It was more than half a century ago that Richard Nixon successfully branded the GOP as the “law and order” party, creating a political banner that has since been wielded, very effectively, by generations of Republicans. It was infused with some hypocrisy from the start — Nixon would ultimately be driven from the White House for his crimes in office — but in principle, at least, it aligned with a central tenet of conservatism: that respect for the law provides the restraint of passions that is necessary for society to thrive.
So how on Earth did THAT Republican Party become the one we see now?
In a move that should (but won’t) make them too ashamed to ever utter the words “law and order” again, 21 House Republicans last week voted against bestowing the Congressional Gold Medal on the police officers who confronted the insurrectionists during the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. These are the officers, of various police units, who put their lives on the line (and in one case, died) protecting those very lawmakers after then-President Donald Trump incited the mob to storm the Capitol.
