The 2016 Republican primaries are absurdist political theater with a bizarre cast of characters. Donald Trump is the star of the show. He is a Know-Nothing, a nativist, a carnival barker, a professional wrestler wannabe. The supporting players are equally compelling. Ben Carson is a brain surgeon who believes that “Satan” created the theory of evolution to deceive humankind and that the Earth is only 6,000 years old. Carly Fiorina, in her ghoulish politics, willfully lies about Planned Parenthood “harvesting” organs from babies like witches in a midnightBlack Mass. And Jeb Bush, channeling Ronald Reagan’s racism, is a man born into gross amounts of unearned advantage and privilege, yet somehow believes that black people are parasites who exist to only want “free stuff” from whites.
The Republican Party’s presidential primary debates have befuddled and confused serious political analysts and those members of the public who exist outside of the fantastical world created by the right-wing propaganda machine. The Republican Party’s candidates portend horrible things for the Common Good and American politics. The GOP is selling political meth; movement conservatives are the users.