Every morning, before we open our eyes, every one of us must grapple with the excruciating possibility that Donald Trump could be reelected. It’s the nightmare from which we cannot awake, at least for now. And yet, something is stirring in the Republican Party. After eight vertiginous years of rot and decay, made no less alarming by their often buffoonish character, the GOP seems to be taking some tentative steps toward normality.
Consider the state of Texas. The Lone Star State has contributed more than its share to the degradation of American politics through the good offices of Ted Cruz, a chief instigator of the Jan. 6 insurrection through his election denialism; Greg Abbott, a conspiracy booster, immigrant exploiter and gun extremist; and state GOP Chair Allen West, a secessionist. It was Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who filed the specious 2020 lawsuit with the Supreme Court to disqualify the votes of states Joe Biden won. If the court had taken the case, Cruz would have argued it.
