In 1978, former Gov. Ronald Reagan, a future presidential candidate, took a brave stand in helping defeat an anti-homosexual ballot initiative in California. More than two decades later, after winning the California governor’s race in 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “I feel very comfortable in the Republican tent. It’s a big tent. It goes all the way from the right, all the way [across] the center line.” A Republican political consultant observed that the “Republican Party is a tent big enough to include a pro-abortion, pro-gay rights Hollywood superstar who has acknowledged manhandling women and smoking marijuana.”
Now led by a self-proclaimed TV superstar who has also acknowledged “manhandling” women, the big tent is steadily shrinking, except for a new VIP area reserved for the wildest conspiracy theorists. While Donald Trump has weaseled out of a full-scale embrace of white supremacist theories and organizations, simply using code words (“dog whistles”) to say one thing and mean something else, he has taken another full step into the abyss by directly welcoming the crazed fanatics of QAnon under the canvas big top.
He recently posted a photo of himself with a “Q” lapel pin, used music like their theme song at rallies, and tagged himself as the “Storm” which QAnon believers see as the election of their savior, Donald Trump, followed by the arrest, imprisonment, and public execution of enemies (probably on television, fitting for a TV personality). At recent rallies, believers have paid homage to him with their once-secret salute: a raised, straightened arm with the index finger pointing skyward.
Astoundingly, the basic belief of QAnon followers is that a coordinated group of “deep state,” Satan-worshipping politicians (e.g., Hillary Clinton Barack Obama, Joe Biden), Hollywood stars (e.g., Oprah, Tom Hanks), religious leaders (the Pope and Dalai Lama), and million- or billionaires (e.g., George Soros) are trying to control society while at the same time running a child-sex ring for pedophiles that includes harvesting the blood of their victims to get adrenochrome, an easily purchased byproduct of adrenaline. (Hmmm . . . they must be very busy and very organized.)
The most visible and recognized figure from the QAnon army is the “Shaman” Jacob Chansley. Bare chested, wearing fur and Viking horns and carrying an American flag on a spear inside the Senate chamber on Jan. 6, he left a threatening note for Mike Pence. A few other notables include the man who tried to shoot his way into the basement of the Washington, D.C. pizzeria Comet Ping Pong to break up a Clinton-campaign backed child sex-trafficking operation only to find out the building didn’t have a basement; a man who shot and killed a Mafia boss because the shooter thought he was Donald Trump’s personal vigilante; and the man who sat atop the Hoover Dam in an armored truck with weapons and 900 rounds of ammunition, blocking traffic so he could shed light on “hidden truths.”
Could this really be true? I’m not talking about the QAnon nonsense, a fever-dream worthy of a painting by Hieronymus Bosch, with no attachment to reality or proof. Instead, I struggle to believe that the leader of an American political party with over 36 million registered members can blatantly court a lunatic fringe with a violent philosophy while retaining iron-clad control over the more rational party members. (I don’t think Trump himself believes the Satanic fairy tale since I don’t think he truly believes in anything, other than his quest for power.)
At the same time that Trump is inviting QAnon believers into the tent, he and others are forcefully pushing others out. Tens of millions of women who want control over their own reproductive decisions have been suddenly shown the exit by the Supreme Court majority constructed by Republicans. LGBTQ people face new legal and cultural hurdles to leading a productive American life as a Democrat or Republican. New immigrants have been essential to the country’s economy for centuries and are raising tomorrow’s leaders, but support within the Republican Party is nonexistent. The incredible shrinking tent now includes extremist white Christians and excludes most others.
Going back to the bicentennial of 1976, the idea of American exceptionalism was still strong. We were the world’s leading economy and culture, successfully managing an incredibly diverse population and geography, while celebrating the Statue of Liberty with her open arms and illuminating torch. If the tiny-tent Republican Party gains complete control of Congress through Trump’s leadership, democracy’s shining light will have dimmed even further.
Allen Woods is a freelance writer, author of the Revolutionary-era historical fiction novel “The Sword and Scabbard,” and Greenfield resident. His column appears regularly on a Saturday. Comments are welcome here or at awoods2846@gmail.com.
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