"It’s beginning to look like Republicans go along with Trumpism not because they feel they must, but because they’ve really come to embody it."
Of course! What took you so long? Everyone constantly gives these people an "out", as if they are not grown men and women making decisions to join in the vileness or to remain silent about it.
"It’s beginning to look like Republicans go along with Trumpism not because they feel they must, but because they’ve really come to embody it."
Of course! What took you so long? Everyone constantly gives these people an "out", as if they are not grown men and women making decisions to join in the vileness or to remain silent about it.
Why does Steve Scalese, minority whip of the House, get a pass when he condemns the violence and sends thoughts and prayers to Speaker Pelosi, when he was the VERY ONE who stood up and outright LIED about Pelosi being the one to delay the National Guard from coming to help on Jan 6? Isn't he somewhat responsible for the hateful attitude they've built up towards Pelosi? Yes, he was the victim of a violent, political attack, but none of his colleagues were telling bold-faced lies about him to gin up the hatred.
Sorry, all of this just pisses me off with today's GOP, where Republicans, voters, former Republicans, and even the press, keep making excuses for them and giving them ways to escape any accountability.
Until we address the fact that it isn't just the "crazies" anymore, it's the "good" Republicans who are also making this environment acceptable and normal, when it should be neither.
The utter lack of decency and embrace of cruelty is worsening. At the gutter level, Don Trump, Jr has always been a weasel, but his response to the Pelosi attack is vile. He is a despicable, pathetic man-child.
He learned from the best. Both he and his father learned that since they were rich they they were special and could get anything they want and do anything they want without consequences.
The left's constant shock over the right's behavior is a form of denial. People on the left aren't facing difficult realities any better than people on the right. The right expresses their denial with outrage over problems that don't exist, and the left is stuck in perpetual shock. The left won't accept that the right is taking the country in a bad direction and that they can't stop them.
It's not really the Left that is shocked by the Right's behavior. We've been warning about the awfulness of the Right for decades.
It's the center and center-right that have been in denial this whole time and enabled what we're seeing today. Still enabling even today because gas prices.
The Left will never support the fascist GOP. The Center and Center-Right voters need to come to grips with reality and do it fast. You don't have to vote for the Democratic party forever. Just the next couple of elections to send a message that we will not tolerate this level of grossness and danger to our system of government and our society.
Convincing large numbers of people to vote for Democrats to remove the Republican threat didn't work. Polling isn't showing a turn to Democrats. The Republicans are continuing to gain power politically and culturally.
We don't have to convince large numbers of people. We just have to convince enough to swing things a point or two.
And isn't it working?
In 2016 Trump won the White House and the GOP had the Senate and the House.
In 2018 they lost the House and lost ground in the Senate.
In 2020 they lost the White House, the Senate and the House.
I'm not throwing in the towel on 2022. I still think we increase our margin in the Senate and keep the House. The momentum since 2016 has been trending away from MAGA, not towards it despite what you read about in the media.
The small Democratic wins aren't restraining the Republican's power. They are growing their influence on society. It would indicate a turn to Democrats, and sanity, if they can keep Congress. If they don't keep Congress, things will devolve quickly.
The center and center-right's concern with gas prices didn't arise organically. Every "mainstream" news source has been repeating this message for months. I honestly don't know how to stop the slide into fascism without completely reworking the modern media ecosystem.
I have come to the conclusion that our news media should be broken up and converted to private, not-for-profit entities. This, along with a ban on social media use by anyone under the age of 21, would do more to reduce the temperature in our country and begin to bring some sanity to our body politic.
It’s ironic that our treasured freedom of speech might be the tool of our demise. Every advance of humanity has a cadre of nihilists ready to exploit it for nefarious purposes. Social media has sped up that process.
The midterm election of 1974 shows that there was a time in America when people would cross party lines to send a message about unacceptable behavior from their party leaders.
Alas, those days seem to be long gone, and Nixon's crimes pale in comparison to the modern GOP's.
"It’s beginning to look like Republicans go along with Trumpism not because they feel they must, but because they’ve really come to embody it."
Of course! What took you so long? Everyone constantly gives these people an "out", as if they are not grown men and women making decisions to join in the vileness or to remain silent about it.
Why does Steve Scalese, minority whip of the House, get a pass when he condemns the violence and sends thoughts and prayers to Speaker Pelosi, when he was the VERY ONE who stood up and outright LIED about Pelosi being the one to delay the National Guard from coming to help on Jan 6? Isn't he somewhat responsible for the hateful attitude they've built up towards Pelosi? Yes, he was the victim of a violent, political attack, but none of his colleagues were telling bold-faced lies about him to gin up the hatred.
Sorry, all of this just pisses me off with today's GOP, where Republicans, voters, former Republicans, and even the press, keep making excuses for them and giving them ways to escape any accountability.
Until we address the fact that it isn't just the "crazies" anymore, it's the "good" Republicans who are also making this environment acceptable and normal, when it should be neither.
The utter lack of decency and embrace of cruelty is worsening. At the gutter level, Don Trump, Jr has always been a weasel, but his response to the Pelosi attack is vile. He is a despicable, pathetic man-child.
He learned from the best. Both he and his father learned that since they were rich they they were special and could get anything they want and do anything they want without consequences.
His father never loved him and never will. He is trying desperately to earn the love of his psychopathic father. He’s doomed to fail.
So true. We grade republicans, all of them, on a giant curve. Pretty ironic for the party that hates affirmative action.
So true!
The left's constant shock over the right's behavior is a form of denial. People on the left aren't facing difficult realities any better than people on the right. The right expresses their denial with outrage over problems that don't exist, and the left is stuck in perpetual shock. The left won't accept that the right is taking the country in a bad direction and that they can't stop them.
It's not really the Left that is shocked by the Right's behavior. We've been warning about the awfulness of the Right for decades.
It's the center and center-right that have been in denial this whole time and enabled what we're seeing today. Still enabling even today because gas prices.
The Left will never support the fascist GOP. The Center and Center-Right voters need to come to grips with reality and do it fast. You don't have to vote for the Democratic party forever. Just the next couple of elections to send a message that we will not tolerate this level of grossness and danger to our system of government and our society.
Convincing large numbers of people to vote for Democrats to remove the Republican threat didn't work. Polling isn't showing a turn to Democrats. The Republicans are continuing to gain power politically and culturally.
We don't have to convince large numbers of people. We just have to convince enough to swing things a point or two.
And isn't it working?
In 2016 Trump won the White House and the GOP had the Senate and the House.
In 2018 they lost the House and lost ground in the Senate.
In 2020 they lost the White House, the Senate and the House.
I'm not throwing in the towel on 2022. I still think we increase our margin in the Senate and keep the House. The momentum since 2016 has been trending away from MAGA, not towards it despite what you read about in the media.
I agree! but this whole spiel is severely undermining your “cynic” cred ;)
The small Democratic wins aren't restraining the Republican's power. They are growing their influence on society. It would indicate a turn to Democrats, and sanity, if they can keep Congress. If they don't keep Congress, things will devolve quickly.
In an odd paradox, most swing voters are the “undecided”, and they are the least informed category of the electorate. But they decide outcomes.
I agree with Liberal Cynic on what is needed, but I agree with you that it's not working :(
Well said!
The center and center-right's concern with gas prices didn't arise organically. Every "mainstream" news source has been repeating this message for months. I honestly don't know how to stop the slide into fascism without completely reworking the modern media ecosystem.
I have come to the conclusion that our news media should be broken up and converted to private, not-for-profit entities. This, along with a ban on social media use by anyone under the age of 21, would do more to reduce the temperature in our country and begin to bring some sanity to our body politic.
Limit social media to anyone under 21 and over 65. (I'd be locked out. )
So true. When they abolished the Fairness Doctrine and allowed Fox News' lies there was nothing anyone could do.
It’s ironic that our treasured freedom of speech might be the tool of our demise. Every advance of humanity has a cadre of nihilists ready to exploit it for nefarious purposes. Social media has sped up that process.
On the other hand, it has bought all of us mostly like minded people together, so there’s that.
It does need reworking.
I'm thinking a return to having party rags isn't the most terrible idea out there.
The Republicans were the people with the power to stop this, and they didn't. We will continue to slide.
The midterm election of 1974 shows that there was a time in America when people would cross party lines to send a message about unacceptable behavior from their party leaders.
Alas, those days seem to be long gone, and Nixon's crimes pale in comparison to the modern GOP's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_United_States_elections
1974 did teach Republicans a lesson. You can get away with anything if you stick together and brazen it out.
That's it. Noone expects them to be honest, so any wrongdoing is fine. Party of personal responsibility indeed!