Don’t expect any profile in courage from John Cornyn. Not even the token “Johnny-Come-Lately” morality that Tillis and Cassidy have demonstrated.
Cornyn was an awful Senator his whole career. A cowardly, immoral partisan that never had the courage to think for himself. He spent literally decades trying to move up in the Republican apparatus. It succeeded and he lived a comfortable life always toeing the party line and then the Trump line (synonymous).
Cornyn will be forgotten by all sides. Hopefully his best contribution will be helping indirectly Talarico win the open Texas senate seat.
Amanda Carpenter commented on the livestream saying Cornyn will support the Republican candidate, meaning Paxton in the general. It is so predictable but still infuriating.
That's disgusting on Cornyn's part, and I respect Carpenter's opinion of him. When character no longer matters in a party, as is true of Republicans, it needs to wonder in the wilderness for 40 yrs to let a new generation lead it.
Yeah he’s gonna quietly support Paxton but hopefully some of his voters won’t. Texas is such a hard needle to thread for the Dems. They need to get votes across the board from various swing groups.
Hopefully with all the enemies Paxton has someone will drop a bomb late in the race like what happened to Roy Moore. I’m sure there’s a lot about Paxton we don’t know.
I am hoping that ICE has already lost most of the Hispanic vote for Republicans, but I’m not sure the Trump 24 voters show up for midterms. Best case is an enthusiastic turnout from Dems, which Talarico can count on. My Texas Dems like him a lot. 🤞🏼
Cornyn maybe takes a Mark Meadows path - out of the limelight, into the monied swamps of think talks, lobbying, & regulatory capture for personal profit. He'll be just fine (sigh)
"Does anybody remember Paul Ryan? What ever happened to him? Nobody ever talks about Paul anymore... Paul Ryan, the late great Paul Ryan?? He wasn't always so nice to 'Trump' but I never had any problem... I didn't really know him at all. He wasn't around very long..."
Texas will offer the bellwether election about the true nature of Americans. Either we are a nation that can admit our mistake, refute the rule of billionaire fascists led by a degenerate clown, or are will really a nation that his ok with being run by a group of very wealthy people who use racism, nationalism, and violence to keep a few people very rich and powerful while exploiting everyone else?
I agree. As lifelong Texan, it breaks my heart to say that my fellow Texans will most likely send Ken Paxton to the U.S Senate. As this race goes, so goes the U.S. Un-effing-believable.
Texas is interesting in that it does have a unique opportunity to kick their outsized political influencing billionaires in the teeth. It's not like Koch or Musk have done much for the average Texan. Here's hoping for a Talarico win and a full blown dummymander.
I don't think it's a bellweather - Texas is in many ways its own thing (demographic makeup + influence of oil and gas). But, compared to places like Idaho, Utah, South Dakota, Tennessee, etc. - Texas is relatively "purple", and certainly more representative of the U.S. as a whole. For better or worse.
Texas and Florida have been leading the nation in the race to achieve maximum oppression, racism, and fascism. Texas has been controlled by oil money for 50 years, and now some tech bros. But Texas has a very diverse population now, lots of Spanish-speaking citizens, Black people in big cities, and the cities are vibrant.
Yet, every time people hope for a Blue shift it comes up 1 to 3% short. Even Ted Cruz, one of the most hated politicians in America, keeps winning. Like Trump, Paxton is a repeat felon. Will that be helpful to him as it was for Trump? Or will Talarico become the Texas answer to Doug Jones?
WTF do I know? I'm far away in Massachusetts -- Not a bellwether state, but wishing it was.
"This result came as a heavy blow to anyone still carrying a hopeful torch for some unsullied original-flavor Republican party to reemerge from the ashes of Trumpism. Believe it or not, these people are still out there;"
A couple days ago I heard David French pining for a Cornyn victory as a sign the Republican Party was healing itself. Sorry. The disease is terminal.
Wow. Talk about living in the past. Was he also crying out for the days when real men rode horses to work? I thought David French was required to keep up with the news for his job.
Any healing of the Republican Party will only come once Trump is gone, and even then I suspect a lot more blood letting than healing at least initially.
Here's the attitude I want to see from Republican primary voters who voted for Cornyn: I want them to go Never-Paxton. I want them to understand that their fellow GOP voters in Texas who voted for Paxton gave them all a big fuck you with their votes. They voted for a corrupt criminal over a semi-respectable, reliable Trump vote in the Senate. There will be little difference in how Cornyn or Paxton vote in the Senate; the GOP Texas electorate chose Paxton because they hate the Cornyn voters. And it's about time the Cornyn voters realize it and do what they can to make sure come November that Paxton is never their representative in the Senate. This is completely within their power, and Democratic primary voters did their job by giving them the most palatable Democratic alternative they could in the general election. Paxton voters just said fuck you to Cornyn voters, and Cornyn voters can either take it or they can give them a fuck you right back in November.
And per Bill's piece, while I agree with Michael Wood's sentiments wholeheartedly, Talarico's gracious gesture to Cornyn voters was absolutely the smart and correct move to make for someone trying their utmost to win this Texas seat. Absolutely perfect, impressive messaging from Talarico.
Don, if only those Republican voters were smart and moral enough. We have a friend who said she was voting for Cornyn because she hates Paxton. When asked who she'll vote for in November, her response - "I'll be voting for Paxton because I'm a Republican and have to keep voting that way". Their disease is terminal.
Hopefully Talarico can win some of these folks over. It's a long shot, for sure. But yeah, it is endlessly frustrating to see Dem primary voters pick the most electable candidate, GOP primary voters pick the most odious candidate, and still the odds on favorite to win in the general is the odious candidate. And this does not change unless people like your friend either don't vote or vote for the Democrat instead of the Republican they say they hate. It's the same with the Haley voters who voted for Trump in '24. Unless and until they stop being complicit, they're only making their party worse.
Don - most bullgoose MAGA choose to be too far gone, but there's some slice of independents & lower interest voters that could be encouraged to vote their own interests or to act against the corrupt political class they see running the show in TX. Talarico appears to have that focus
I think that a lot of them are proverbial "Cleveland Browns fans." They know that their team sucks and that the billionaires in charge of it keep finding novel ways of perennially embarrassing themselves and everyone involved. Yet they keep throwing money at the team because G-- D----- they could NEVER be Pittsburgh Steelers fans even though it's a short distance away, consists of the same types of people, and the people in charge of the franchise are competent at their jobs and make sure that they win a decent amount.
By the way, I'm originally from the Cleveland area and think that both cities are great.
Wife is from Cleveland. Yep, the Steelers are the devil (unless it’s them vs some Sun Belt team in the Super Bowl, in which case she backs her fellow Rust Belters).
I can empathize with that. In all honesty though Pittsburgh is a great city, and I've always met nice people there every time I've visited.
My girlfriend at the time (now wife) and I visited the city in June 2015 around when the Cavs were in the Finals, happened to be wearing Cavs apparel, and were told by someone on the street:
"Hey man. We're all rooting for you in the Finals."
It was nice to hear that and also something I don't think that I'd ever hear a Clevelander say about a Pittsburgh sports team.
McRob - your wife is a good hearted person! I lived 20+ years in CLE area (7 in the city itself... West Side yo!). Best I could probably do is, as mom always told me, "...say nothing at all" 🤫
Kevin - some voters exist in a weird moral plane where "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it" breeds with "destroyed the village in order to save it"
To be fair, I’ve moved into the never Republican camp myself. They see us as anti-business, and that’s maybe the biggest thing for Texans. Those pesky environmental regs, you know.
As Bill said, both truth-telling and prudence are virtues. As is knowing which of these virtues is best relied upon when and in what circumstances. Talarico displays that latter virtue when he chooses to exercise prudence at this time
Just think, Texas was once the land of giants; LBJ, GHW Bush, Lloyd Benson, Ann Richards. Now it is the state of Ted Cruz, Ken Paxton, Abbott, Chip Roy(gone). Texas has become the Lone Shame State.
Dave - our great leader's (coff coff)national ambitions have devolved to how big a party center we can build and what color to paint the reflecting pool
I mean it is objectively worse to accommodate and protect Trump while stealing taxpayer money and cheating on your wife than it is to accommodate and protect Trump while not doing these things.
Andrew - well, pretty much only for Paxton's wife? OK, for the net amount of goodness in the universe too but I dunno how we all get our share of that pie. He isn't known to have stolen taxpayer money directly for his personal bank account (yay John!) but his campaign apparatuses have certainly done well with the corporate; many a pol manages to enjoy that largesse in ways besides campaign signs so I trust he'll eke by ok
Let’s also celebrate that Chip Roy lost his bid for Attorney General. He’s one of the most pernicious house members who tried to help overturn the election.
>>> "But as it turns out, that posture wasn’t as bulletproof as guys like Cornyn thought. It kept him in Trump’s good books as long as the president had bigger, more openly mutinous fish to fry. But once he had rid himself of the Mitt Romneys and Liz Cheneys of the world, Trump found himself at his leisure to start punishing smaller and smaller crimes: an unwillingness to abandon the legislative filibuster, a curiosity toward other candidates early in the 2024 presidential primary, the inescapable scent of belonging to a pre-Trump establishment at all."
This is a feature, not bug, of fascism. The whole idea of "we sit atop the pyramid" and "we kick out the bottom of the pyramid" means that the pyramid structure becomes top heavy... unless the top of the pyramid also gets smaller and smaller and smaller. When you've purged everyone but your loyalists, you just point the finger at the next least loyal person. There's always someone who, even if they're fanatically loyal, is a bit less fanatically loyal than your most loyal sycophants.
There will always be a next "RINO."
That's why it's purely suicidal to hitch a wagon to Trumpism and hope that Trumpists will turn their hungry-eyed gaze elsewhere while you cower in Trump's shadow. The beast will devour its shadow, it will devour itself; it must, it has to, in order to continue the top-down structure, in order to guarantee the fanatical loyalty of all the yet-to-be-devoured.
Sarah speculated last night on TNL that Texas Democrats may have turned out for Paxton. To be clear, anyone who voted in the Democratic primary in March was only able to vote in the Democratic runoffs. We even had to sign a document swearing that we were Democrats to be given a runoff ballot. So, Paxton's landslide victory was strictly due to Republicans.
I think Thomas Massie got it right. They're voting for the "craziest son of a bitch in the race." That explains Mark Robinson (black Nazi porn addict) in North Carolina. It explains Roy Moore (banned from shopping malls) in Alabama. And it explains Ken Paxton (reported by his staff to the FBI) in Texas.
Any idea what the craziest son of a bitch is intended to get them? “Crazy”, as a virtue in itself, is intended to…what? Disrupt and overturn a system of entrenched interests that stand in the way of…winning the lottery? Second Coming of Jesus? There has to be some anticipated payoff that follows from destroying The System. Or aren’t they thinking that far ahead?
Just to be clear, the Republican senators have hardly been putting any blood and sweat into the job. If they had Trump would not have had the comeback to the oval office. They have been coasting along this whole time only to get plucked off one by one. Good luck old John and enjoy rereading DJT as your bedtime stories.
I thought successful politicians were supposed to have people skills. How did Cornyn not know that the only reward for humiliating yourself before Donald Trump is more humiliation? The ONLY thing Trump wants is MORE. How does this dorky civil engineer have better people skills than acUS Senator?
I absolutely agree with Mr. Wood about Cornyn and all the other republicans in Congress that changed the future of our country for power instead of doing the right thing. "In 2021 there were exactly 100 people who could have put this sad and sorry chapter of American history behind us for good, and in that moment John Cornyn hid behind Mitch McConnell’s skirt . . ." May they all one day get a HUGE DOSE of KARMA.
JVL is the only one who will ever lay any blame at the feet of the voters themselves. Yes, Cornyn deserves all the ridicule and blame he has coming, but let’s disabuse ourselves of the notion that the voters are anything other than rotten. They did not vote for Ken Paxton because their eggs were too expensive or [insert other rationalization used to justify voting for Trump in 2024]. They voted for him because they are cultish, slavish followers of the Church of Donald Trump and they have no principles aside from supporting whoever will hurt the people they hate the most and obeying their orange god figure.
It’s absolutely pathetic that after the past 1.5 years, this many Americans are still so fundamental broken that they can’t awaken from their stupor. And to think: This race will actually be competitive. Even if Talarico wins, it will be a close call.
I’m in no mood to celebrate America’s birthday this year. Our country is full of garbage people and I’m too filled with shame to partake in any festivities.
I’m celebrating. It’s my country, too, dammit! While I’m mortified and disgusted that we have a goniff like Trump in the White House for 250, I’m not gonna just toss the deed to him and his mob. I’m not moving to Canada, either (lovely as it is, & what my son keeps asking if I’m fed up enough to do yet).
"This result came as a heavy blow to anyone still carrying a hopeful torch for some unsullied original-flavor Republican party to reemerge from the ashes of Trumpism."
That old Republican Party of Lincoln & Eisenhower that you & I & Cornyn once were involved with no longer exists. That old Republican Party is DEAD & gone. That old Republican Party will NEVER return. The very name "Republican Party" has become so exceptionally TOXIC for tens of millions of Americans - mostly centrist voters - from all sorts of backgrounds & viewpoints that many of those centrist voters will NEVER vote for any "Republican" ever again for ANY local, state, or federal office. May the current MAGA Republican Party soon enjoy the fate of the Whig Party. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_Party_(United_States)
Don’t expect any profile in courage from John Cornyn. Not even the token “Johnny-Come-Lately” morality that Tillis and Cassidy have demonstrated.
Cornyn was an awful Senator his whole career. A cowardly, immoral partisan that never had the courage to think for himself. He spent literally decades trying to move up in the Republican apparatus. It succeeded and he lived a comfortable life always toeing the party line and then the Trump line (synonymous).
Cornyn will be forgotten by all sides. Hopefully his best contribution will be helping indirectly Talarico win the open Texas senate seat.
Amanda Carpenter commented on the livestream saying Cornyn will support the Republican candidate, meaning Paxton in the general. It is so predictable but still infuriating.
That's disgusting on Cornyn's part, and I respect Carpenter's opinion of him. When character no longer matters in a party, as is true of Republicans, it needs to wonder in the wilderness for 40 yrs to let a new generation lead it.
Yeah he’s gonna quietly support Paxton but hopefully some of his voters won’t. Texas is such a hard needle to thread for the Dems. They need to get votes across the board from various swing groups.
Hopefully with all the enemies Paxton has someone will drop a bomb late in the race like what happened to Roy Moore. I’m sure there’s a lot about Paxton we don’t know.
And probably don't want to know.
😖 🌊
The Farce runs strong in this one...
I am hoping that ICE has already lost most of the Hispanic vote for Republicans, but I’m not sure the Trump 24 voters show up for midterms. Best case is an enthusiastic turnout from Dems, which Talarico can count on. My Texas Dems like him a lot. 🤞🏼
And he washed it all down with a gallon of Kool-Aid
Amazing , I didn't know that worms could drink koolaid .
I am sure he will find a way to back crooked Ken, as well as the Republican party. ( those demonic Dems, you know)
Cornyn maybe takes a Mark Meadows path - out of the limelight, into the monied swamps of think talks, lobbying, & regulatory capture for personal profit. He'll be just fine (sigh)
That’s my guess too. He’s no profile in courage.
"Does anybody remember Paul Ryan? What ever happened to him? Nobody ever talks about Paul anymore... Paul Ryan, the late great Paul Ryan?? He wasn't always so nice to 'Trump' but I never had any problem... I didn't really know him at all. He wasn't around very long..."
He's still on board. The Fox board.
Collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year while poisoning the minds of voters.
Texas will offer the bellwether election about the true nature of Americans. Either we are a nation that can admit our mistake, refute the rule of billionaire fascists led by a degenerate clown, or are will really a nation that his ok with being run by a group of very wealthy people who use racism, nationalism, and violence to keep a few people very rich and powerful while exploiting everyone else?
I refuse to allow Texas to be the bellwether of Americas true nature.
Nope, not since Kennedy's assassination.
I agree. As lifelong Texan, it breaks my heart to say that my fellow Texans will most likely send Ken Paxton to the U.S Senate. As this race goes, so goes the U.S. Un-effing-believable.
Not optimistic. “Owning the libs” is still the most important thing to the majority of voters in Texas.
Texas is interesting in that it does have a unique opportunity to kick their outsized political influencing billionaires in the teeth. It's not like Koch or Musk have done much for the average Texan. Here's hoping for a Talarico win and a full blown dummymander.
I wouldn't exactly put Texas up as a Bellwether of the nation. :)
I don't think it's a bellweather - Texas is in many ways its own thing (demographic makeup + influence of oil and gas). But, compared to places like Idaho, Utah, South Dakota, Tennessee, etc. - Texas is relatively "purple", and certainly more representative of the U.S. as a whole. For better or worse.
Texas and Florida have been leading the nation in the race to achieve maximum oppression, racism, and fascism. Texas has been controlled by oil money for 50 years, and now some tech bros. But Texas has a very diverse population now, lots of Spanish-speaking citizens, Black people in big cities, and the cities are vibrant.
Yet, every time people hope for a Blue shift it comes up 1 to 3% short. Even Ted Cruz, one of the most hated politicians in America, keeps winning. Like Trump, Paxton is a repeat felon. Will that be helpful to him as it was for Trump? Or will Talarico become the Texas answer to Doug Jones?
WTF do I know? I'm far away in Massachusetts -- Not a bellwether state, but wishing it was.
Paxton is even less likable than Cruz, if that is possible. But Texans may just think this means he “owns the libs” even more.
Well, there's that. I think.
Mark Twain might have had something to say about the intelligence of the American people.
"This result came as a heavy blow to anyone still carrying a hopeful torch for some unsullied original-flavor Republican party to reemerge from the ashes of Trumpism. Believe it or not, these people are still out there;"
A couple days ago I heard David French pining for a Cornyn victory as a sign the Republican Party was healing itself. Sorry. The disease is terminal.
Wow. Talk about living in the past. Was he also crying out for the days when real men rode horses to work? I thought David French was required to keep up with the news for his job.
Is this the type of wish-casting they do at the "war college"? Come on David, you know better.
Kate - LOL 😊 ...maybe David stills relies on NYT to keep up? I'm sure the TX buckboard industry is poised for a powerful comeback
Any healing of the Republican Party will only come once Trump is gone, and even then I suspect a lot more blood letting than healing at least initially.
"There will come a time when Donald Trump is gone. But your dishonor will remain". ... Liz Cheney
¡siempre!
French is amusing , he is not getting his party back .
Here's the attitude I want to see from Republican primary voters who voted for Cornyn: I want them to go Never-Paxton. I want them to understand that their fellow GOP voters in Texas who voted for Paxton gave them all a big fuck you with their votes. They voted for a corrupt criminal over a semi-respectable, reliable Trump vote in the Senate. There will be little difference in how Cornyn or Paxton vote in the Senate; the GOP Texas electorate chose Paxton because they hate the Cornyn voters. And it's about time the Cornyn voters realize it and do what they can to make sure come November that Paxton is never their representative in the Senate. This is completely within their power, and Democratic primary voters did their job by giving them the most palatable Democratic alternative they could in the general election. Paxton voters just said fuck you to Cornyn voters, and Cornyn voters can either take it or they can give them a fuck you right back in November.
And per Bill's piece, while I agree with Michael Wood's sentiments wholeheartedly, Talarico's gracious gesture to Cornyn voters was absolutely the smart and correct move to make for someone trying their utmost to win this Texas seat. Absolutely perfect, impressive messaging from Talarico.
Don, if only those Republican voters were smart and moral enough. We have a friend who said she was voting for Cornyn because she hates Paxton. When asked who she'll vote for in November, her response - "I'll be voting for Paxton because I'm a Republican and have to keep voting that way". Their disease is terminal.
Hopefully Talarico can win some of these folks over. It's a long shot, for sure. But yeah, it is endlessly frustrating to see Dem primary voters pick the most electable candidate, GOP primary voters pick the most odious candidate, and still the odds on favorite to win in the general is the odious candidate. And this does not change unless people like your friend either don't vote or vote for the Democrat instead of the Republican they say they hate. It's the same with the Haley voters who voted for Trump in '24. Unless and until they stop being complicit, they're only making their party worse.
Don - most bullgoose MAGA choose to be too far gone, but there's some slice of independents & lower interest voters that could be encouraged to vote their own interests or to act against the corrupt political class they see running the show in TX. Talarico appears to have that focus
“Have to keep voting that way.” Another Republican zombie. Don’t they believe in rugged individualism?
I think that a lot of them are proverbial "Cleveland Browns fans." They know that their team sucks and that the billionaires in charge of it keep finding novel ways of perennially embarrassing themselves and everyone involved. Yet they keep throwing money at the team because G-- D----- they could NEVER be Pittsburgh Steelers fans even though it's a short distance away, consists of the same types of people, and the people in charge of the franchise are competent at their jobs and make sure that they win a decent amount.
By the way, I'm originally from the Cleveland area and think that both cities are great.
Wife is from Cleveland. Yep, the Steelers are the devil (unless it’s them vs some Sun Belt team in the Super Bowl, in which case she backs her fellow Rust Belters).
Tribalism can be a bitch.
I can empathize with that. In all honesty though Pittsburgh is a great city, and I've always met nice people there every time I've visited.
My girlfriend at the time (now wife) and I visited the city in June 2015 around when the Cavs were in the Finals, happened to be wearing Cavs apparel, and were told by someone on the street:
"Hey man. We're all rooting for you in the Finals."
It was nice to hear that and also something I don't think that I'd ever hear a Clevelander say about a Pittsburgh sports team.
McRob - your wife is a good hearted person! I lived 20+ years in CLE area (7 in the city itself... West Side yo!). Best I could probably do is, as mom always told me, "...say nothing at all" 🤫
Like the witch in Delaware " I have to be told what to think " .
Depends on the color of your team's jersey.
Kevin - some voters exist in a weird moral plane where "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it" breeds with "destroyed the village in order to save it"
To be fair, I’ve moved into the never Republican camp myself. They see us as anti-business, and that’s maybe the biggest thing for Texans. Those pesky environmental regs, you know.
As Bill said, both truth-telling and prudence are virtues. As is knowing which of these virtues is best relied upon when and in what circumstances. Talarico displays that latter virtue when he chooses to exercise prudence at this time
More likely, Texans will give a big “fuck you” to the rest of the country and send Paxton to the Senate.
Randall - there's that, yes 🤔
Just think, Texas was once the land of giants; LBJ, GHW Bush, Lloyd Benson, Ann Richards. Now it is the state of Ted Cruz, Ken Paxton, Abbott, Chip Roy(gone). Texas has become the Lone Shame State.
I agree, but lots of those folks also fought dirty and that never leads to good things.
I know.
Dave - our great leader's (coff coff)national ambitions have devolved to how big a party center we can build and what color to paint the reflecting pool
"It seems impossible to deny he is a better man than Paxton..."
A very low bar if ever I saw one.
In what way does it even matter if Cornyn will just do everything to accommodate and protect Trump? They are functionally the same.
I mean it is objectively worse to accommodate and protect Trump while stealing taxpayer money and cheating on your wife than it is to accommodate and protect Trump while not doing these things.
Andrew - well, pretty much only for Paxton's wife? OK, for the net amount of goodness in the universe too but I dunno how we all get our share of that pie. He isn't known to have stolen taxpayer money directly for his personal bank account (yay John!) but his campaign apparatuses have certainly done well with the corporate; many a pol manages to enjoy that largesse in ways besides campaign signs so I trust he'll eke by ok
Either one of them would brag about disenfranchising me, that's for sure.
Oh yeah .
Updated Trump Bingo Card:
Falls asleep during cabinet meeting/press briefing
Declares Walter Reed checkup "complete success"
Says Iran deal is coming "very soon"
Blames Biden/Obama for ____
Endorses primary opponent for GOP senator who votes 99% with Trump agenda
"Affordability Hoax"
Wears makeup to cover up skin bruising/rash/discoloring
"Dumocrats"
Brags about Iran's Navy/Air Force being destroyed (they were never a threat in the first place)
Attacks a press member
Demands/suggests that his AG investigate a political opponent
Begs for taxpayer ballroom funding
Plays golf (again)
Hypes up White House front lawn UFC fight
Calls Jerome Powell incompetent/asks why he is still working at the fed
"Epstein Hoax"
51st state/Greenland acquisition
Puts Marco Rubio in charge of something new
Fires a woman in his cabinet/senior gov position
Publicly praises Jinping/Putin
Partially-nationalizes some publicly-listed corporation
Announces a new tariff
Rescinds a tariff he put in place
"Panicans"
Starts a new grift scheme
...then lunch.
Happy Meal with a Diet Coke?
Is there an Xtra sugar coke?
Bingo! We got a winner!
Let’s also celebrate that Chip Roy lost his bid for Attorney General. He’s one of the most pernicious house members who tried to help overturn the election.
>>> "But as it turns out, that posture wasn’t as bulletproof as guys like Cornyn thought. It kept him in Trump’s good books as long as the president had bigger, more openly mutinous fish to fry. But once he had rid himself of the Mitt Romneys and Liz Cheneys of the world, Trump found himself at his leisure to start punishing smaller and smaller crimes: an unwillingness to abandon the legislative filibuster, a curiosity toward other candidates early in the 2024 presidential primary, the inescapable scent of belonging to a pre-Trump establishment at all."
This is a feature, not bug, of fascism. The whole idea of "we sit atop the pyramid" and "we kick out the bottom of the pyramid" means that the pyramid structure becomes top heavy... unless the top of the pyramid also gets smaller and smaller and smaller. When you've purged everyone but your loyalists, you just point the finger at the next least loyal person. There's always someone who, even if they're fanatically loyal, is a bit less fanatically loyal than your most loyal sycophants.
There will always be a next "RINO."
That's why it's purely suicidal to hitch a wagon to Trumpism and hope that Trumpists will turn their hungry-eyed gaze elsewhere while you cower in Trump's shadow. The beast will devour its shadow, it will devour itself; it must, it has to, in order to continue the top-down structure, in order to guarantee the fanatical loyalty of all the yet-to-be-devoured.
I am waiting for the beast to devour the Trump family. Admittedly my hopes are not high on that front, but you know what they say about hope.
Sarah speculated last night on TNL that Texas Democrats may have turned out for Paxton. To be clear, anyone who voted in the Democratic primary in March was only able to vote in the Democratic runoffs. We even had to sign a document swearing that we were Democrats to be given a runoff ballot. So, Paxton's landslide victory was strictly due to Republicans.
And Republican voters it turns out like criminals!
I think Thomas Massie got it right. They're voting for the "craziest son of a bitch in the race." That explains Mark Robinson (black Nazi porn addict) in North Carolina. It explains Roy Moore (banned from shopping malls) in Alabama. And it explains Ken Paxton (reported by his staff to the FBI) in Texas.
Welcome to Candace Owens 2028. She is the craziest of them all.
Unfortunately for Candace, she has melanin-rich skin and is Y-chromosome deficient.
Yeah. I think the crazies have decided on Tucker anyway.
Any idea what the craziest son of a bitch is intended to get them? “Crazy”, as a virtue in itself, is intended to…what? Disrupt and overturn a system of entrenched interests that stand in the way of…winning the lottery? Second Coming of Jesus? There has to be some anticipated payoff that follows from destroying The System. Or aren’t they thinking that far ahead?
"Some men just want to watch the world burn." - Alfred Pennyworth (The Dark Knight)
Maybe if we subsidize their mortgages they’ll be less nihilistic.
Own the libs.
Yikes! Then you have to take care of them - house-training, walks, even in the rain…
We're really expensive too. Just look at how much more households are spending to keep up.
For criminals
Just to be clear, the Republican senators have hardly been putting any blood and sweat into the job. If they had Trump would not have had the comeback to the oval office. They have been coasting along this whole time only to get plucked off one by one. Good luck old John and enjoy rereading DJT as your bedtime stories.
I live in Austin, Texas. On behalf of Ds everywhere, I note that my fellow Texans voted for the evil of two lessers.
Good one.
I thought successful politicians were supposed to have people skills. How did Cornyn not know that the only reward for humiliating yourself before Donald Trump is more humiliation? The ONLY thing Trump wants is MORE. How does this dorky civil engineer have better people skills than acUS Senator?
"People skills help, but they're not a requirement", droned McConnell helpfully.
You never sold out to the lobbyist of the day. Selling out takes zero people skills and very soon you've done it so much you forget any people skills.
Sell out? Make me an offer! 😀
Sorry, I'm currently working on the people skills to become a successful prosperity gospel preacher. You know, reverse lobbying.
I hear that's lucrative too!
I absolutely agree with Mr. Wood about Cornyn and all the other republicans in Congress that changed the future of our country for power instead of doing the right thing. "In 2021 there were exactly 100 people who could have put this sad and sorry chapter of American history behind us for good, and in that moment John Cornyn hid behind Mitch McConnell’s skirt . . ." May they all one day get a HUGE DOSE of KARMA.
JVL is the only one who will ever lay any blame at the feet of the voters themselves. Yes, Cornyn deserves all the ridicule and blame he has coming, but let’s disabuse ourselves of the notion that the voters are anything other than rotten. They did not vote for Ken Paxton because their eggs were too expensive or [insert other rationalization used to justify voting for Trump in 2024]. They voted for him because they are cultish, slavish followers of the Church of Donald Trump and they have no principles aside from supporting whoever will hurt the people they hate the most and obeying their orange god figure.
It’s absolutely pathetic that after the past 1.5 years, this many Americans are still so fundamental broken that they can’t awaken from their stupor. And to think: This race will actually be competitive. Even if Talarico wins, it will be a close call.
I’m in no mood to celebrate America’s birthday this year. Our country is full of garbage people and I’m too filled with shame to partake in any festivities.
"Texas Republicans Get What They Deserve" is the headline of the piece!
I’m celebrating. It’s my country, too, dammit! While I’m mortified and disgusted that we have a goniff like Trump in the White House for 250, I’m not gonna just toss the deed to him and his mob. I’m not moving to Canada, either (lovely as it is, & what my son keeps asking if I’m fed up enough to do yet).
Would your son be willing to pretend I'm his mom for emigration purposes? LOL
"This result came as a heavy blow to anyone still carrying a hopeful torch for some unsullied original-flavor Republican party to reemerge from the ashes of Trumpism."
That old Republican Party of Lincoln & Eisenhower that you & I & Cornyn once were involved with no longer exists. That old Republican Party is DEAD & gone. That old Republican Party will NEVER return. The very name "Republican Party" has become so exceptionally TOXIC for tens of millions of Americans - mostly centrist voters - from all sorts of backgrounds & viewpoints that many of those centrist voters will NEVER vote for any "Republican" ever again for ANY local, state, or federal office. May the current MAGA Republican Party soon enjoy the fate of the Whig Party. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_Party_(United_States)