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There is only one truth: the truth of the party. And the party is Donald Trump.

That's what it's come down to, folks. The Republican Party has been effectively transformed into a doppelgnger of the Chinese Communist Party, withits own version of Chairman Mao Zedong at its head and the first thing on the Party agenda is a purge.

It started soon after Trump lost the election last November. Who was out? Anyone who refused to help facilitate the Big Lie was pushed out by the Republicans' Maximum Leader. Brad Raffensberger, the Republican secretary of state in Georgia, who turned down Trump's plea to "find" 11,000-plus votes so he could flip the election in that state. Out. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, another Republican who didn't sign onto the Big Lie with enough enthusiasm to please the Maximum Leader: Out. Trump tweeted on Dec. 30 (when he still had a Twitter account), "@BrianKempGA should resign from office. He is an obstructionist who refuses to admit that we won Georgia, BIG!"

CNN described Trump's purge campaign this way: "Trump has taken his involvement in 2022 Republican primaries to a new level as he works to permanently mold the GOP in his image. Beyond Trump's public efforts to oust Republican incumbents he considers disloyal, he has quietly tried to clear potential GOP threats to his endorsed candidates and encouraged others to run against his enemies."

The Maximum Leader is endorsing candidates running against any Republican who voted to impeach him, most prominently Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who has taken a lead role in the investigation by the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. She has already been stripped of her leadership position in the Republican House Caucus and was censured by the Wyoming Republican Party.

RELATED:"It's basically the Titanic": Republican dissent grows louder as GOP preps for a NeverTrump purge

Trump has moved on around the country, endorsing people he considers loyalists even when they come laden with baggage, as with his endorsement of former NFL star Herschel Walker in next year's Georgia Senate race, even though Walker was accused during a divorce of "physically abusive and extremely threatening behavior," including threatening his ex-wife with a pistol and knives. In the race for Pennsylvania's open Senate seat, Trump endorsed Sean Parnell despite similar allegations in a divorce filing that Parnellwas physically abusive to his wife and children. (Parnell recently suspendedhis campaign after a judge awarded his ex-wife primary physical custody and sole legal custody of their children.)

Back in Georgia, the Maximum Leader has also endorsed former Sen. David Perdue to run against Kemp in the Republican primary for governor. Perdue lost his race for re-election to the Senate to Democrat Jon Ossoff in a January runoff.

In Alabama, Trump is said to be considering backing a challenger to Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, in retaliation for her decision denying his request to hold a 2020 campaign rally at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. He is also backing Rep. Mo Brooks in his campaign for the open Senate seat in Alabama. Brooks has been a fierce backer of Trump anda super-spreader of the Big Lie, and appeared with the Maximum Leader at his Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse, where he helpedrile up the crowd before the assault on the Capitol.

Possibly the best thing that ever happened to Fox News was Twitter's permanent suspension of Trump's account two days after the assault on the Capitol. With the Maximum Leader no longer able to address his followers directly, he became dependent on Fox as his chief propaganda arm.

It happened just in time, because after Fox News becamethe first network to announce that Biden had won the state of Arizona in the November election, many Fox viewers became so angry that they had fled almost immediately to even further-right outlets such as Newsmax and the OAN network. On Dec. 8, 2020, Newsmax achieved a ratings win over Fox News for the first time, when "Greg Kelly Reports" on Newsmax beat "The Story with Martha MacCallum" on Fox in the 7 p.m. news slot. By March of this year, a public opinion poll by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates showed that Fox had lost viewers to both Newsmax and OAN, although the network remained far ahead of both right-wing rivals in the overall ratings.

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Panicked at the prospect of losing the Trump base, Fox News threw itself into the arms of the Maximum Leader and unleashed its dogs, encouraging its star evening hosts to go all-in on spreading the Big Lie that Trump was the "true" winner of the 2020 election. Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham took their shows even further to the right than usual. Carlson produced a special called "Patriot Purge," which premiered in early November on the network's new streaming service, Fox Nation. The three-part series attempts to make the case for the entirely concocted premise that the Capitol assault was not carried out by Trump supporters but was a "false flag" operation run by the FBI, antifaand other shadowy forces.

Most recently, there was the release of text messages sent to Mark Meadows by Fox stars Hannity, Ingraham and "Fox & Friends" host Brian Kilmeade, asking the then-White House chief of staff to get Trump to call off the insurrection and send his followers home. After that news hit the headlines, the Fox hosts reacted like they'd been bitten by a rabid hedgehog, denying that their texts had said what they said and pledging lifetime fealty to the Maximum Leader.

Two prominent figures in the world of Fox News recently resigned in protest of Carlson's "Patriot Purge" series: Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes. Last Sunday, Fox host Chris Wallace announced he was leaving the network for CNN's new streaming service, CNN+. But none of the three really left of their own accord. They were purged. They weren't sufficiently Trumpian. In a Wednesday column, Goldberg said he was leaving because he couldn't take the lies and hypocrisy, describing a culture within the network where Fox hosts would "say one thing to my face or in my presence and another thing when the cameras and microphones were flipped on." Everyone at Fox News knew what had happened on Jan. 6, Goldberg implied. It was their lies "over the 11 months that followed" that drove him out.

This is what a cultural revolution looks like. First comes a purge of all opponents or even doubters of the Maximum Leader, followed by a purification of the Party in his name. In China, the Cultural Revolution lasted from 1966 until the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 and was aimed at removing Mao's rivals in the Party, government, schools and workplaces. Mao insisted that those disloyal to the Party should be removed by violent class struggle, symbolized by his call to "bombard the headquarters," including local government buildings, party headquarters, schools and colleges. Books that were determined to run counter to Mao'steachingswere burned. Scholars, professors and government bureaucrats were sent into what amounted to in-country exile in re-education and work camps.

All you have to do is subtract the word "camps" to describe what the Republican Party is doing right now around this country. They are banning books in Texas and elsewhere. They are collecting petitions to run recall elections against school board members guilty of teaching what they see as "anti-white" subjects in schools, by which they mean the actual history of slavery, segregation and Jim Crow. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis just proposedan "anti-Woke" law allowing parents to sue local school boards if they feel their children are being taught the mythical subject "critical race theory." Thatproposal is based on the Texas anti-abortion law that recently went into effect allowing random citizens to sue anyone who facilitates an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. In both Florida and Texas, what amounts to cadres of vigilantes are being established to enforce the Party's will on the populace in this case, the will of the Republican Party.

RELATED:Ron DeSantis escalates his authoritarian purge: GOP bounty hunters are the next frontier

Every time a Republican stands up and points out that the emperor has no clothes, the Party destroys him or her. Which makes you wonder, how long will it be before you don't have to be a Republican to be purged and have your career destroyed? When will it come to pass that if you speak anti-Trump thoughts or write anti-Trump articles or attend anti-Trump rallies or even God help us cast anti-Trump votes, you will putyourself in danger of losing your job?

Mao unleashed the Cultural Revolution to destroy naysayers and enemies of the Party. Stalin created the Gulag as an instrument of political repression to accomplish the same thing. More than 18 million supposed opponents of the Communist Party were consigned to the camps between 1930 and 1953, the year of Stalin's death.

Notice that in both cases, the Maximum Leader had to die himself before his campaign of political repression, punishment and death was ended.

Both the Soviet Union and China had to go through a process of self-correction after decades of political repression, thought control, re-education and murder. The Russian self-correction eventually led to the bankruptcy and breakup of the Soviet Union. The self-correction in China led to the abandonment of communism in all but name and the remaking of the country as a capitalist economy under centralized state control. Neither country today looks anything like it looked under the Maximum Leaders who brought them down.

In this country, the Republican Party is "Republican" in name only and seems incapable of self-correction. It would have to throw off the bonds of Donald Trump and his lies in order to even begin to come to its senses. It may be the case that there are doubters in the Party ranks, or people who not only should know better but do know better. But unless they can raise objections without facing political death, the Republican Party's cultural revolution will continue, if past is prologue, until the Maximum Leader dies.

More from Lucian K. Truscott IV on the state of America:

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The American Mao: Donald Trump has led the Republican Party into a cultural revolution - Salon

The consequences are severe. Meadows could be sentenced to a year in prison, or even worse, another month working for Trump. JIMMY FALLON

Of course, Meadows needs a good lawyer, so the first thing he did was pull up Rudy Giulianis number and delete it. JIMMY FALLON

The Republican caucus is an accessory to this coup, and we recently got more evidence of that in the form of text messages to Mark Meadows, like this one received on Jan. 7 from a Republican lawmaker: Yesterday was a terrible day. Well, I mean, at least we can all agree on that. STEPHEN COLBERT

We tried everything we could in our objection to the six states. Im sorry nothing worked. Oh, so he regrets not being able to drown Lady Liberty in a bathtub. Its like sending a sympathy card that says, My deepest condolences that you lived. I was rooting for the tumor! STEPHEN COLBERT

So, who sent these messages? Well, the identity of these lawmakers was not being disclosed, so people on Twitter are now guessing names like Paul Gosar, Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes, Matt Gaetz, Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley and you can play the home version in the fun new game Clue-less. STEPHEN COLBERT

These messages have the ring of unfiltered truth because theyre taken from Mark Meadows two personal phones and nothing says innocent like a second cellphone. STEPHEN COLBERT

Read more:
Stephen Colbert Holds the Republican Caucus in Contempt - The New York Times

Like a lot of people, I get a ton of thirsty emails from Donald Trump. On Saturday, he sent this note: See you in Sunrise, FL, in a little while and tomorrow, Orlando. Big crowds!

He was referring to the first installment of his road show with former Fox host Bill OReilly. Attendance was lackluster.

It would be silly to read too much into this. While I would consider tickets to an OReilly-Trump roadshow expensive at any price, including free, these tickets at least prior to last-minute discounts were pretty steep.

But other evidence suggests Trumps appeal is becoming more selective to borrow a term from Spinal Tap. His ability to draw big TV viewership started to crater back in June.

Trumps clout with GOP voters, while still significant, seems less formidable all the time. Sean Parnell, his handpicked candidate in Pennsylvanias U.S. Senate primary, dropped out of the race. Prominent Trump toady Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, who opposed certification of Bidens victory, is falling behind his Republican primary opponent Katie Britt despite Trumps endorsement of Brooks. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama recently raised eyebrows by attending a Britt fundraiser. Sen. Lisa Murkowski may have a tough reelection fight ahead of her, but Murkowski, not her Trump-backed opponent, will have the support of the national Republican Party.

Trump still polls well among Republicans, but according to a Pew survey in October, about half dont want to see him run again. In November, the Des Moines Registers widely respected Iowa Poll found that 61% of Iowa Republicans said they are more aligned with the party than with Trump, while only 26% said they were more aligned with Trump than with the party.

And, of course, there was the big GOP victory in Virginia last month, led by gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin. The message for Republicans in competitive states: Dont repudiate Trump, but dont embrace him too much either, and larger numbers of Trump-hostile Republicans and independents will return to the GOP fold.

Some of this is Trumps own fault. He reserves most of his passion for his bogus claims about the election being stolen. And while hes persuaded a dismaying number of Republicans to tell pollsters they believe that the 2020 election was rigged, the only pundits and politicians still talking about it are fringe characters, like pillow magnate Mike Lindell, bilking the true believers for donations and clicks. Trumps new social media startup looks like a similar effort on a larger scale. Even Rupert Murdoch has told him to move on.

Now, its easy to tell the opposite story that Trump remains the leader of the Republican Party and the presumptive nominee if he runs. We hear it constantly because theres a weird convergence between Trump-friendly media and Trump-hostile media; they share an obsession with Trumps stranglehold of the GOP. The anti-Trump outfit the Lincoln Project is virtually begging Trump to run again.

The thing to keep in mind, however, is that the Trump-addicted audience is a smaller slice of the electorate than either side would like to admit. Its big enough to drive cable news coverage (and donations), but those outlets service a very thin slice of the public.

Perhaps the most telling sign is that even Trump himself doesnt think its a foregone conclusion he could secure the nomination. Hes reportedly livid with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for not publicly declaring he wont run for president if Trump does. Part of that is Trumps ego-driven desire to demonstrate his dominance, but its also a sign that he feels the need to clear the field rather than compete in it. He could certainly be goaded into running again, just as he was in 2016. But the more likely scenario is that Trump will continue to keep everyone guessing until the last minute to maximize attention and profit. The best way to ensure he doesnt run again is for Republicans like DeSantis to signal hell have to work for it and thus risk looking like a loser twice.

The next Trump chapter in American politics probably wont be satisfying to either his passionate supporters or opponents. The anti-Trump folks arent likely to get to see him in an orange jumpsuit and his cultists wont live to see some sort of coronation. Hell fade away, leaving his nominal party and country worse off for him ever having come down that escalator in the first place.

@JonahDispatch

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Column: Trumps clout with Republican voters seems to be slipping away - Los Angeles Times

In hisfarewell address, George Washington warned the nation of the great danger posed to our form of government by political partisans. Washington cautioned us that extreme partisanship agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, and foments occasionally riot and insurrection. He could not have given a better description of present-day America.

On Jan. 6, we suffered the riot and insurrection that the prescient father of our country predicted. The unprecedented attack on the seat of our government should have served as a shocking wake-up call for congressional Republicans about the dire consequences of their hyper-partisanship. WhenGOP congressional leadership immediately spoke outagainst President TrumpDonald TrumpLegal organization files ethics complaint on Trump lawyer Eastman Overnight Defense & National Security US warns Putin still mulling Ukraine invasion Krysten Sinema is less of a political enigma than she is a strategic policymaker MOREs instigation of the insurrection, it appeared the message had been received. But that did not last long.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellOn The Money Presented by Citi Schumer signals delay for Biden plan Schumer says Build Back Better will be delayed McConnell: 'It would be a great idea' for Manchin to switch parties MORE (R-Ky.), apparently suffering the trauma of losing two Senate seats in Georgia and fretting that he might not realize his dream of taking back control of the Senate, quickly redoubled his partisan posturing. Many Republicans at both the national and state levels were intrigued by the Trump strategy that came close to snatching an undeserved victory from the jaws of electoral defeat. They calculatedhow that strategy might ensure victory next timewith theinstallation of partisan election officialsand some strategic changes to voting laws in Republican-controlled states.

Almost worse than the attempted take-over of our government by Trumpist forces is the present denial by so many Republicans about the horrifying events of that day and the continuing danger the extremists pose to American democracy. How did we get to this ugly state of affairs, where partisan interests trump our national interest?

Although neither of our political parties has clean hands, the Republican Party is primarily responsible for todays slash-and-burn political partisanship.Former Rep. Newt Gingrich(R-Ga.) laid out the path to toxic polarization of American politics during his tenure as speaker of the House in the 1990s. In the ensuing years, GOP politicos have fashioned their form of extreme partisanship to perfection, particularly in the last five years under Donald Trumps noxious influence. McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin McCarthyPhotos of the Week: Tornado aftermath, Medal of Honor and soaring superheroes Trump allies urge McCarthy to remove Kinzinger, Cheney from House GOP conference GOP election objectors rake in corporate cash MORE (R-Calif.) now lead the take-no-prisoners partisan warfare in their respective houses of Congress.

In recent days we have seen several instances in which GOP legislators have tried to squeeze partisan advantage out of matters that were historically of concern to both parties. A recent instance involved thenational debt, which increased about $7.8 trillion during Trumps presidency. Congress needed to urgently increase the statutory debt limit by mid-December toavert economic disaster. McConnell announced weeks ago that no Republican senators would support an increase, solely as a cheap political trick to shift blame for the increase onto Democrats. The Democrats gave in last week in order to save the economy something the GOP Senators were willing to risk just to score political points.

Then, on Dec. 9, every Republican senator voted to block President BidenJoe BidenSenate confirms Rahm Emanuel to be ambassador to Japan NY governor plans to add booster shot to definition of 'fully vaccinated' Photos of the Week: Tornado aftermath, Medal of Honor and soaring superheroes MOREs vaccine mandate for large employers, knowing that the House would not go along. Again, the lock-step GOP vote appeared to be just a move to gain partisan advantage.

Several Republicans have tried to have it both ways doing whatever they can to assist the spread of the virus by opposing shots and masking and, at the same time,criticizing the president for failing to get the pandemic under control. Playing politics with the pandemic trumps the health and safety of their own voters. Arecent study foundthat counties that voted heavily for Trump in 2020 have a COVID-19 death rate three times that of those that voted heavily for Biden. Political advantage apparently trumps saving lives.

For decades following World War II, the GOP fancied itself as the bulwark against Soviet and Russian aggression. Strangely enough, that all changed with the election of Donald Trump, who could not keep from fawning over Russian President Vladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich PutinOvernight Defense & National Security US warns Putin still mulling Ukraine invasion White House says Putin hasn't made up mind on invading Ukraine Iran has good reasons to hang tough in nuke talks MORE.Trump was an absolute gift to Putin. GOP lawmakers must have supportedTrumps Putinophiliabecause we heard nary a peep of disapproval from them during Trumps tenure.

The GOP has done an about face on Putin and Russia since Joe Biden became president. KevinMcCarthy has criticized Bidenfor giving Putin a pass, although that would accurately describe what McCarthy gave Trump for four years.Sen. Tom Cotton(R-Ark.) chimed in on the same day as the Biden-Putin summit, falsely claiming that Biden was appeasing Putin. So much for speaking to the enemy with one voice.

There are many other instances where GOP extremism has damaged the national interest. The most dangerous and shameful instance was the rabid partisanship that, in George Washingtons words, fomented riot and insurrection in Washington. Americas voters must take heed and throw the partisans out in coming elections if we hope to remain a democracy.

JimJonesis a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho attorney general (1983-1991) and 12 years as a justice of the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). He is a regular contributor to The Hill.

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Republican extremism is damaging the national interest | TheHill - The Hill

MADISON Republicans and Democrats alike Monday ripped into Wisconsins partisan review of the 2020 election, saying it was a baseless exercise that would needlessly damage faith in democracy.

State Sen. Kathy Bernier, a Republican from Lake Hallie who leads the Senate Elections Committee, said the review by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman is firing uppeople who dont understand elections.

"Mr. Gableman is coming to my county and I will attend that meeting along with my concealed carry permit, to be perfectly honest,because (the election review) keeps jazzing up the people who think they know what they're talking about,and they don't," Bernier said.

Bernier, who oversaw elections for 12 years as Chippewa County clerk, said Republicans are reacting to political pressure from former President Donald Trump. Their constant complaints about the election could ultimately hurt Republicans if they don't believe results can be trusted, she said.

"And so I think my advice would be to have Mr. Gableman wrap up sooner rather than later, because the longer we keep this up, the more harm ... we're going to do for Republicans," she said.

In response,Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester issued a statement saying it was Democrats who were preventing Gableman from completing his work sooner. He did not note that much of Monday's criticism came from Republicans and offered no timeline for when Gableman would finish his review.

"The easiest way to wrap up Special Counsel Gablemans investigation is to get the Democrats to cooperate," Vos said in his statement. "Instead, invoking McCarthyism has been their only motive, trying to discredit the investigation rather than finding ways to improve the system and prevent fraud going forward."

Bernier made her comments during a panel discussion in the state Capitol. She was joined by Ben Ginsberg, who spent nearly four decades representing Republicans in election disputes, and Bob Bauer, who served as White House counsel during Barack Obama's presidency.

Ginsberg agreed with Berniers assessment, saying attacks on the election will hurt Republicans in the long run because their voters will be less likely to cast ballots if they think elections are rigged.

"We are here today because Wisconsin has found itself really in the middle of a harmful and disturbing national trend that involves the intimidation of election officials the people who are supposed to call balls and strikes in our elections,"Ginsberg said.

Joe Biden beat Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin. Recounts and court rulings have confirmed his victory. A legislative audit and a study by a conservative group turned up no evidence that would question the results.

Vos hired Gableman this summer to conduct his own review of the election. His work is expected to cost taxpayers about $675,000.

Gableman last yearclaimed without evidence that the election was stolen. More recently, he said he does "not have a comprehensive understanding or even any understanding of how elections work."

Bauer said Gableman's comments "and the partisan context in which he received this assignment" show Gableman is not right for the job.

The partisan reviews in Wisconsin and other states are pseudo audits being organized for partisan political purposes by those who do not have the wherewithal to meet any kinds of standards whatsoever," Bauer said.

Editorial: Michael Gableman's sham investigation is a threat to democracy. A Republican leader just called him out.

More: After facing threat of professional sanctions in election review, Gableman goes after attorney for Green Bay

Ginsberg and Bauer this year formed the Election Official Legal Defense Network to provide legal help to election workers who face challenges over how they perform their duties.

Their presence put national attention on what's happening in Wisconsin. But it was Bernier who offered some of the bluntest assessments of what's happening in her state.

"This is a charade," she said. "There's a simple explanation for almost every single thing that people accuse election officials of doing."

At another point, she said: "These made-up things that people do to jazz up the base is just despicable and I don't think any elected legislator should ever play that game."

Gableman has conferred with partisans, former Trump officials and election conspiracy theorists. Bernier said she thought Gableman should have talked to her given her years of work on elections, but so far he has not called her.

Gablemanhas conducted much of his work in secret but plans to talk about his activities on Dec. 20 with theChippewa County Republican Party. Bernier said she didn't think it was a good idea for Gableman to attend a partisan event in the midst of his election review.

Bernier said during the panel discussion that she would attend Gableman's event but afterward said she wasn't sure whether she would.

"I know I'm not going to learn anything more than I currently know," she said. "And then I'll end up with the people who want to yell at me, so that's really probably not a good place for me to be."

More: Republicans sided with Democrats in an election challenge. A day later, they changed course.

More: Intimidation of election officials in Wisconsin has to stop. It is corrosive to our democracy.

Gableman was initially supposed to complete his review in October. His contract with the state runs through December, but Republicans could extend it if they wanted.

His work got off to a slow start but has also been delayed by court fights over his subpoenas. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul has sued to block some of his subpoenaswhile Gableman has asked a Waukesha County judge to jail the mayors of Madison and Green Bay if they won't meet with him.

The mayors have called the request ridiculous, saying they have cooperated with Gableman.

Meanwhile, some Republicans have called for the resignations of members of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission and its nonpartisan director, Meagan Wolfe. Wolfe and the commissioners have said they plan on staying on the job.

Wisconsin election officials have faced a string of threats over the last year over how they did their jobs.

For instance, people this year have threatened to hang, shoot orjail Claire Woodall-Vogg, the director of the Milwaukee Election Commission.

Similarly, people anonymously posted threats to Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl last year in response to an article on the Gateway Pundit, a right-wing website that frequently traffics in conspiracy theories.

Law enforcement was notified of the threats to Woodall-Vogg and Witzel-Behl, according to emails released under the state's open records law.

ContactPatrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Followhim on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.

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Key Wisconsin Republican says her colleagues are making baseless attacks and need to wrap up election review - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel