Anyone surprised at the Republican attempt to dismantle US democracy and trample on the Constitution has evidently not been paying attention for some years now. /1

As the demographic that is the GOP base — mostly white, aging, mostly Christian — dwindles, the game plan is and has been for some time now to lock in that demographic's minority control of the majority for the forseeable future. This cannot be accomplished democratically. /2

It becomes less and less possible with every passing year, and the more votes slip away from the GOP, despite its suppression of Democratic voters, gerrymandering of districts, and packing of courts, the more overtly the party has to become. There is no other option. /3

Perhaps the bigger story here is the refusal or inability of many Americans for years now to act to counter this, as it became more and more evident it was all the GOP had left if it expected to continue in power. Too many of us have pretended, not listened, not voted. /4

Too many of us have been suckers for the both-sidesism of the media and the absurd myth of "reaching across the aisle" and "finding common ground."

You CANNOT find common ground with people tearing up the very foundations of your governmental system and way of life. /5

Social groups come to forks in the road and must choose one fork or the other — declaring one path right and the other wrong. We are at this fork now due to demographic shifts that have made the GOP a minority party, and for one other key reason: /6

Very wealthy players who foresaw this development some years back began pouring money into dividing us, polarizing us, stirring up resentments and angers (especially among white Americans), pumping out disinformation, using religion as a tool to foster more division. /7

Where we find ourselves now is not the result of some "natural" process in our democratic life. It's the result of astroturfing, of the ginning up of artificial resentments and divisions to distract and divide us, to serve the ends of an economic elite. /8

And it has to be said that the role religious groups have played, many of them, in this process, is utterly shameful. They have willingly and gleefully, many of them, adding fuel to the fire, increasing divisions, acting not to heal social wounds but to make them deeper. /9

Many US religious groups and people are showing an unbridled lust for power — for autocracy coupled with theocratic control — that should shock anyone who has any inkling of what the world's religions are really about in their core ethical teachings. /10