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AWARDING THE SIMSEZ
WE BEGAN THIS YEAR’S SIMANAITISSAYS with celebrations of friendly cities and historical automotive achievements. It would be fun to continue with such niceties. But recent news resurrects my inverted elephant of the Republican Party, now officially named the SimSez (plural: SimSezies). And, by the way, there’s also a Democrat Party SimSez when necessary, with equivalent standards high/low.
The Original SimSez. Though not recognized by name at the time, the first SimSez appeared in a two-part SimanaitisSays asking “Has the Elephant Gone Batshit??,” February 14-15, 2021. This was a discussion of data shared by the American Enterprise Institute, a respected conservative think tank I called it back then. “I pondered my wording for this title,” but indeed, in retrospect, I was in the company of Republican Lindsey Graham who said back in February 26, 2016, “My party has gone batshit crazy.”
Alas, Graham has subsequently succumbed and strongly competes for a SimSez of his own.
SimSez Goes Theatrical. In May 26-27, 2021, a two-part “Republican Theater of the Absurd” recalled Trump’s more than one-hour speech telling supporters on the Washington, D.C., Eclipse, “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore….” Then we all saw live television coverage of Trump supporters taking his advice and breaching the U.S. Capitol.
Image from NPR, January 15, 2021.
I stress this was something seen by all of us, and not some obtuse false-flagging conspiracy.
Then Chaos Seeking Legitimacy?? A year after the madness, SimSez made another appearance in “Legitimate Political Discourse??” February 8, 2022: “As reported by ABC News, The New York Times, The Guardian, and other news outlets, ‘In an extraordinary move, the Republican party officially said Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat and the deadly attack on the US Capitol were legitimate political discourse.’ ”
Is this “legitimate political discourse”? Image by Leah Millis/Reuters from The Guardian, February 4, 2022.
All this is preface to today’s awarding of multiple Simsezies.
Simsezies to the Remaining Members of the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. Christine Hauser and Amanda Holpuch share details in “Michael Flynn’s Rhode Island Hall of Fame Inclusion Prompts Resignations,” New York Times, December 26, 2023. Hauser and Holpuch observe, “The hall of fame was founded in 1965 and recognizes people from Rhode Island ‘who made significant contributions’ or who came to prominence for work they did while they lived in the state.… The [resigning] board members said that Mr. Flynn, who has embraced conspiracy theories and is a prominent election denier, should not be recognized by the organization.”
You’re telling me.
Flynn’s “Contributions and Achievements.” Hauser and Holpuch note, “Mr. Flynn is a prominent denier of the 2020 presidential election results and suggested in December 2020 that Mr. Trump could deploy the military to rerun the presidential race in battleground states.”
Hauser and Holpuch continue, “Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Flynn after the general had espoused questionable views, falsely stating that Shariah, or Islamic law, was spreading in the United States and saying that the United States should work with any willing allies, including President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, in a ‘world war’ with Islamist militants.”
There’s more: “Mr. Flynn has also embraced QAnon theories and pushed other fringe ideas. In a January 2022 interview with the right-wing conspiracy website Infowars, Flynn accused George Soros, Bill Gates and others of creating the coronavirus so they could ‘steal an election’ and ‘rule the world.’ ”
So much for “coming to prominence with significant contributions….”
What with this prominence, Flynn had received a presidential pardon after he had twice pled guilty to lying to the F.B.I. And, of course, the president granting this grace was the same guy involved in the F.B.I. investigation.
What??
’Nuff Said. Simsezies all around to those who went along with this Rhode Island Hall of Fame travesty. And while we’re at it, there’s one for Flynn too. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024
Simanaitis Says 
And as far as I can see, the batshit crazy party GOP is all set to grab power once again in 2024. We are watching the end of the American Dream.
I share your concern, but we still have the vote, of course. And I’ve always believed that rationality will prevail if enough of us get out and vote.
All I can say is, I am scared. The legal battles Trump is going through seem to bring together his supporters. They now see him as a victim of the evil left.
On top of that, Biden’s performance in the polls is very weak. Let’s hope for the best.
I share Rubens Junior’s very real concern.
Low voter turnout always favors the GOP. As that party of usually innocuous, conservative dullards has now transmogrified into the KKK lite, the Trumplican party, getting the vote out is paramount. We hear every four years how this election is the most critical. Well, this one really is, since democracy is at stake.
I share Dennis’s belief that rationality will prevail. I believe that there are enough clear-headed individuals in the “middle” to prevent the destruction of our system of government as we know it. Hopefully a rational conservative party will eventually emerge to replace the Republican/MAGA cult of stupidity and divisiveness.