Analysis: Extremists seize back control of the Republican Party’s

The GOP is again coming across as a party that glorifies violence, denies truth, defies constitutional order, excuses insurrection, fuels conspiracy theories, appeases extremists and trashes democracy in its zeal to grab back power.

A week after Youngkin won because he had listened to voter concerns that Democrats failed to hear, the GOP extreme entertainment machine, which seems to exist to drive outrage-fueling content for right-wing media, is humming again.

Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, one of Trump’s most vehement defenders, is at the center of the latest insult to decency, after his social media post about Ocasio-Cortez, which also showed his cartoon figure slashing at a representation of Biden.

“It’s a cartoon. Relax,” Gosar wrote in a graphic on a follow-up tweet. In a later statement, Gosar denied that he had meant “violence or harm” toward any member of Congress or Biden, claiming the animation was meant to portray a fight over immigration and that the monsters it depicted with the faces of the President and Ocasio-Cortez were supposed to portray “the policy monster of open borders.” “It is a symbolic cartoon. It is not real life,” Gosar said. His statement, however, noticeably referred repeatedly to “Mr. Biden” and did not use his rightful title of “President.”

As usual, critics of stunning GOP incivility are being accused of lacking a sense of humor or being overly literal. But given America’s blood-spattered history of political assassinations and attacks on members of Congress, Gosar’s threat against a fellow lawmaker is hardly a joke. And quips about violence are a lot less funny in a nation traumatized by the attack by a pro-Trump mob on Congress that resulted in four deaths, saw scores of police officers beaten and sent lawmakers running for their lives. Gosar has said that crowd of criminals was full of “peaceful patriots” and like many of his House GOP colleagues, has tried to wipe the history of the worst affront against US political values in generations.

A firing offense?

As many observers pointed out, Gosar’s behavior would likely be a firing offensive in many jobs. Yet it did not cause House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who after next year could be called upon to uphold the highest moral and ethical standards of Congress as speaker, to break his silence. The California Republican has a long record of tolerance for extremism among allies of Trump, whose base he hopes to ride to power in midterm elections next year. Indeed, he was the first top party leader to embrace Trump after the insurrection when political expediency forced him to repudiate his initial criticism of his friend’s incitement of violence.

Some old-school Republicans are dismayed about what has become of their party. “I…