Office Hours: What shall we call them?

The lawmakers who are trying to impeach Biden, almost shuttered our government (and may still), have ousted McCarthy, and remain Trump’s biggest enablers

Friends,

They got rid of Kevin McCarthy. They want to impeach Joe Biden, for no reason. They tried to shutter the government, for no reason they could agree on — and may yet succeed. They refuse to fund even the Pentagon. They want to handcuff the FBI and throttle the Justice Department. They oppose abortions even after rape or incest. They don’t want to send more aid to Ukraine. They want to decimate safety nets for the poor. They think climate change is a hoax.

Who are they?

The New York Times calls them “hard right” Republicans. The Washington Post calls them Republican “ultra-conservatives.” ABC News calls them Republican “extremists.” The LA Times calls them “Trump Republicans.” Others dub them “MAGA Republicans.”

But none of these appellations captures the essence of who these people are, where they came from, and what they intend to do.

Describing these lawmakers as “right-wing” or “conservative” positions them inside historic movements that never embraced their destructive nihilism.

Calling them “extreme” suggests they’re mere extensions of what has come before, when their ideology bears little resemblance to any forerunner.

Adding the pre-fix “Trump” or “MAGA” tells us only that they’re part of the movement Trump has unleashed, without linking it to any overriding vision.

Names are important because they confer coherence and meaning. They help identify, describe, and organize the world. They educate the public.

So today’s Office Hours question is very serious: What should they be called? What would you call them, and why?