I once thought that Frank Aquila was merely a standard bearer for the gradual erosion of trust in the Republican Party. After all, how could a representative of “The Party of Lincoln” produce such a deep abyss of bizarre writings touting end-times eschatology, conspiracy theories and alternative histories?

But after Aquila’s Feb. 27 column (“Democrats: Fulfilling the Communist agenda”), I realized the brilliance of Aquila’s efforts. You see, Mr. Aquila is part of a communist fifth column that has infiltrated the GOP and is intent on destroying the party from the inside. This sinister strategy of “suicide by ridicule” is the agenda of operatives like Aquila and his “fellow travelers.”

Aquila’s conspiracy works like this:

First, whenever possible, promote bizarre guilt-by-association so as to discredit the GOP’s message. Ideally, this should be done, as Aquila does, using bald-faced lies and factually incorrect assertions. Democrats are “promoting pornography,” “infiltrating” big business and churches, and even treating “behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders.” This approach is usually done with greater subtlety than Aquila demonstrates, so as to creep — not run — toward ideological implosion, but global communism is on its heels with the fall of the Soviet Union and economic liberalization of China in recent decades.

Second, invert meaning using Orwellian Newspeak to further degrade the intelligibility of the GOP. This is a critical component of any totalitarian undertaking. He wrote that Obama and the Democrats are bent on “total disarmament” of the U.S. but doesn’t note increasing troop commitments in Afghanistan or military financing, writes that Democrats are “(permitting) trade to … the slave island of Cuba” while ignoring Republican support for constructive engagement of China back to the Nixon era — and the hit list goes on, deliberately undermining any effort at GOP policy coherence.

Third, he uses quotes from discredited conspiracy theorists. Aquila quotes a 1963 reading into the Congressional Record of conspiracy theories created by the crank Mormon extremist, Cleon Skousen. Since Skousen was a member of the paranoid (and anti-civil rights) John Birch Society and was accused by Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought of “inventing fantastic ideas and making inferences that go far beyond the bounds of honest commentary,” we can only assume that Aquila’s goal in quoting Skousen was to finally rip away the thin paper wall separating Republicanism from mere paranoia, lending credence to the fears of all thoughtful Americans that the GOP has passed through the looking glass and has become a mirrored inversion of reality.

Fourth, he tries to misdirect with contradictory quotes from figures of authority. Aquila thoroughly understood that Ayn Rand’s radical libertarianism and anti-communism was also tinged by the strongest form of atheism. One of her quotes: “Faith is the worst curse of man, as the exact antithesis and enemy of thought.” Yet he strategically chose to quote Rand, thus undermining his previous claims about the ungodliness of the communist agenda. With that signal quote, he thereby managed to thoroughly derail any chance at GOP ideological coherence while simultaneously calling into question any commonality of purpose with libertarians.

Aquila’s efforts fit remarkably into the pattern recently seen with various tea parties throughout the land: Destroy the GOP by robbing it of any chance of influencing the public agenda; discredit the party in the minds of independents; obstruct any effort at governance at the state or national level; and continue to mire America in culture war dialog so as to suck all serious discussion out of the public sphere.

Well, Comrade Aquila, your brilliant efforts are now clear to us, and we will not let them stand!

• Mark Davis is a consulting research scientist for the technology industry and government specializing in intelligent systems. He has lived in Tracy for the past 11 years.