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The GQP: Trumpist Death Cult


Hugo Stiglitz

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16 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Relating to the party as a whole, and lastly, the Georgia senate race, I found this perspective below to be thoughtful. I've been thinking about it in more detail as I attempt to assist a friend with locating a mental health practitioner in the state. So much of a 'why bother' mindset has become entrenched in our population due to the willful disregard of issues and substantive policy that unless someone is personally affected, they just shrug. They do that with all areas of public sector services from transportation to food safety to education to healthcare. That the GOP has had little in the way of policy is nothing new, but the drag on society due to the inertia is causing asphyxiation.

 

Out to brunch describes the vast majority of the American Electorate. Politics is a combatant sporting event in the United States. Most come for the spectacle, not the policies that affect them all. Unfortunately, the spectacle devolved into a Constitutional crisis - orchestrated by clowns. So policy is not the priority. 

And even when we have time for policy, it's easier to just punt than fix it. For instance - M4A essentially died today for this upcoming Congress. That was a big deal for some people. Not so much for others with reliable health care. 

Hook 'em

___________

TLDR: progressives blinked.

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6 hours ago, washparkhorn said:

Out to brunch describes the vast majority of the American Electorate. Politics is a combatant sporting event in the United States. Most come for the spectacle, not the policies that affect them all. Unfortunately, the spectacle devolved into a Constitutional crisis - orchestrated by clowns. So policy is not the priority. 

And even when we have time for policy, it's easier to just punt than fix it. For instance - M4A essentially died today for this upcoming Congress. That was a big deal for some people. Not so much for others with reliable health care. 

Hook 'em

___________

TLDR: progressives blinked.

IMO, while hopeful, I started to realize it was never going to happen with the old guard during this election cycle. It was/is? becoming the carrot that they hold out from the comfortable position of having a robust taxpayer funded HC to the voters. I read a short essay by a progressive blogger that discussed the 'we're halfway there' mantra that pointed out the problem with that incremental approach is that you don't really get there (especially when you recognize that there are those who are fighting it every step of the way). If I thought there was a long game--a systematic approach to making it happen (similar to McConnell and the dark money buying judges for the rich and powerful) then I might be more optimistic. But the reality is that the rich and powerful wish to stay that way and they want us to beg them for the power we gave them. It seems that there is never a 'right time' for M4A if people listen to them: it's always, 'wait, now is not a good time--we have X things that are more urgent/solvable/doable now.' Martin Luther King understood that as did John Lewis and praise the Lord they pressed and pressed and fomented good trouble.

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On 1/2/2021 at 7:33 AM, HenryJames said:

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This guy is fucking damaged.  #1, Vanilla Ice was never awesome.  #2, notice how he's making sure you know it's his birthday just in case you didn't so you can make sure to also give him a birthday shoutout.  You know, you, a person he doesn't know, but he still needs your attention and your shoutouts.  Because he's damaged.

Between this and Lin Wood and Herschel tweets in other threads and seeing all the homeless camps around Austin when I left the house yetserday, I think we really need to get serious about solving our mental health crisis in this country. 

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This could go in any number of threads.  Nothing particularly new, but I thought an impressive synopsis and synthesis of the known information.  https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/what-republicans-are-doing-worse-treason/617538/

 

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“We are what we pretend to be,” Kurt Vonnegut wrote in the opening of his 1962 novel, Mother Night, “and so we must be careful what we pretend to be.” Republicans in Congress are pretending to be seditionists—and so they have become, in fact, seditionists.

 

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29 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Liked this observation; it's not just unthinking, at this point it is legitimizing and enabling. Words have meaning. The GOP well knows the meanings of words with respect to labels and depictions. It's an easy trap to set, but journos must stay open-eyed to the truth.

 

I agree that the Democrats could use some work on their branding efforts.  Not a huge fan of "Radical Right," given how the Rs have been beating the "Radical Left" drum for so long - it feels too tit-for-tat.  I'm sure the Lincoln Project guys could come up with something catchy. At their core, the Trump enablers are just traitors to their country and whatever ideals they once claimed to espouse.

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4 minutes ago, Gap03 said:

Not a huge fan of "Radical Right," given how the Rs have been beating the "Radical Left" drum for so long - it feels too tit-for-tat.  I'm sure the Lincoln Project guys could come up with something catchy.

“The Third Reight.”

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Yes he is. And while that appears to be a principled stance, he’s still an elected Republican which means by law he has to still take his dunderheadedness out in public to show it off. He’s just chosen a different wrinkle of nincompoopiness than most of his colleagues. He’s showing off his approximation of a thinking man with this dim witted moronity. 

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Thinking about all the Georgia SoS stuff this morning, I don't know that the Republican party is recoverable in any working sense.  They are thoroughly compromised.  By supporting Trump's attacks on the media, by making the truth malleable, they have painted themselves into a corner.  Raffensberger and Kemp seem to be pretty standard Republicans.  They aren't RINOs, they just made the mistake of following the law while performing their duties.  Look at the results.  They cant clear their names with the truth, because that's no longer a thing.  They could hand count every ballot in front of a camera to validate the results and MAGA would not believe their own eyes.  That's why you see so many young or ambitious Rs toeing the line, because to do otherwise is political suicide.  They will scream LAW AND ORDER, but ignore Trump's attacks on both, because they have conceded the high ground to him.  

The media attacks have been destructive and effective.  Going back to Raffensberger, what can he do to combat Trump's lies?  Fox, OAN, Newsmax have all told their captive audience one set of numbers and for many, that is all that will ever matter.  Same thing with all the false election fraud.  Even when forced to correct the Dominion story, how effective will that actually be to the overall story?  When you run damaging claims 12 hours a day for weeks across all your prime time and popular timeslots, and then issue a 5 minute correction buried in daytime coverage, the truth is still the victim.  Of course, they have the built in deep-state excuse to fall back on to avoid any blame for their lies.  Raffensberger going on CNN to to air his grievances just reinforces the RINO/deep-state label.  Its a perfect system.

Working backwards from that understanding, you cant expect any R to uphold their oath of office.  The truth is no longer a fixed point of reference, ergo rules and boundaries are no longer limitations that will be adhered to.  This will get worse before it gets better, because they have crossed the Rubicon.  Any actions from here on out will be self-preserving in nature.  Trump will do anything to maintain power because its the only thing keeping him from getting hammered legally.  Republicans will do anything to keep him in power because Trump tells them to.  He has ensured they put him and the party over their office and the constitution.  

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15 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

I just can't anymore

 

I just read the background on this.

Republicans are refusing to swear in the Democratic winner of the SD-45 district who won by 69 (nice) votes because the Republican is challenging. 

A Dem senator motioned to prevent all Senators-elect from being sworn in until this issue is resolved. A GOP senator invoked a PA Constitutional power that the Senate can judge the elections and qualifications of its members and delay the swearing-in. 

Fetterman rejected that invocation and wanted all Senators-elect, including the SD-45 winner, sworn in.  President Pro Tempore takes over and reads a resolution to replace Fetterman as presiding officer with himself.  

The GOP Senators-elect were sworn in and then the Senate majority leader made a request that the SD-45 winner not be sworn in.  President Pro Tempore says no Dems will be sworn in until the SD-45 winner removes himself from the chamber.  He did, so the 9 Democratic Senators-elect were sworn in after he left.  Fetterman also left and ceded his dutiesto another Senator until a new President Pro Tempore is elected.  

They re-elected the same President Pro Tempore, as the GOP have an 8 seat majority (9 until the SD-45 winner is sworn in), so it didn't matter. 

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1 hour ago, Js1 said:

I just read the background on this.

Republicans are refusing to swear in the Democratic winner of the SD-45 district who won by 69 (nice) votes because the Republican is challenging. 

A Dem senator motioned to prevent all Senators-elect from being sworn in until this issue is resolved. A GOP senator invoked a PA Constitutional power that the Senate can judge the elections and qualifications of its members and delay the swearing-in. 

Fetterman rejected that invocation and wanted all Senators-elect, including the SD-45 winner, sworn in.  President Pro Tempore takes over and reads a resolution to replace Fetterman as presiding officer with himself.  

The GOP Senators-elect were sworn in and then the Senate majority leader made a request that the SD-45 winner not be sworn in.  President Pro Tempore says no Dems will be sworn in until the SD-45 winner removes himself from the chamber.  He did, so the 9 Democratic Senators-elect were sworn in after he left.  Fetterman also left and ceded his dutiesto another Senator until a new President Pro Tempore is elected.  

They re-elected the same President Pro Tempore, as the GOP have an 8 seat majority (9 until the SD-45 winner is sworn in), so it didn't matter. 

So they just removed him to be assholes and it didn't change anything?

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Just now, Biff Tannen said:

So they just removed him to be assholes and it didn't change anything?

Yes.  PA Gov issued a scathing statement directed at the Senate Republicans.  The SD-45 winner has been reviewed and held up by the state Supreme Court.  There's no other remedy for the Republican who won't concede. 

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Republicans in Pennsylvania and nationally have spread disinformation and used it to subvert the democratic process. Sen. Jim Brewster rightfully won the 45th Senate District, but Senate Republicans are ignoring the voters in the district and refusing to swear him in as Senator. This is a shameful power grab that disgraces the institution.

 

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I think those were the same two women that said they couldn't get Covid-19 because they don't have the right "vibrations" to receive the virus.  I'm serious, I think it's them.  I admit I'm not good at recognizing crazy people for the simple reason---I just don't care.  

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11 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

 

That's the obvious end game.  What's the point of kowtowing to a guy who can't win you elections?  2016 was a fluke enabled by a terrible Democratic candidate.  Trump is toxic electorally.  His base of crazy people isn't big enough and isn't going to grow.

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3 minutes ago, WBT said:

That's the obvious end game.  What's the point of kowtowing to a guy who can't win you elections?  2016 was a fluke enabled by a terrible Democratic candidate.  Trump is toxic electorally.  His base of crazy people isn't big enough and isn't going to grow.

They should proceed carefully. Eric Trump is going to personally ensure any dissenters are primaried. Even he has to hold his breath until he turns blue.

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51 minutes ago, WBT said:

That's the obvious end game.  What's the point of kowtowing to a guy who can't win you elections?  2016 was a fluke enabled by a terrible Democratic candidate.  Trump is toxic electorally.  His base of crazy people isn't big enough and isn't going to grow.

I’m not convinced it won’t grow.  This country is chock full on stupid, selfish, mean-spirited Christians.

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4 minutes ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

I’m not convinced it won’t grow.  This country is chock full on stupid, selfish, mean-spirited Christians.

It might, but there were a shitton of right-leaning folks that despise Trump but went along with him because they thought it was necessary for victory to keep the dirty libs out of power. That belief is now forever shattered.

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3 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

 

Act 2 Scene 2

Romeo: I would I were thy bird

Juliet: Sweet, so would I,
Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.
Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.

 

They were in love with him before, they can stay tied to him if he emerges from this latest feud.

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10 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

FINALLY.  Some lawyer on CNN just called the Rs "petulant infants".  WHY DID IT TAKE 4 YEARS FOR SOMEONE TO SAY THIS?

Dems are in full gloat mode. We’ve shut them out of power and don’t have to worry about being nice to get votes in the Senate anymore 

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