Republicucks

The Congressional GOP is practicing self-castration

Note: I pretty much despise the term “cuck”. It’s generally used by angry incel bois who think that they are edgelords, and I view it as an admission of self-loathing in those who use it unironically.

Urban Dictionary defines cuck as:

A man who is desperate for acceptance, approval, and affection from women. This desperation has led to the compromise of his beliefs and values, the desecration of his dignity and self-worth, and his ability to stand up for himself and what he deserves as a human being, eg. loyalty, fidelity, and honesty in a romantic relationship.

If you replace “man” with “Republican” and “women” with “Trump”, I don’t know that you can have a more apt and accurate description for the GOP in 2025. So yeah, in this specific instance, I will allow it.

It has been remarkable to watch the complete and total upheaval and capitulation of a once-proud political party. The speed with which the Republican party fell to their knees in supplication of Daddy Trump is truly amazing. Especially considering the fact that Trump is a deeply flawed man with very little to offer other than fear, intimidation, and bullying. He is not a leader to be revered, he is a small man who wields his power like a cudgel. And yet the entirety of the Republican party has surrendered their souls to him. Go back and read that definition again. It truly encapsulates today’s GOP.

Collateral Damage

Way back in 2016, Senator Lindsey Graham famously tweeted¹:

Lindsey himself may be the clearest example to illustrate my point here today. He has becucked himself so thoroughly and completely that folks often wonder what, exactly, Trump has on him. His turn from fierce critic to unapologetic Lead Bootlicker will make a great thesis for someone someday.

Regarding his point: Good. I wish he was right. Because there have been many times where it appeared that this nearly decade-old tweet was prescient, and yet we are in arguably the most serious crisis of the entire Trump era, and the Republicans in Congress are undeniably a major reason and cause. Unfortunately, the MAGA destruction of the Republican Party will have consequences for all of us, and I fear that some of them may be pretty damned severe.

During the first Trump administration, it was obvious that even the Republicans were taken by surprise, first by his nomination, then by his win. As he started to ham-handedly execute his agenda, he failed in many ways as his lack of experience in governance tripped him up repeatedly. Throughout his first term one could often hear references to Republicans who, despite lacking the courage to criticize Trump publicly, would confess off the record that many in the caucus despised the man. After Trump fomented the January 6th Insurrection, even some of his most staunch allies made sounds of disappointment. At least for a few days. The die was cast after Biden was inaugurated, when Mitch McConnel’s fellow GOP Senators failed to convict on what had to be the clearest impeachment in our nation’s history.

During the Biden administration, Trump returned to control the party, and his grip became far tighter than it ever had before. The last bastions of reasonable “old school” Republicans either retired or were forced out by the growing MAGA cult within the party. While some jettisoned their political careers by standing up to Trump, most slunk off to their corporate jobs and private law firms, protected by their status from the more serious consequences of their lack of action. Now the party is filled with True Believers, which will make fighting their agenda far more difficult.

This purge has resulted in a Republican Party in name only. The party is truly the Party of Trump, and no dissent will be brooked. This has been made clear as one by one Senators, who know better, are being cowed into confirming a slate of historically unqualified persons to some of the most important positions in our nation’s government. In many cases the Senators have been directly threatened, either by Elon Musk, Megan McCain, or other wealthy GOP donors, who are promising MAGA primary attacks on anyone who doesn’t toe the Trump line. That these Senators are more concerned with a potential primary challenge than the welfare of the nation is as telling as it is troubling.

Abdication of Duty

Congress is the first of the three government branches discussed in the Constitution. The Founders granted far more enumerated powers to the Congress, as it was the most direct representative of the people, than either of the other two branches. Included among the enumerated powers of Congress are:

• Lay and collect taxes

• Borrow money

• Coin money

• Declare war

• Create, maintain, and eliminate government agencies

• Appropriate funds

Through these enumerated powers the Founders entrusted Congress with the power to Check and Balance the other two branches of government. This system of checks and balances is critical to the functioning of our Democratic Republic. Unfortunately, Congress has, for decades, slowly ceded power to the Executive branch. We are seeing this pattern of behavior come home to roost in the worst way, at the worst time, with the worst possible occupant of the White House.

Standing by and allowing Trump to blatantly and intentionally flout the laws that they themselves created is a complete dereliction of their duty to the country and the Constitution. We are seeing this most acutely (so far) in two glaring areas: the Senate confirmations of Trump’s cabinet picks and the stunning silence from the Republican Congress as Trump willfully breaks the law by unilaterally dismantling agencies established by Congress, such as USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Board, among others.

Let’s be clear as to why the Congress has been silent while President Musk and his DOGEPups run roughshod over the Constitution: The MAGA GOP wants this to happen, and as long as it’s Musk that’s doing it, there will be no blowback on them. It’s a cynical win-win for them, aside from that pesky Constitutional Crisis thing. The level of self-serving cowardice shown by these alleged leaders is grotesque.

At this time, the only check to power right now is Trump checking with his South African boss as to what racist bullshit or distracting bleat to spew next to keep the masses off balance. Through their inaction, the Republicucks have effectively neutered themselves.

They Don’t Care

It should be noted that the main reason they are ok with the self-castration here is that they simply don’t care about governing. They are here to do Trump’s bidding. That’s all. They don’t care if his policies hurt real people. They don’t care about the people that will literally die due to USAID being shut down. They obviously don’t care about Democrats anywhere in the country. Hell, one of their prime measures of success is how many libs were owned. They don’t even care about their MAGA supporters. This is glaringly evident when you look at who will be the most impacted by Musk’s gutting of government services. It’s not going to start with the college educated white folks who voted Harris. And these MAGA Republicucks² know that, and they don’t care. As long as Dear Leader is happy, they are happy; spending their days hoping that maybe, just maybe he will notice them one day and if they are really lucky, he might mention their name.

Performative Worship

It was to be expected that Congressional MAGA would make very public displays of fealty, it’s part and parcel of the job. To this end, they have certainly not disappointed. All one has to do is tune in to the Sunday shows to watch these people knowingly lying throughout interview after interview in service of their cult leader. They are lying, they know they are lying, and they know that most folks who are tuning in know they are lying. But that is the price they are willing to pay. I wonder what it’s like to live with neither a conscience nor spine.

What is not as much fun to watch is the embarrassing ways that Republicuck-led states are in a blistering race to the bottom with trying to out-sycophant each other. Just yesterday the Attorney General of Missouri sued Starbucks, claiming that the coffee chain’s hiring practices are based on DEI and therefore illegal. Missouri is arguing that since Trump has banned DEI measures in the Federal Government this also somehow applies to private businesses. Expect to see similar cases filed by red state AGs as we move further into the Trump 2.0 era.

It’s equally annoying to see large, global companies such as Google and Apple continue to supplicate themselves to Trump. Just this week Google, citing “changes in the legal environment” removed Black History Month, Pride Month, and other cultural touchpoints from their Calendar app. Users are still able to manually add these to their personal calendars, but somehow the maintenance of this handful of observances was suddenly too cumbersome for the search giant. Google also changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico³ for users of their Maps program within the United States, and Apple has indicated they will do the same. This is fucking asinine. This is the whole Freedom Fries bullshit again, but on steroids. Are all of these companies going to just continue to jump at every stupid thing this man does? (I am pretty sure I know the answer, and it sucks.)

1. I will never link a tweet on my site, as I do not want anyone to go to Musk’s cesspool of a site. I will not post a screenshot that I can’t confirm as real though.

2. I should probably stop referring to them as MAGA Republicans. That’s redundant. When Biden criticized them, there were still some “classic” GOP members. They seem to all be gone now.

3. I will never, ever refer to that body of water as anything other than the Gulf of Mexico. Of course, I still reference both the Triboro and Tappan Zee bridges too… so there’s that.