The necessary delays required to scrub the EFiles of POTUS and Republican names are finally complete. A new cudgel to wield against the Dems has been successfully created and soon to be deployed. Vile.
So I spent some time yesterday doing something that normally I’d never do out of a desire to preserve my sanity: I looked through the conservative subreddit and found some very interesting comments which I will summarize here (it’s long but trust me, it’s worth reading):
1. One of the comments with the most upvotes said that the party needs more people who are willing to challenge Trump the way Massie and MTG are doing, instead of being comprised of a bunch of Trump yes men. That genuinely surprised me.
2. However, there was also a lot of pushback on MTG specifically. While most comments supported the idea that Trump needs to be challenged more, a lot of people objected to MTG being the right messenger. They felt she was too much of a conspiracy kook and preferred someone more serious. They also expressed a lot of disdain for Kash Patel. Overall, they seemed to want serious and competent people in these positions but they don’t seem to understand that the outcomes they want this administration to achieve are not something a serious and competent person would ever facilitate.
3. There was broad agreement that the reason Trump was surrounded by yes men and incompetents was because Trump himself excommunicates anyone who isn’t loyal to him. This didn’t undermine their support for him, though.
4. There was a lot of disappointment and pessimism about the “America first” agenda. Many of the comments expressed that they felt “America first” is dead and Trump hasn’t delivered on his promises. But nevertheless, democrats are worse, of course. This concerns me because it seems like this is the opening the door to Nick Fuentes.
5. Despite expressing a desire for people who are willing to challenge Trump, they also expressed a contradictory desire to see Republicans more united. And this brings me to the biggest surprise of all: They see THEIR party as being fractured and in disarray and see DEMOCRATS as being a the more united party. That absolutely blew my mind right out of my skull. They see absolutely no difference between Chuck Schumer, Mikie Sherrill, Jared Golden, and Zohran Mamdani. They believe democrats are all united under the banner of socialism/communism/marxism (one of the comments literally said this…I did not infer it). They attribute this to the fact that liberals are all brainwashed and don’t allow independent thought, but also expressed that this was something they wanted to see more of in their own party.
6. They are very pessimistic about the midterms next year.
My conclusion from these very contradictory views is that they want serious people who challenge Trump, but not too much and only on the things they want him to be challenged about, like the America first agenda.
So why am I posting this here? Only to say that I’m not sure if MTG is winning, exactly. Or maybe she is, but we the people are not. In looking at these comments expressing disappointment about the America first agenda, my fear is that she’s going to drag the party even further right. She still won’t disavow Nick Fuentes. She is still spreading conspiracies about Jews. It sounds like she’s trying to curtail her conspiracy kookiness because she realizes it’s not actually helping her, and instead she’s trying to sanewash her extremism to appeal to voters like the ones in these comments.
As to MTG, I'm hoping that Dems can start to frame the broader anti-Trump/MAGA as a movement that is not Democrat vs. Republican, left vs. right. I think it can be a broader movement, if we frame it in some neutral way (like MAGA did) - Take America Back, for example. The fight and messaging should be a populist fight of us vs. the billionaires and their corruption, so we can welcome as many people into the tent as possible without checking past credentials at the front door.
Thus, MTG is not part of the far right, she's part of the movement to Take America Back from the billionaires and their corruption that is hurting the rest of us. Maybe MTG is too extreme of an example (and I still think the jury is out on her real intentions/persona), but I think there is a lot of be said for laying out the welcome mat for those who have been on the right, particularly at this critical moment when Trump/MAGA is teetering.
Democrats and Republicans, take heed. In addition to the release of the Epstein files, one promising area for the left and the right to come together on is overturning Citizens United. We need to get unlimited corporate "big money" and wealthy special interests "dark money" out of our elections, so their results reflect the collective voice of American citizens. Corporations are not persons. And billionaires should not have a greater voice in the US government than the average American does.
We need to build on this kumbaya moment of unprecedented bipartisanship on the Epstein vote, to find other areas we can agree on so there is movement forward on what unites us. The divisions (racism and bigotry and Christian nationalism) will always be there unfortunately, but if we focus on what we can agree on, Trump’s base might wake up from its MAGA fever dream and realize it’s the Dems who advocate for their interests, not the billionaire class.
Very few GOP lawmakers are currently pushing serious corporate campaign spending reforms except for Hawley. Now that the Felon in Chief is a lame duck (and people will likely rise up if he tries to stay this time around), MT-G, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley and the like would probably jump on the bandwagon and the movement to overturn Citizens United could gain serious momentum. Let’s gooooo!
Some Breitbart rando: “When you go on CNN crying about Trump, you get what you deserve.” But that's the thing. She _didn't_ go on CNN crying about Trump. We could all see that (and I'm no fan). And if she's getting what she deserves, is that....control of the narrative? This person's comment just sounds like more spiraling from the misogynistic people/bots who are going into overdrive now that the Epstein files are on the verge of being released. What most people want from politicians is realness. "Authenticity." Trump used to give them that. He no longer does. Marjorie Taylor Greene is stepping into the breach.
The fact that the Epstein bill sailed through both houses with only one "no" vote guarantees a override of any Trump veto. I think he'll do one, two or maybe both things: Let the files stand as they are, redacted to hell and then try his best lizard-brained self to spin any culpability. "Dems, Dems, Dems, Lunatics, Lunatics, Lunatics." Or he and the DOJ will announce that they can't release the files because of any ongoing investigation, conveniently called for two weeks ago. I'm not sure he's more scared of his crimes than he is of his elitist buddies. That kind of money and power don't play. Hope he is outed, impeached and removed. Amen.
It looks to me like MTG has some advantages earlier challengers have lacked. She hasn't abandoned the Maga crowd but claims - however improbably - that there is common purpose between Maga and others: "we have ALL been spurned". Maga was created out of resentment at being ignored by the powerful in Washington, only to be ignored again. Trump 2.0 has ground that into the Maga face in a range of ways. The corruption is out there for anyone to see while the cost of living, food and health prominently, hits hard. Trump can no longer get away with "I am your retribution". What we don't know about MTG is what she knows, or thinks she knows, not only about her support base but about Trump's prospects. As JVL today says, Trump is declining "cognitively". He's a mess and unlike Biden, whose issues were kept from view to a great degree, Trump insists on a public display. And if Trump is a goner, and he really, really very well may be, at last, none of those who've been his lickspittles is going to be eligible to replace him. There'll be a vacuum and MTG seems to think she can fill it. So far in the present stoush she's been pretty quick-witted and sure-footed. Of course, maybe and maybe not - Trump even in mental disarray is never to be underestimated, but if he has met his match it's with someone who figured out how to beat him as he's won for so long.
Maybe MTG loses the 'war', but it's not her that changed position on issues: she has stayed on point that releasing the Epstein files is important, and that Trump was supposed to be lowering prices to help ordinary Americans. She hasn't moved left. It's simply that he's not kept his promises (no surprise to non-MAGAs).
Trump doesn't retreat. He just changes targets. If this was football, the petition and vote would be a 20 yard sack, but Trump would just turn around and attack the other goal post.
Y’all are missing the part where when 2 soulless manipulative creatures insult each other & neither has enough empathy to care…. They are performing like they care… but they don’t feel any of it.
"If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a Law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a Law."
The latter scenario is a pocket veto. Wki says: "If a bill is pocket vetoed while Congress is out of session, the only way for Congress to circumvent the pocket veto is to reintroduce the legislation as a new bill, pass it through both chambers, and present it to the President again for signature."
Mr. Kristol. hits the nail on the head as always. I think our Sens & Reps have come to regard their elected positions as career ops, not a civic duty. Look at what that has spawned.
I'm not a participant in any fight between Groypers, QAnon, the Kirks, Proud Boys, Promise Keepers, Steve Bannon, or the KKK. I'm not inclined to want them in the coalition either.
No worries, once The Don accepts the golden parachute to Mar-A-Lago along with the full pardon from President Vance the RINOs can be brought to heel and Project 2025 can be fully implemented. What could possibly go wrong? Welcome to the sunlit uplands provided by a Republicrat administration where no pesky "elections" are needed to keep the good times coming. Laissez les bon temps roulez!
On the one hand, Trump has exercised an extraordinary hold over the GOP, and now over various other institutions.
On the other hand, he couldn't have done it without some powerful and influential people willing to promote and defend him for their own purposes. He probably doesn't care all that much about their agendas, except for the parts that have empowered and enriched him.
MAGA may be mostly Trump-centric, but the "counterrevoluiton" is being driven by other people. Whether it needs a pseudo-populist demagogue to sustain it is something we will find out.
MAGA is two things: a populist movement (fueled mostly by grievance), and a cult of personality (Trump, and only Trump). If Trump is removed from the equation, what is left? My guess is, not much. A populist movement doesn't work without popularity. Trump has it. Vance sure as hell does not have it, and neither does any other would-be successor. As for personality cults based around one man, they tend not to last without their one man. Even though I'm a pessimist, I suspect MAGA breaks down into squabbling factions once Trump is gone.
The necessary delays required to scrub the EFiles of POTUS and Republican names are finally complete. A new cudgel to wield against the Dems has been successfully created and soon to be deployed. Vile.
So I spent some time yesterday doing something that normally I’d never do out of a desire to preserve my sanity: I looked through the conservative subreddit and found some very interesting comments which I will summarize here (it’s long but trust me, it’s worth reading):
1. One of the comments with the most upvotes said that the party needs more people who are willing to challenge Trump the way Massie and MTG are doing, instead of being comprised of a bunch of Trump yes men. That genuinely surprised me.
2. However, there was also a lot of pushback on MTG specifically. While most comments supported the idea that Trump needs to be challenged more, a lot of people objected to MTG being the right messenger. They felt she was too much of a conspiracy kook and preferred someone more serious. They also expressed a lot of disdain for Kash Patel. Overall, they seemed to want serious and competent people in these positions but they don’t seem to understand that the outcomes they want this administration to achieve are not something a serious and competent person would ever facilitate.
3. There was broad agreement that the reason Trump was surrounded by yes men and incompetents was because Trump himself excommunicates anyone who isn’t loyal to him. This didn’t undermine their support for him, though.
4. There was a lot of disappointment and pessimism about the “America first” agenda. Many of the comments expressed that they felt “America first” is dead and Trump hasn’t delivered on his promises. But nevertheless, democrats are worse, of course. This concerns me because it seems like this is the opening the door to Nick Fuentes.
5. Despite expressing a desire for people who are willing to challenge Trump, they also expressed a contradictory desire to see Republicans more united. And this brings me to the biggest surprise of all: They see THEIR party as being fractured and in disarray and see DEMOCRATS as being a the more united party. That absolutely blew my mind right out of my skull. They see absolutely no difference between Chuck Schumer, Mikie Sherrill, Jared Golden, and Zohran Mamdani. They believe democrats are all united under the banner of socialism/communism/marxism (one of the comments literally said this…I did not infer it). They attribute this to the fact that liberals are all brainwashed and don’t allow independent thought, but also expressed that this was something they wanted to see more of in their own party.
6. They are very pessimistic about the midterms next year.
My conclusion from these very contradictory views is that they want serious people who challenge Trump, but not too much and only on the things they want him to be challenged about, like the America first agenda.
So why am I posting this here? Only to say that I’m not sure if MTG is winning, exactly. Or maybe she is, but we the people are not. In looking at these comments expressing disappointment about the America first agenda, my fear is that she’s going to drag the party even further right. She still won’t disavow Nick Fuentes. She is still spreading conspiracies about Jews. It sounds like she’s trying to curtail her conspiracy kookiness because she realizes it’s not actually helping her, and instead she’s trying to sanewash her extremism to appeal to voters like the ones in these comments.
Wow, thanks for taking the time to research and provide this summary. So depressing - mostly, anyway.
As to MTG, I'm hoping that Dems can start to frame the broader anti-Trump/MAGA as a movement that is not Democrat vs. Republican, left vs. right. I think it can be a broader movement, if we frame it in some neutral way (like MAGA did) - Take America Back, for example. The fight and messaging should be a populist fight of us vs. the billionaires and their corruption, so we can welcome as many people into the tent as possible without checking past credentials at the front door.
Thus, MTG is not part of the far right, she's part of the movement to Take America Back from the billionaires and their corruption that is hurting the rest of us. Maybe MTG is too extreme of an example (and I still think the jury is out on her real intentions/persona), but I think there is a lot of be said for laying out the welcome mat for those who have been on the right, particularly at this critical moment when Trump/MAGA is teetering.
Democrats and Republicans, take heed. In addition to the release of the Epstein files, one promising area for the left and the right to come together on is overturning Citizens United. We need to get unlimited corporate "big money" and wealthy special interests "dark money" out of our elections, so their results reflect the collective voice of American citizens. Corporations are not persons. And billionaires should not have a greater voice in the US government than the average American does.
We need to build on this kumbaya moment of unprecedented bipartisanship on the Epstein vote, to find other areas we can agree on so there is movement forward on what unites us. The divisions (racism and bigotry and Christian nationalism) will always be there unfortunately, but if we focus on what we can agree on, Trump’s base might wake up from its MAGA fever dream and realize it’s the Dems who advocate for their interests, not the billionaire class.
Very few GOP lawmakers are currently pushing serious corporate campaign spending reforms except for Hawley. Now that the Felon in Chief is a lame duck (and people will likely rise up if he tries to stay this time around), MT-G, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley and the like would probably jump on the bandwagon and the movement to overturn Citizens United could gain serious momentum. Let’s gooooo!
Some Breitbart rando: “When you go on CNN crying about Trump, you get what you deserve.” But that's the thing. She _didn't_ go on CNN crying about Trump. We could all see that (and I'm no fan). And if she's getting what she deserves, is that....control of the narrative? This person's comment just sounds like more spiraling from the misogynistic people/bots who are going into overdrive now that the Epstein files are on the verge of being released. What most people want from politicians is realness. "Authenticity." Trump used to give them that. He no longer does. Marjorie Taylor Greene is stepping into the breach.
The fact that the Epstein bill sailed through both houses with only one "no" vote guarantees a override of any Trump veto. I think he'll do one, two or maybe both things: Let the files stand as they are, redacted to hell and then try his best lizard-brained self to spin any culpability. "Dems, Dems, Dems, Lunatics, Lunatics, Lunatics." Or he and the DOJ will announce that they can't release the files because of any ongoing investigation, conveniently called for two weeks ago. I'm not sure he's more scared of his crimes than he is of his elitist buddies. That kind of money and power don't play. Hope he is outed, impeached and removed. Amen.
It looks to me like MTG has some advantages earlier challengers have lacked. She hasn't abandoned the Maga crowd but claims - however improbably - that there is common purpose between Maga and others: "we have ALL been spurned". Maga was created out of resentment at being ignored by the powerful in Washington, only to be ignored again. Trump 2.0 has ground that into the Maga face in a range of ways. The corruption is out there for anyone to see while the cost of living, food and health prominently, hits hard. Trump can no longer get away with "I am your retribution". What we don't know about MTG is what she knows, or thinks she knows, not only about her support base but about Trump's prospects. As JVL today says, Trump is declining "cognitively". He's a mess and unlike Biden, whose issues were kept from view to a great degree, Trump insists on a public display. And if Trump is a goner, and he really, really very well may be, at last, none of those who've been his lickspittles is going to be eligible to replace him. There'll be a vacuum and MTG seems to think she can fill it. So far in the present stoush she's been pretty quick-witted and sure-footed. Of course, maybe and maybe not - Trump even in mental disarray is never to be underestimated, but if he has met his match it's with someone who figured out how to beat him as he's won for so long.
Maybe MTG loses the 'war', but it's not her that changed position on issues: she has stayed on point that releasing the Epstein files is important, and that Trump was supposed to be lowering prices to help ordinary Americans. She hasn't moved left. It's simply that he's not kept his promises (no surprise to non-MAGAs).
Trump doesn't retreat. He just changes targets. If this was football, the petition and vote would be a 20 yard sack, but Trump would just turn around and attack the other goal post.
Y’all are missing the part where when 2 soulless manipulative creatures insult each other & neither has enough empathy to care…. They are performing like they care… but they don’t feel any of it.
The Senate just passed the House bill via unanimous consent engineered by Schumer. It's going to the WH now.
Article 1, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution:
"If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a Law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a Law."
The latter scenario is a pocket veto. Wki says: "If a bill is pocket vetoed while Congress is out of session, the only way for Congress to circumvent the pocket veto is to reintroduce the legislation as a new bill, pass it through both chambers, and present it to the President again for signature."
Wow what a turnaround!
Mr. Kristol. hits the nail on the head as always. I think our Sens & Reps have come to regard their elected positions as career ops, not a civic duty. Look at what that has spawned.
I'm not a participant in any fight between Groypers, QAnon, the Kirks, Proud Boys, Promise Keepers, Steve Bannon, or the KKK. I'm not inclined to want them in the coalition either.
Breaking: the votes were 427 to 1 to release the files.
No worries, once The Don accepts the golden parachute to Mar-A-Lago along with the full pardon from President Vance the RINOs can be brought to heel and Project 2025 can be fully implemented. What could possibly go wrong? Welcome to the sunlit uplands provided by a Republicrat administration where no pesky "elections" are needed to keep the good times coming. Laissez les bon temps roulez!
On the one hand, Trump has exercised an extraordinary hold over the GOP, and now over various other institutions.
On the other hand, he couldn't have done it without some powerful and influential people willing to promote and defend him for their own purposes. He probably doesn't care all that much about their agendas, except for the parts that have empowered and enriched him.
MAGA may be mostly Trump-centric, but the "counterrevoluiton" is being driven by other people. Whether it needs a pseudo-populist demagogue to sustain it is something we will find out.
MAGA is two things: a populist movement (fueled mostly by grievance), and a cult of personality (Trump, and only Trump). If Trump is removed from the equation, what is left? My guess is, not much. A populist movement doesn't work without popularity. Trump has it. Vance sure as hell does not have it, and neither does any other would-be successor. As for personality cults based around one man, they tend not to last without their one man. Even though I'm a pessimist, I suspect MAGA breaks down into squabbling factions once Trump is gone.
Wish Joe Perticone were doing a live show on the House proceedings right now!