The GOP Death Cult Finally Gets the Mascot It Deserves

Ernst scared stupid.

WQAD News 8

Mortality is a weird thing.

On the one hand, it can be a tremendous motivator, a ticking clock that pushes a person to make the most of their limited time. This is the “memento mori” reminder that ancient Romans would apocryphally whisper to their emperors and generals, humbling them while at the same time inspiring them to further greatness—before it’s too late.

Other times, however, mortality can be wielded to the opposite effect: depressing progress and falsely absolving personal responsibility in the face of an unavoidable end. It’s a philosophy that encourages the worst types of selfishness and cruelty, reducible to the glib cliche of “fuck you, I’ve got mine.” It’s a philosophy that also animates the bulk of American conservatism—something which these days exists predominantly as an enterprise of personal enrichment predicated on the deaths of others.

And now, that enterprise finally has the mascot it deserves: Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, whose two-part tryout to be the face of the GOP death cult this week is perhaps the single best distillation of conservative doomsday enthusiasm I’ve ever seen.

First, let’s set the scene.