump campaign. And while all that was going on, the Kremlin was, in fact, conducting a wide-ranging criminal effort to interfere in the 2016 election, efforts the Trump campaign knew about and welcomed.

In a back-and-forth between Sen. Ted Cruz and Barr on Wednesday, though, the Texas Republican accidentally elicited information that also completely undermines from another angle the theory that President Barack Obama’s Justice Department and FBI were somehow engaged in an effort to target the Trump campaign.

“I believe that Department of Justice under the Obama administration was profoundly politicized and was weaponized to go after political opponents of the president,” said Cruz. “It is an unusual thing, is it not, for the Department of Justice to be investigating a candidate for president, particularly a candidate from the opposing party of the party in power?”

“Yes,” said Barr.

“Do we know if they investigated any other candidates running for president?” asked Cruz.

“I don’t know,” said Barr.

“Do we know if they wiretapped —” Cruz started.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Barr said, cutting off Cruz’s rhythm. “I guess they were investigating Hillary Clinton for the email.”

Oh right! That thing!

It was hilarious — and also deeply revealing — that this investigation seemed to slip the mind of Cruz in preparing his questions and Barr in his initial answer. In fact, the Hillary Clinton email investigation dominated the news during the 2016 campaign. Meanwhile, the investigation of the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia — of which, it’s now clear, there were plenty — was not confirmed to exist until well after the election.

And in fact, many argue that former FBI Director James Comey’s letter, sent to Congress at the end of October 2016 confirming the reopening of the investigation of Clinton, likely cost her the presidency and gave it to Trump. When Trump eventually fired Comey, he used Comey’s unorthodox an extensive publication of his findings and the proceedings of the investigation as a justification for his termination (a justification which was, it is clear, entirely false). In other words, even Trump has claimed that the FBI was unfair to Clinton during the campaign.

Watch the clip below: