As its decade of political dominance nears an end, the Republican Party reeks of the stench of corruption from top to bottom, from Washington to Wisconsin to Georgia to Raleigh and all the way to Bladen County.

The Bladen scandal once again puts North Carolina at center stage – and Republicans in the spotlight. The GOP bloodhounds who’ve been hot after non-existent voter fraud have turned tail now that there’s Republican election fraud. Maybe they’ll amend their voter ID bill to put Leslie McCrae Dowless in charge of all state elections.

The GOP fish clearly rots from the head. Trump has brought more grifters, fixers, favor-seekers, felons, soon-to-be felons, crooks, criminals, perjurers and Fifth Amendment pleaders to Washington than Grant, Harding and Nixon combined.

In Wisconsin and Michigan, Republican legislators are stripping powers from newly elected Democratic governors and attorneys general. Sound familiar?

In Georgia, the Republican Secretary of State stole and suppressed enough voters to get himself elected Governor.

And now we might have a stolen election right here at home.

All across the nation, Republican power is built on voter suppression and gerrymandering, crookedness and corruption – anything to thwart the will of the people. History teaches that you can get away with this, until you suddenly can’t. The universe teaches that all that rises also falls.

A reckoning is coming. It’s time to throw the thieves out. And, as somebody said, lock ‘em up.

Footnote: In just a week, the Bladen County story went from a minor stir to a monster storm. The Washington Post has a good account, “The shoe-leather reporting boosting North Carolina’s explosive election fraud investigation.” A lot of familiar names appear in the story, but an important one is missing: Gerry Cohen, retired general counsel to the legislature, election-law maven and one of the smartest people around. To keep up with the Bladen story – and all election matters – follow him on Twitter @gercohen.