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MoosesMom's avatar

In last night's TNB, Sarah was clearly concerned that the NYC Indictment will make trump the GOP nominee, and that he could very well win the general election because of it. While I understand her angst, I think it's misplaced.

Which trump voter or elected GOP official (even "elite" and "normies") would have reacted differently if the first Indictment had been the Jan 6 case, or the Documents case, or even the GA State case? These people simply do not want accountability for their dear leader. Any Indictment would have garnered the same response and reaction. Which one of them was going to say, "We need to let the judicial process play out, wait to see the evidence, before rushing to judgement"?

Sarah appears to believe that a stronger, more "serious" case would have somehow appealed to reason, all evidence from the past 7-8 years to the contrary. Most of trump's supporters (voters and elected officials) operate on a visceral level, while the rest of them operate on a cynical level (as in "we're held hostage by our base" or "we can overlook the noise because we want to gain and keep power for our side").

Lastly, while I have great sympathy for the genuine concern that Sarah feels for our nation, the fact remains that if trump is re-elected, it isn't on the Democrats for that outcome. Democrats have not methodically weaponized the judicial process - they have not exerted sway over it. Some might cheer the fact that Accountability is finally at hand, in some small measure so far, but to shy away from it would indeed be playing politics. It's more than mere words when said "without fear or favor" - it is the foundation of principles that our nation must embrace.

I think part of my fatigue is the insistence that we always try to make things easier for the GOP to accept and move on with. What about the rest of the country who is so sick and tired of always being one election away from the collapse of our democracy? Should we have asked Rosa Parks to give up her seat, because to do otherwise would spark civil unrest? Should we have insisted that LBJ not work so assiduously to pass the Voting Rights and Civil Rights Acts, because it would cost the Democrats the South for generations to come? Of course not. So why put the burden for what the GOP has wrought squarely on the shoulders of the Democrats, asking us to somehow divine how to lead them safely back from the brink?

I'm all for doing what we can to change this toxic environment, except when it requires us to turn our back on our core principles, in the futile hope that the GOP will finally do what's best for our country. The only ones I see willing to do that are former Republicans and Never-Trumpers. Can we all agree that our country would be in far better shape today if the Republican Party had not sacrificed their core principles at the altar of trump? Sometimes we, as people, and we, as a nation, get to the point of ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY. I'm there.

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Denis M.'s avatar

Daniel Kelly's speech was yet one more example of how whiney victimhood is now perceived as strength by the populist wing of the GOP. Utterly disgraceful and petty.

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