From MAGA to MEGA: The Big Government Party Wears a Red Hat

Credit: Do What Matters

For decades, Republicans marketed themselves as the party of small government. Rugged individualism. Fiscal restraint. Don’t tread on me.

Give me a break. These tyrants are treading all over our butts.

I grew up in Virginia, the cradle of American history. Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Monroe, and, of course, George Washington. They all talked the talk and walked a good bit of it. But our nation’s complex founders left behind a flawed national structure, including the dregs of the invidious remnants of slavery and racial hierarchy. Still, I can understand, celebrate, and respect them as patriots.

But today’s Republicans appropriate the symbology of the founders’ patriotism, including tropes like small government, without having a single clue what it means to love their country or run an efficient, effective democracy. Having traded their Tea Party tri-cornered hats for red MAGA caps, the only thing small about their approach to government is their tolerance for facts, freedom, and basic human decency.

It’s time for Republicans to drop the charade. Modern-day conservatives don’t believe in small government. If you could find an honest broker in the bunch, they would admit they never did. For decades, the Republican brand of “freedom” has been highly…