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Corruption of the GOP
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 Corruption of the GOPFollowing from Daily Kos To fully comprehend it, though, it’s helpful to try to imagine ourselves experiencing the events of the past eight years from the same vantage point as these now-disaffected Republicans. This is the point where many will remind us that these same Republicans (some of them former die-hard neo-cons who led the cheerleading for George W. Bush’s disastrous Iraq War) are responsible for Trump’s ascension in the first place. That it also led to the descent of the GOP into its current putrescent, cadaverous state is the natural, inevitable outcome of their efforts. The only way to understand that is to imagine—as Democrats—what our reactions would be under similar circumstances. And putting it mildly, that is not easy. First, you have to assume that for the better part of their waking political lives these folks—like Democrats—proceeded under the assumption that theirs was the “proper” course for the country, that their values were “good” values that ultimately portended a “good” result for the nation. They never, ever anticipated that someone possessed of such pervasive duplicity, outright fraudulence, and raw criminal mindset as Donald Trump could ever establish such complete, unquestionable domination of their party. They never anticipated that all of the racist dog-whistles their party relied upon for decades to muster their voters would suddenly be unleashed and openly normalized. They never foresaw that, facing the threat of demographic irrelevancy, their party and its leader would revert to openly embracing violent, murderous dictators and welcoming their meddling in our elections as an effort to preserve their political power. For Democrats to really appreciate the overwhelming degree of cognitive dissonance that clearly discomfits these “Never-Trumpers,” some analogies have to be drawn from an “alternate universe.” Imagine that instead of the morally upright, civic-minded fellow we all know, Barack Obama had spent the entirety of his life as a self-aggrandizing, misogynist blowhard with a long track record of corrupt business ventures, serial infidelity, and dependence on Russian financial largesse. Imagine him crudely projecting his own moral decrepitude on his opponent and eagerly allying himself with some of the most insidious and criminal personages in the country to attain the presidency. Imagine that instead of Michelle, Sasha, and Malia flanking him his offspring were the likes of Melania, Ivanka, Donald Jr., and Eric, for whom the only salient characteristics were grifting off their father’s existence. Imagine him eagerly and actively soliciting the assistance of our most ruthless strategic enemies to gain the presidency. Would Democrats enthusiastically elect such a person to represent them? Not very likely, but let’s just imagine they did. And in one of his first official acts as president, Obama proceeded to dispatch his openly racist underlings to implement a policy of child kidnapping toward undocumented immigrants and permanently separating them from their mothers and fathers. Imagine a long train of his own hand-picked officials resigning to write books decrying his absolute incompetence and sociopathic instability. Imagine him trying to condition military assistance to an erstwhile ally upon inventing political dirt on his presumed opponent in the next election. Meanwhile, imagine his fellow Democrats in Congress ignoring, then emulating his behavior. And they refused to criticize him and actively engaged themselves in performative, imitative acts, rubber-stamping his selection of political candidates. And all of those candidates invariably displayed the same corrupt tendencies before they went on to overwhelmingly lose in the next election. Then imagine the world is stricken by the worst pandemic in a century, and rather than rallying to protect Americans, the Democratic president is more concerned with his own political viability. He and his closest advisers openly plan to leverage the pandemic against his political opposition, hiring quack physician advisers to ridicule the medical establishment and encourage the American people to eschew protecting themselves. All of this is being done, mind you, with the eager cooperation and praise of the Democratic Party and Democratic voters, many of whom begin to outdo themselves with public displays of obsequious sycophancy. During this interlude, nearly 1 million Americans die, a large number of those deaths stemming directly or indirectly from this president’s malevolent inaction. Obviously at this point, any moral justification or excuses for such a hideous transformation affecting a political party would have long since evaporated. Which brings us back to reality, a reality that these “conservatives” appalled by Trump surely recognize: that Democrats would never, ever have allowed this to happen. Period. But Republicans didn’t do that. In fact, they did the exact opposite, affirming and cementing their abandonment of all morality, all respect for the nation and its institutions, probably forever. Every action by Republicans since Trump lost in 2020 has revealed their party and almost all of its voters as swirling ever-downward in a nihilistic death spiral, from which there appears to be no return. Rather than acknowledge their gross, self-destructive miscalculation, they’ve simply doubled down like lemmings, eagerly chasing Trump as they rush toward the cliff’s edge. And all during this time they’ve continuously excoriated—at times violently threatening—any Republican who refuses to go along with them. The storming of the Capitol by members of Trump’s voting base on Jan. 6 didn’t change their minds. Trump’s second impeachment didn’t change their minds. The serial lies about the election and Trump’s submergence beneath the weight of harsh criminal and civil liability didn’t change them, either. The “Never-Trumpers” were, from the outset, operating under at least the assumption that their beliefs and goals were rooted in some semblance of civic responsibility, one which they—misguidedly or not—believed would serve the nation. Whether that belief was actually well-founded is or not is beside the point; the sad reality is that for them, there simply is no longer any place to go. As David French obliquely pointed out in his latest piece in The New York Times, their fellow Republicans really don’t want them. And Democrats don’t particularly need them, either. They have lost their tribe and realistically don’t seem to stand much chance of ever getting it back in their lifetimes. They could, of course, become Democrats (Jennifer Rubin said in 2020 she’s already one). That may just be a bridge too far for some of them, for whatever reasons. |
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“I believe wholeheartedly Donald Trump and Butler County’s JD Vance are the last chance to save our country, politically,” Lang said at a rally in Middletown, Ohio, the hometown of the first-term senator and GOP vice presidential nominee. “I’m afraid if we lose this one, it’s going to take a civil war to save the country, and it will be saved. It’s the greatest experiment in the history of mankind, and if we come down to a civil war, I’m glad we got people like … Bikers for Trump on our side,” he continued. |
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Civil War? Americans already know what a civil war will do. Been there, done that, and still got the scars. First, if Trump wins... Democrats will almost certainly accept it, but with significant civil unrest and protests. National Guard will be called out, and it will be like the Vietnam protests all over again but worse. Civil disobedience might even extend as far as some state governments refusing to co-operate with the Feds. But a shooting war is simply not on. The Dems won't start it because they know they don't have the firepower, and the Trumpists won't start it because they already have what they want so why risk losing it? If Harris wins... Expect more targeted 'protests' that will actually be more than protests; they will be coup attempts. Some LEOs and vets might even join them. But the Armed Forces as a whole and certainly the upper ranks take their oaths seriously. A rag-tag bunch of guys will have no chance against the technology that the Armed Forces can bring to bear. What chance would even as much as 1,000 assault rifles have against napalm strikes and armour if it really gets serious? So we will have lots of chest-beasting, shows of rage and plenty of loud-mouthing, but anything more will make the GOP a stink in the nostrils for a generation or more. It would probably be the end of the GOP as we know it and its replacement by a genuinely Capitalist Conservative party with a lot more appeal to middle America than Trump's aphasic, redneck populism. So expect plenty of division and hatred as America cripples itself, but not much more violence than gun-happy America already enjoys. At most, secession is a possibility; but not civil war. |
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What the hell is wrong with these people July 25, 2024 By Thomas L. Friedman Opinion Columnist Ever since President Biden’s Sunday announcement that he would not seek re-election, clearly because of age, I keep thinking about Donald Trump’s and JD Vance’s contemptuous reactions to one of the most difficult personal decisions a president has ever made, and what it says about their character. “The Democrats pick a candidate, Crooked Joe Biden, he loses the Debate badly, then panics, and makes mistake after mistake, is told he can’t win, and decide they will pick another candidate, probably Harris,” Trump wrote on social media on Monday. He later added: “It’s not over! Tomorrow Crooked Joe Biden’s going to wake up and forget that he dropped out of the race today!” Not to be out-lowballed by his boss, Vance wrote on social media: “Joe Biden has been the worst President in my lifetime and Kamala Harris has been right there with him every step of the way.” All they had to say was: “President Biden served his country for five decades and at this moment we thank him for that service. Tomorrow our campaign begins against his replacement. Bring her on.” I can guarantee you that is what Biden would have said if the shoe were on the other foot. Because he is not a bully. Biden’s good character shone through on Wednesday night in his dignified, country-before-self address at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. As I watched and listened, I remembered a lunch I had with him in May 2022 in the dining room next to the Oval Office. After we were done and he was walking me past the Resolute Desk, I mentioned to him a reading-literacy project that my wife, Ann, was working on that she thought might interest Dr. Jill Biden. The president got totally excited about the idea and said, “Let’s call your wife. What’s her number?” He then took a cellphone out of his pocket, dialed it and handed it to me. “Honey,” I said, “I’ve got someone here who wants to talk to you." “I’m in a meeting,” Ann replied. “I can’t talk now.” “No, no, you’re going to want to talk to him. It’s the president.” Then I handed the phone back to Biden, who engaged her in a conversation about reading and how much his wife was passionate about that subject, too. Look, I’ve been to the rodeo — this is what smart politicians do. But there is one difference with Joe Biden that I observed over the years: It’s how much he authentically enjoyed it, how much he enjoyed talking to people outside his bubble and giving them a chance to say, “I got to meet the president. He talked to me!” That sort of kindness came naturally to him. It brought him joy. And I have no doubt that Trump’s and Vance’s venomous first reactions to Biden’s resignation came naturally to them too. I’m sure it brought them joy. But it sure left me wondering: What is wrong with you people? |
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Zorro 15:40 In ancient Greek, hubris referred to "outrage": actions that violated natural order, or which shamed and humiliated the victim, sometimes for the pleasure or gratification of the abuser. The common use of the word 'sadistic' is a word that fits this. 'Hubris' was also a degree of pride so inordinate that it challenged the gods, either implicitly or explicitly. Hubris was committed when a mortal claimed to be better than a god in a particular skill or attribute. Claims like these were rarely left unpunished, and so Arachne, a talented young weaver, was transformed into a spider when she said that her skills exceeded those of the goddess Athena. Nemesis was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris, and she was one merciless, implacable bitch. It even appears in the New Testament. Babylon, the city that represents all that is wrong with the power structures on Earth, boasts, "As she glorified herself and played the wanton, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning. Since in her heart she says, ‘A queen I sit, I am no widow, mourning I shall never see,’" The rest of the chapter 18 itemises the countless forms of destruction that will fall on her in an hour. Trump is the epitome of hubris, as too many of those who tried to ride his coat tails have discovered. And as Vance will. |
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Bob |
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Zorro Nobody is perfect. Every candidate who puts himself forward for election has faults. But most also have some redeeming qualities, some measure of goodwill towards others who disagree with him. Trump is the only candidate I recall in my lifetime, in any country, who has none. Even the sociopathic bastard who tried to take over the New South Wales branch of the Party when I was State Prez had a sense of reciprocal duty, of loyalty to his minions, that went further than seeing them as useful tools. But not Trump. I am genuinely pleased that the assassination attempt failed. That would have been the easy way out for America. Trump's survival in good condition forces America to confront itself. |
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Bob m.youtube.com |
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jonheck 26-Jul-24, 00:25 |
bob |
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Mike Pence |
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Mitt Romney |
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I guess Romney is a RINO |
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zero I took it from memory after I heard it (once?) in the hospital/ |
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Sofa King Fine Can anyone explain the odd stains on the Vance couches? #CushionPushinJDVance |
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тяцмр @ faith based event in Fl.... www.huffpost.com |
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Funeral of George H. W. Bush |
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Robert Reich insights... -The CFPB capped credit card fees. Banks sued. -Medicare is negotiating Rx prices. Big Pharma sued. -The FTC banned non-competes. Business groups sued. -Corporate America can't stand how the Biden-Harris admin is working for the people. |
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Fascist to the Core politicalwire.com 97 legal challenges have already been filed over the November election alleging things for which there remains no evidence whatsoever, yet leading Republican figures refuse to acknowledge Groper lost in 2020, as though their interest is no longer in counting votes but instead is rigging the election. |
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Just kidding Todd. Lol |
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Bank of America He’s probably not far off the mark. |
