When Did the GOP Embrace Stupid?

July 31, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 30) - There is a reason historians consider Dwight D. Eisenhower as one of America's greatest presidents. He was smart. During a dangerous decade, he kept a lid on things through quiet diplomacy and behind-the-scenes strategy. As historian Fred Greenstein wrote in his seminal work The Hidden Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader, Ike was able to affect major changes and influence public option without anyone realizing he was doing it. Imagine that, a politician willing to make major changes without worrying who got credit for it.

There were other Republican presidents who, despite their flaws, were equally smart. Richard Nixon masterfully ended China's international isolation and cooled down an overheated Cold War with Russia. Ronald Reagan took things a step farther by restoring a sluggish economy, bringing down the Berlin Wall and forcing communism into the dustbin of history. George H.W. Bush masterfully managed the reunification of the two Germanys and the fall of the Soviet Union. While George W. Bush made serious mistakes in his War on Terror, he embraced a vision of "compassionate conservatism" that resulted in much-need reforms in education and Medicare. If Congress had followed the younger Bush's approach to immigration, we would not have the current White House occupant building concentration camps for the undocumented.

Unfortunately, by the time George W. Bush left the presidency, the DNA of the Congress and the Republican Party had changed. The party's leaders were influenced by nationalists and evangelists who embraced anti-intellectualism, tax reductions, limiting immigration and shrinking the public safety net. The GOP's policies are being dictated by the sentiment of the mob instead of through rigorous open-minded analysis. And in Donald Trump, they found a charismatic leader whose policies have been based on an anti-intellectual bias, personal whims and a desire to inflict retribution upon those who dare to criticize him. American primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities. This twisted philosophy has infected local school boards and state legislatures. Here in Kansas, GOP lawmakers are challenging tenure and are questioning professors' workloads. (I spent nearly 30 years as a professor and I can tell you that it is hard work that often requires 50-60 hours a week to get the job done.) Since the days of Dwight Eisenhower and his thoughtful, quiet public policy analysis, today's Republicans have devolved into latter-day Know Nothing Nativists, whose "America First" anti-intellectual and anti-globalization policies have severely damaged this nation's standing in the world community.

We are swimming in dangerous waters. Eisenhower knew that the world needed a stable United States to keep the peace. All this current president knows is that he resents all who, whether real of imaged, oppose him. Trump spends his time grifting, tweeting and deconstructing two and one-half centuries of constitutional power-sharing. In his desire to enrich himself and punish his detractors, Trump is putting us all at risk. Russia and China are poised to take advantage of the Trumpian chaos. Even France and Britain are preparing for a post-American future. To put it simply, MAGA is little more than an empty hat. And that is just plain stupid. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.