Thanks to Republicans, we live in a time when we genuinely cannot tell if something is satire or not. Case in point is a recent social media post by Republican Senate candidate Mark Lynch where he promised to end Muslim worship at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul when he gets elected.
Here's what he posted: "Muslim worship at the Hagia Sophia is going to officially end when I get elected to the U.S. Senate. The fact that Lindsey Graham has allowed this without concern signifies the fact that he is the Antichrist. Christians in America and throughout the world look forward to the Hagia Sophia being returned to its rightful owner, and it will happen when I become South Carolina's next U.S. Senator."
When Lynch first put that up, nobody knew what to make of it. He posted it and then deleted it — but of course screenshots are forever, and Reddit threads lit up almost immediately debating whether this was a parody account.
That's where we are now. A man running for the United States Senate says something so disconnected from reality that the internet's first instinct is to check whether it's a joke. It wasn't.
What Happened to “America First?”
Whatever happened to “America First”? What happened to taking care of home before meddling in places that have absolutely nothing to do with us?
Mark Lynch is running for Senate in South Carolina — a state with crumbling infrastructure, a poverty rate that ranks 9th worst in the entire country, an education system that comes in at 42nd, and healthcare access ranked 33rd, and that ranking is only that merciful because of the Affordable Care Act that Republicans have been trying to destroy for years. But sure. The thing Lynch wants to talk about is worship services inside a building in Istanbul, Turkey. A building that has been active in that country for 1,500 years.
Republicans and their “businessman” fetish
Lynch is a businessman with zero political experience, and to the Republican Party, that apparently checks every box. Being a businessman is, in their worldview, the pinnacle of human achievement — the singular credential that qualifies you to lord over the rest of us. Never mind having a genuine desire to serve your community. Never mind ethics, decency, or even a basic understanding of how government works. That’s all “woke nonsense,” apparently.
So instead of any of that, Lynch has put forward what he’s calling the “Return the Hagia Sophia to the Church Act” — an actual piece of proposed legislation that would ban $17 billion worth of U.S. imports from Turkey until they hand the building over to Christians. That is his campaign platform. That is what he is bringing to the table. He’s running against a sitting senator who has done nothing for South Carolina across decades in office, and Lynch’s answer is: I’ll do something about a mosque in a foreign country.
Republicans Have Nothing for the American People
This is what happens when a political party becomes completely infested by people who think ignorance is an American birthright. The Republican base has grown so radicalized, so thoroughly detached from how government actually works and what it’s supposed to do for people, that “I will force Turkey to give back the Hagia Sophia” might genuinely resonate with them. Worse — some of them probably think it’s something a senator can actually do. And even worse than that, they think it’s something a senator should do. That is how far gone things have gotten.
Because what that post actually means is that Republicans have nothing for the American people. No plan for affordable healthcare. No plan for living wages. Nothing for retirement security. Nothing for the working people of South Carolina, or anywhere else. But they will get right on that building in Istanbul.
Lindsey Graham has spent years in the Senate doing nothing for the state he's supposed to represent. South Carolina is one of the poorest, most poorly educated states in the nation, and Lindsey has been in Washington for decades collecting a paycheck while the people he pretends to represent struggled.
And Lynch's critique of Graham isn't that he failed South Carolina — it's that he hasn't done enough about Muslim prayer services in a foreign land. Lynch called him the Antichrist over it. That's the argument. It’s pathetic.
The Joke Is on All of Us
The Republican base has become so radicalized, so detached from any understanding of how government actually works and what government’s actually supposed to do for you, that “I will force Turkey to give back the Hagia Sophia” might actually resonate with them. They might actually think that this is something a senator can do, and even worse, they might actually think this is something a senator should do.
The sad part is, it’s not satire. This is who the Republicans are. So if you're in South Carolina — or anywhere else in this country — and you pull that lever for a Republican, just know the joke isn't only on you. It's on all of us.
he truth out and save the “Grand Experiment” from the right wing forces currently destroying it.
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