As has been pointed out elsewhere, breaking from Trump seems to involve choosing DeSantis, a cleaner version (but with less personality) of Trump who gives all the same policies of punching down and hurting the "other" groups. No one ever suggests someone like Larry Hogan (popular blue state Republican governor) or Glenn Youngkin (business leader who flipped the governor's residence from blue to red) as the future of the GOP. No, it's gotta be guys like DeSantis who waste tax payer money to fly immigrants to New England to own the libs/Mexicans/women/anyone.
While I’m a big fan of the Leopards Eating Faces joke, I’m going to go with a different feline analogy: with Trump and Trumpism, the GOP establishment tried to ride a tiger, and the results were predictable. I think J6 was the first inkling they had that the tiger had thrown them off its back, and the 2022 midterms were the first time they realized the tiger had rounded on them and was charging.
The fact that the few actual policies they do have are unpopular leaves them with the undesirable option of doubling and tripling down on the culture war lunacy to try to deflect attention away from those policies. I agree that in any sane country the GOP and the political philosophy of conservatism itself should be dead in the water. But I’m not ready to count the GOP out, like the ghouls they are they have a talent for rising from the dead.
America, where you can be whatever you claim to be! Anyway, this explanation of modern Republicans is correct, as is every other explanation (remember epistemic closure?) and all boil down to: they’re assholes. A black hole of bigotry, anger and ignorance pulls them through the event horizon, never to re-enter the universe of normality the rest of us inhabit. Think Trump is bad? There’s worse coming - e.g., DeSantos - or already here - Alito, Thomas. Roberts. These are Republicans actively imposing that bigotry and ignorance on the rest of us, out of their anger that society insists on progressing, or did until they took charge.
Because all Republican candidates for any office have to go through a primary process, the only possible outcome is for candidates in the general elections to become ever more lunatic. The people who vote in the primaries are the most devoted and fanatical--the Republican base. And they demand candidates as demented as they themselves are. Thus Kari Lake and Blake Masters, Donald Trump and Ron Desantis.
Until there is some other candidate sorting mechanism, the GOP will continue to spiral into abject insanity. No candidate can lean toward any imagined center because all candidates can be successfully challenged from their Right.
I'd like to think that if DeSantis actually runs, once he gets on the national stage the vast majority of the country will recoil in disgust. "Owning the libs" barely worked for Trump in 2016 and that's basically all that DeSantis brings to the table (not to mention that he has all the charisma of a rotten potato). But then I look at a pathological liar like Santos and the ineptitude of the Democrats in running against him and, well...
Me, I'm happy with the level of mainstream discourse re the rise of rabid insanity amongst the GOP. It's enough to alienate and repel enough independent voters, maybe even help get the Dem vote out. An interesting factoid, although I'm not sure how significant it is is that more independents now lean dem than GOP.
The Santos affair, at least at the moment, is supporting my claim re the importance of local offices. The only Republican action against Santos is Nassau County' Republican DA claim that they'll be investigating him.
And speak of waves and Santos, the Dems were supposed to keep the House majority in theory, but the DNC and DCCC worked to ensure it not happening:
I love of course the WA3 victory which, had the DCCC its way, wouldn't have happened but would have stayed red.
Add seats where no Democrat ran -- that is, conceded -- and here we are with a GOP House majority.
As for beloved Tulsi, not sure that there's any significance or importance to her reaming Santos. Reaming him when it's going to result in nothing more than making her and Fox look all mavericky is nothing.
Meanwhile, I must give all due praise to Greta Thunberg for making small dick energy a thing a thing and to Musk enabling Tate's bust by allowing him back on Twitter:
I knew #1 would be swell, and absolutely on target. I think one of Trump's biggest triumphs is that he continues to make the news, having done more than anyone to tabloidize all forms of trad media into willing and ravenous suckers for his ceaseless bunko ("I WILL HAVE A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!"). Whether that continues who knows, but you need a German word to describe the next level Santos has taken moral Trumpitude. My favorite bit is Santos saying that it was only "a poor choice of words" that gave the impression that he graduated from Baruch College and once worked for Goldman Sachs, the poor choice of words being "I graduated from Baruch College" and "I worked for Goldman Sachs."
• "He was lying, of course" – "of course" needs highlighting, as it illuminates all the rest of it.
• "https://georgeforny.com/about/" is the web address for the screenshot at the top. So, does anyone know ANY truth about Forny/Santos? Because, when Roy says
• "Or look at George Santos. We normies see him as a buffoon, a pathological liar caught fatally overextending himself. But among MAGA people, he’s a guy who learned one of the big lessons of Donald Trump: That you not only don’t owe your enemies the truth — you don’t even owe them believability." – the only point I'd out is that Forny/Santos seems to think he does not even owe his SUPPORTERS the truth.
• "now they could have candidates who were proudly racist, openly contemptuous of their political opponents, and uninterested in such fancy-schmancy concepts as truth and statesmanship" –
Dec 30, 2022·edited Dec 30, 2022Liked by Roy Edroso
Dunno about "it didn't have to happen", if the standard Republican formula of "low taxes, strong military, limited government, etc." was enough to win elections, wouldn't we now be in the sixth year of Prezdint Jeb?
MSNBC is full of NeverTrumpers, including the NeverTrumpiest of them all, Morning Joe, claiming all the Republicans need to do to win BIG is go back to the days of Reagan, like they don't really need all the Trumpy stuff to win. But they've lost big among women and among college-educated people generally (I'm waiting for "Jail the Docs!" to provoke a long-term shift of doctors away from the Republicans, just as creationism and climate denialism pushed the percentage of scientists who identify as Republican down into the low single digits.) What they gained in return were masses of low-propensity voters. White men who never went beyond high school had some of the lowest voter-turnout numbers in the country until Trump came along, and they could easily revert to apathy and disengagement if the Republicans don't keep Feeding the Beast.
Not to Give Them Ideas, but I suppose by this point SOMEONE has done the inevitable "What are you woke libs upset about? Santos IDENTIFIES HIMSELF as [insert lie]!"
The Republican embrace of The Crazy is one of the mysteries of the Republican rosary, a foundational article of faith that can't be explained. It may simply be that 40 years of success based on gaming the system taught the Republican Party that There Is No Spoon. The power struggle between the Cheney and Trump wings of the party may be the last gasp/chance of sanity. The thing to watch will be the rules for Republican primaries. The wacky "plurality takes all" scheme was a big factor in Trump winning the nomination. If that doesn't change, Trump is a lock for the nomination. Any indictments will be a distraction more than a factor. Even without the nomination, Trump has the tools and experience to stall, delay, and threaten any legal process. Those wheels may grind exceedingly fine, but Trump learned from the best where and how to throw sand in the gears. Don't be fooled by those sad stories of Trump moping around his Xanadu. Like Henry Hill, he misses the action, and whether it's indictments or primary season, that's when the action starts.
As has been pointed out elsewhere, breaking from Trump seems to involve choosing DeSantis, a cleaner version (but with less personality) of Trump who gives all the same policies of punching down and hurting the "other" groups. No one ever suggests someone like Larry Hogan (popular blue state Republican governor) or Glenn Youngkin (business leader who flipped the governor's residence from blue to red) as the future of the GOP. No, it's gotta be guys like DeSantis who waste tax payer money to fly immigrants to New England to own the libs/Mexicans/women/anyone.
While I’m a big fan of the Leopards Eating Faces joke, I’m going to go with a different feline analogy: with Trump and Trumpism, the GOP establishment tried to ride a tiger, and the results were predictable. I think J6 was the first inkling they had that the tiger had thrown them off its back, and the 2022 midterms were the first time they realized the tiger had rounded on them and was charging.
The fact that the few actual policies they do have are unpopular leaves them with the undesirable option of doubling and tripling down on the culture war lunacy to try to deflect attention away from those policies. I agree that in any sane country the GOP and the political philosophy of conservatism itself should be dead in the water. But I’m not ready to count the GOP out, like the ghouls they are they have a talent for rising from the dead.
America, where you can be whatever you claim to be! Anyway, this explanation of modern Republicans is correct, as is every other explanation (remember epistemic closure?) and all boil down to: they’re assholes. A black hole of bigotry, anger and ignorance pulls them through the event horizon, never to re-enter the universe of normality the rest of us inhabit. Think Trump is bad? There’s worse coming - e.g., DeSantos - or already here - Alito, Thomas. Roberts. These are Republicans actively imposing that bigotry and ignorance on the rest of us, out of their anger that society insists on progressing, or did until they took charge.
Because all Republican candidates for any office have to go through a primary process, the only possible outcome is for candidates in the general elections to become ever more lunatic. The people who vote in the primaries are the most devoted and fanatical--the Republican base. And they demand candidates as demented as they themselves are. Thus Kari Lake and Blake Masters, Donald Trump and Ron Desantis.
Until there is some other candidate sorting mechanism, the GOP will continue to spiral into abject insanity. No candidate can lean toward any imagined center because all candidates can be successfully challenged from their Right.
I'd like to think that if DeSantis actually runs, once he gets on the national stage the vast majority of the country will recoil in disgust. "Owning the libs" barely worked for Trump in 2016 and that's basically all that DeSantis brings to the table (not to mention that he has all the charisma of a rotten potato). But then I look at a pathological liar like Santos and the ineptitude of the Democrats in running against him and, well...
Me, I'm happy with the level of mainstream discourse re the rise of rabid insanity amongst the GOP. It's enough to alienate and repel enough independent voters, maybe even help get the Dem vote out. An interesting factoid, although I'm not sure how significant it is is that more independents now lean dem than GOP.
The Santos affair, at least at the moment, is supporting my claim re the importance of local offices. The only Republican action against Santos is Nassau County' Republican DA claim that they'll be investigating him.
And speak of waves and Santos, the Dems were supposed to keep the House majority in theory, but the DNC and DCCC worked to ensure it not happening:
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/could-the-democrats-have-kept-the-house-majority-with-a-little-extra-effort-and-competence
I love of course the WA3 victory which, had the DCCC its way, wouldn't have happened but would have stayed red.
Add seats where no Democrat ran -- that is, conceded -- and here we are with a GOP House majority.
As for beloved Tulsi, not sure that there's any significance or importance to her reaming Santos. Reaming him when it's going to result in nothing more than making her and Fox look all mavericky is nothing.
Meanwhile, I must give all due praise to Greta Thunberg for making small dick energy a thing a thing and to Musk enabling Tate's bust by allowing him back on Twitter:
https://mas.to/@hankgreen/109600202711492910
Dude, I'm sure, speaks for all of still on Twitter.
I knew #1 would be swell, and absolutely on target. I think one of Trump's biggest triumphs is that he continues to make the news, having done more than anyone to tabloidize all forms of trad media into willing and ravenous suckers for his ceaseless bunko ("I WILL HAVE A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!"). Whether that continues who knows, but you need a German word to describe the next level Santos has taken moral Trumpitude. My favorite bit is Santos saying that it was only "a poor choice of words" that gave the impression that he graduated from Baruch College and once worked for Goldman Sachs, the poor choice of words being "I graduated from Baruch College" and "I worked for Goldman Sachs."
3 points:
• "He was lying, of course" – "of course" needs highlighting, as it illuminates all the rest of it.
• "https://georgeforny.com/about/" is the web address for the screenshot at the top. So, does anyone know ANY truth about Forny/Santos? Because, when Roy says
• "Or look at George Santos. We normies see him as a buffoon, a pathological liar caught fatally overextending himself. But among MAGA people, he’s a guy who learned one of the big lessons of Donald Trump: That you not only don’t owe your enemies the truth — you don’t even owe them believability." – the only point I'd out is that Forny/Santos seems to think he does not even owe his SUPPORTERS the truth.
• "now they could have candidates who were proudly racist, openly contemptuous of their political opponents, and uninterested in such fancy-schmancy concepts as truth and statesmanship" –
It seems folks no longer romancy
Those old concepts fancy-schmancy
They've leapt from the trains
Landed smack on their brains
And converted to pure sycophancy
Thanks for lighting the way there Chief!
This place - your great writing, all the great comments - is therapeutic.
I wonder if I can charge my REBID*subscription to my HSA?
* Anybody else read that as - ribbit- like the sound a bullfrog makes?
Dunno about "it didn't have to happen", if the standard Republican formula of "low taxes, strong military, limited government, etc." was enough to win elections, wouldn't we now be in the sixth year of Prezdint Jeb?
MSNBC is full of NeverTrumpers, including the NeverTrumpiest of them all, Morning Joe, claiming all the Republicans need to do to win BIG is go back to the days of Reagan, like they don't really need all the Trumpy stuff to win. But they've lost big among women and among college-educated people generally (I'm waiting for "Jail the Docs!" to provoke a long-term shift of doctors away from the Republicans, just as creationism and climate denialism pushed the percentage of scientists who identify as Republican down into the low single digits.) What they gained in return were masses of low-propensity voters. White men who never went beyond high school had some of the lowest voter-turnout numbers in the country until Trump came along, and they could easily revert to apathy and disengagement if the Republicans don't keep Feeding the Beast.
He is the Fat White Duke.
EDIT: I meant Trump… eventually to be called 'The True Trump', as opposed to "The Historical Trump".
Not to Give Them Ideas, but I suppose by this point SOMEONE has done the inevitable "What are you woke libs upset about? Santos IDENTIFIES HIMSELF as [insert lie]!"
The Republican embrace of The Crazy is one of the mysteries of the Republican rosary, a foundational article of faith that can't be explained. It may simply be that 40 years of success based on gaming the system taught the Republican Party that There Is No Spoon. The power struggle between the Cheney and Trump wings of the party may be the last gasp/chance of sanity. The thing to watch will be the rules for Republican primaries. The wacky "plurality takes all" scheme was a big factor in Trump winning the nomination. If that doesn't change, Trump is a lock for the nomination. Any indictments will be a distraction more than a factor. Even without the nomination, Trump has the tools and experience to stall, delay, and threaten any legal process. Those wheels may grind exceedingly fine, but Trump learned from the best where and how to throw sand in the gears. Don't be fooled by those sad stories of Trump moping around his Xanadu. Like Henry Hill, he misses the action, and whether it's indictments or primary season, that's when the action starts.
Hey, weren't we just talking about this guy?
Andrew Tate Is Detained in Romania in Human Trafficking Investigation
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/30/world/europe/andrew-tate-romania-arrest.html
Mess with Greta and the Deep State (Romanian Style) is comin' for you, boys!
I wish Robert Graves had lived to see Polly Jean on Leno, blowing minds just being herself.