LETTER TO THE EDITOR: GOP is its own worst enemy

OPINION:

Politics in America today have become so unbelievable that I often wish events were only the imagination of a Hollywood screenwriter with a penchant for ever-thickening plots (“Chris McDaniel’s campaign to investigate ’irregularities’ in Mississippi runoff,” Web, June 26).

When I heard how operatives dragged Sen. Thad Cochran, Mississippi Republican, over the finish line in the Republican primary runoff, it confirmed the GOP is truly burning. Establishment Republicans sinking so far as to encourage Democrats, particularly in mostly black districts, to support Mr. Cochran or risk losing their food stamps and other entitlements is a new moral and strategic low. What outcome can they expect in the general election now, and all for what? To secure a seat for a senator who has occupied it for 36 years? Might not his 41-year-old challenger, Chris McDaniel, been able to relate more to the supposedly sought-after millennials?

This was all about retaining power and the unwillingness to accept a much-needed replacement within the party. Considering the despicable race card Mr. Cochran supporters played on his opponent, the 1988 film “Mississippi Burning,” about the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, comes to mind.

You could swap Sen. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican; former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour; or Republican analyst Karl Rove for the bigoted Deputy Clinton Pell, who in the film clung to segregation and obstructed an FBI investigation. I would plug Mr. McDaniel into the role of FBI agent Alan Ward, who played everything by the book while justice continued to elude him.

I hope last Tuesday’s results only represent the point in the movie where things start to shift. The days are numbered for the Deputy Pells of the GOP.

RINGO LANZETTI

Falls Church