The Trump loss has come with a, what was for some very foreseeable, purging of the current Republican Party. This purging started with the actions taken by state Republican parties against those Republicans who voted for either the impeachment or conviction of Donald Trump. The latest ouster of Liz Cheney from her party determined positions of power because of her opposition to Trump could be considered to be the epitome of retaliations in the name of Trump. The issue here is whether the Republican Party will be known by a personal loyalty its members have to Trump or by a set of principles which they believe should guid our nation's leaders when making decisions.
Though the combination of Trump's hold on the Republican Party and his authoritarianism should have made the current state of the Party not just foreseen by some, but expected by all, it has some parallels in some of what should be surprising historical characters. Because of my own Marxist leanings and studies, one of the surprising parallels between what is happening with Trump's party today, otherwise known as the Trumpublicans, can be seen with Russia's socialists in and around the time of the Russian Revolution. Upto just prior to the 1917 October Revolution, there was also a 1917 February Revolution, Russia's socialists could be divided between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Some time prior to the October Revolution, the Mensheviks split from the Bolsheviks because the former group wanted Russia to experience a gradual conversion to socialism while the Bolsheviks, let by Lenin, want to use a quick revolution in order to gain power.
In addition, what followed the October Revolution was a purge of Russia's socialists by Lenin and Bolsheviks. Loyalty to Lenin was required to avoid being silenced. Karl Kautsky, a contemporary of Lenin wrote against the silencing of fellow socialists (click here and there for a couple of examples). Those socialists were being silenced because they disagreed with Lenin and Bolsheviks.
We see a silencing in today's Republican Party. And, like the split that happened between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, some in the Republican Party are considering splitting from the Trumpublicans in order to start their own party. For the Mensheviks, the split spelled the end of their influence. Only time will tell if a split by the Republicans opposed to Trump from their party will have a similar result.
But more importantly, the silencing of fellow Republicans because of a lack of personal loyalty to Trump somewhat reminds one of the silencing of socialists who were not loyal to Lenin and the Bolsheviks. Though the means of silencing practiced by Lenin and the Bolsheviks were less subtle than those practiced by the Trumpublicans, the general principle of silencing based a lack of personal loyalty is similar enough.
That such silencing is happening in America paints some dark, ominous clouds on the horizon of what is left of our democracy. For if the Trumpublican Party can silence fellow Republican because of a lack of personal loyalty to Trump, what could occur if the same Trumpublicans regain control of the whole nation. We've already seen some of the measures they would resort to in order to maintain power despite the election and what Trump's own appointed officials said about the election.
I lean toward Marxism and have no positive regard for what Lenin did. At the same time, I know that no ideology is omniscient and thus we need to hear from liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. But conservatism cannot be fairly represented in our government and the nation by any political party that revolves around personal loyalty to a self declared messiah figure. That isn't conservatism, that is a cult. And history has shown us what cult figures who are in love with their own image can do to the nation that follows and empowers them. Thus, those Republicans who are driven by conservative principles must not only split from the Trumpublicans, they must make the split work by becoming a vibrant voice in our government.
