Neither Wing of Today’s Republican Party Serve America’s Democratic Ideals

James M. Ridgway, Jr.
2 min readFeb 8, 2021

The main purpose of a democratic form of government is to protect the nation’s average citizens from the excises of the rich and powerful. In this capitalistic American society that also includes saving capitalism from itself. Neither wing of today’s Republican Party protects the nation from the excess of corporate America and the super rich.

Making up the two wings of the GOP, there is first the upper middle class Republican wing, mostly White but some folks of color, those old-line Republicans ideologues types who see themselves as the party’s true conservatives — small government, minimum taxes with few government regulation, the fiscally responsible capitalists loving, entrepreneurs types. They see themselves as the party’s grownups. Unfortunately it is their kind that allows the rich and power to take over the Federal Government to the determent of the general citizenry.

Then there are the lower middleclass Whites that since about 1980 have been badly squeezed in our nation’s ever widening economic inequality, which the well off have used their Republican political shills to blame on minorities, the “others.” This wing of the party has morphed into the Trumpish base of the party, a kind of violent, terrorist, right wing, and religious extremist NAZI type of organization.

Opposed to these two anti democratic wings of the Republican Party are former Republicans, some, like the Lincoln group, that also clings to quaint notions of Republican conservative doctrine. And then there are the modern Democrats that lead and attempt to save America’s majority of a multicultural democracy.

Fortunately much of corporate America has awoken to the dangers that its excess has potentially caused to itself as well as the nation’s majority. History has proved that not even the rich and powerful can escape the ravages of violent NAZI type extremist when they gain power. Thus hopefully those of great wealth will join forces with America’s better angels to lead America back to a more equitably profitable nation

Alas, meanwhile the two wings of the Republican Party will likely battle each other to no good end, with perhaps Liz Chaney leading the traditionalists wing of the party and Donald Trump or Senator Ted Cruz and possibly a host of other wing nuts leading the violent insurrectionist wing of the party, with Congressional minority leader Kevin McCarthy lost somewhere in the middle. In any event, if America’s democracy is to survive neither wing of the Republican Party, as it is currently fashioned, must be allowed to dominate the American political scene.

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James M. Ridgway, Jr.

Jim Ridgway, Jr. military writer — author of the American Civil War classic, “Apprentice Killers: The War of Lincoln and Davis.” Christmas gift, yes!