Is it even possible to go back? I doubt it, but you all seem to think you can "fix" the current Republican party and restore it to its Reaganesque "greatness". Yah, that wasn't that great you knobs...
Don’t you find it weird that Lindsey Graham was spot on in 2016? They certainly *do* deserve it. But to your point, he then decided to embrace the destruction in his capacity as coach. Nauseating.
It isn't a goat the kid is riding it is a sheep. Many at the Bulwark aren't with French neither is Steve Schmidt. Remember: "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."As a seventy year old socialist I find your call for doctrinal purity naive. At my age I take one election at a time. Vote blue. If you want doctrinal purity vote for the Green Party or Cornell West.
Rick Wilson once admitted to being pro-life, back when he first jumped ship. There was a lot of pushback and he went quiet about it. I did notice and appreciate that he supported Walz after the choice and noted all the ways Walz drove MAGA crazy.
Its strange because Reagan was my first president. I swing far right in some ways. But Newt Gingrich revealed the Republican Party as poisonous to democracy even to a casual like me. As a high school educated woman, I will never EVER accept a government having authority for who is welcome inside my body. Not even a fully intelligent person who needed me to survive has the right to live inside me against my will. To say otherwise implies that anyone can take anything from anyone if they needed it to survive. I am even more cynical after discovering I have genetic issues that plague my offspring, so they will need someone's care their whole lives. Regardless of my other beliefs, I'm a one issue voter and abortion rights are my dealbreaker.
I recognized the numbers favored Shapiro, but was moved by arguments that Walz was better as a vibes choice, to neutralize Trump's dark charisma. I don't like progressives like Sanders and AOC at all. I think their patriotism is too close to that of Glenn Greenwald. Again, I am so rightwing sometimes, but why can I recognize the current situation is beyond the old electoral math? I watched the Bulwark episode you're speaking of: forty minutes of repetitive complaining. It. Was. Awful. Sometimes people get too full of themselves, I guess.
If Trump ever spends time in prison in an adult diaper, for the crimes he's committed and has been convicted of this year, there should be no shame in that for someone his age. Recognition of his guilt, however, should be part of his sentencing and parole regimen. This is my second try but who knows maybe he did commit some of his crimes in an adult diaper. No shame in that, except for the commission of crimes aspects.
They also enlarge and exaggerate differences between democrats to defeat progressive ideas and try to sideline some of our best candidates. Their mantra is only moderates can win. Only moderates should win. They think progressives will only reelect Trump. They want to scare us out of being ourselves. They didn't want Pramila Jayapal to be such a tough negotiator, or for AOC and Bernie Sanders to inspire millions of voters, or for Senator Warren to have better ideas than James Carville.
My thoughts exactly. Is this plagiarism? Great minds think alike. Actually you are much more coherent than me and pulled everything together in one place with interesting and unique arguments and research, but I may have arrived in the same place a few years earlier. It's actually refreshing to see a well written article with ideas I share. Thank you. But out in the wilderness, I saw how they threw in with Manchin and Sinema to block filibuster reform, codifying Roe vs. Wade, universal backgr byound checks, renewing the asault weapons ban, they prevented meaningful action to rein in climate change and hold coal and oil industry accountable for the harms they cause to the environment and to human health, and they hobbled President Biden's Build Back Better recovery plan, all as they made rejection of progressive aims the price for their "bipartisan" infrastructure deal which became Biden's signature achievement in his first two years. I may be the Rodney Dangerfield of this event in my own mind. I think they'll still try to steer any democratic victory to their aims. Can they love democracy more than they love the carried interest deduction? Trump's bid for extreme deregulation or the peaceful transfer of power? HIs tax giveaways may seem too sweet to surrender. Maybe Trump isn't the fascist and Putin dupe he seems to be. His racism is only rhetorical or something. There are good republicans who do love our country who will prevent some progressive aims, and never vote for Trump, and fully support our presidential ticket. Most recently in Arizona this week where a group of republicans came together to endorse vp Kamala Harris for president. Arizona republicans in the past three years already rejected Kari Lake for governor and stopped repeated efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, and also this week, the republican Mayor of Meza Arizona endorsed our candidates for President and Vice President, former US Senator and currently Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris and Gov Tim Walz former high school geography teacher and longtime officer in the US National Guard.
Thank you, Geoff. They'll further be more disappointed to know that a lot of the young/er voters already know/figured that out. I was impressed with bulwark and some of them but my son explained to me that they only oppose drumfp but still hold the same ideologies. I quickly unsubscribed and stopped reading similar newsletters. Always wonder how George Convay always criticized/s drumfp while his alternative facts/lier wife, Kelly CONway is in drumfp camp and worked in drumfp's misadministration.
I was a pro-life single issue Republican voter for 35 years. And then several things happened in quick succession that caused my blinders to fall off.
1. Donald Trump started the birtherism nonsense about Barack Obama, and Republicans lapped it up and spewed it out — never mind that his mother was born in the United States, or that Republican John McCain was born in Panama or that Republican Ted Cruz had dual Canadian and American citizenship at the time.
2. Mitch McConnell blocked President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, a full nine months before the 2016 elections, an unconstitutional move in hopes that the Republican nominee would win and have the opportunity to name a replacement to the open seat.
3. The Republican National Committee leadership allowed Donald Trump to continue to run in its 2016 primary, despite numerous despicable instances on the campaign trail that revealed Trump was not aligned with the stated values of the Republican Party.
When Trump won the nomination, I left the Republican Party despite the fact that I was a delegate to my county's Republican Nominating Convention. I'm embarrassed that it took me so long to see that Republican leaders talked the talk about the values I thought we shared — reverence for the Constitution, support for policies that are good for families, etc. — but they don't walk the talk. In fact, in practice, they do the exact opposite of what they say.
And once I realized how much they lied about their support for the Constitution and so-called family values, it didn't take me long to realize they hadn't been telling the truth about the necessity of abortion as health care.
I am now a proud pro-choice Democrat who still follows Jesus, has a clean conscious. and sleeps just fine at night.
And I will NEVER, EVER vote for another Republican for ANY office at ANY level of government EVER again as long as I live.
thanks for this, my late parents were lifelong Rs but after raygun for some reason switched to Libertarian and my mom wrote in my dad for president. even then they could see the change in decency and morals and rejected it. I couldn't imagine how disgusted they would be today
Come to think of I am never going to knowingly voter for an election denier or a Roberts court defender, or someone in the pocket of big oil or big pharma, or a lobbyist from health insurance companies conglomerated either.
Thank you. I think you can be forgiven for voting for the wrong big R candidates. Maybe sometime they'll offer some people worth believing in or at least worth a second look. There are some people against the 2025 gutting of all federal regulatory agencies. We may need their expertise to beat Trump like a drum when early voting begins and to remove the tendrils of autocracy from the elements of project 2025 they have already or will already have enacted before our hopeful victories in the Whitehouse, in the Senate, and in the House of Representatives in November. I would take the risk of seeking the expertise of Gov Christine Whitman in making sure we do not hollow out the EPA. Same time I don't want to lose the Green New Deal from AOC and some great unnamed senators.
I just don't think any of them can be trusted to tell the truth at this point. Except the Liz Cheneys and Adam Kinzingers types, but they're not welcome in the Party any longer.
If Trump ever spends time in prison for the crimes he's committed in an adult diaper there should be no shame in that for someone his age. Recognition of his guilt should be part of his sentencing and parole regimen, however.
I have a draft post for my own Substack that is a rage against most Never Trumpers, but you've said it better than I ever could.
I would add the following:
The MAGA racist core was always a part of the GOP. Any insiders/operatives claiming to be shocked that there was Nazis in their midst is a fucking liar. Looking at you, Bulwark allies of Convenience.
The only Never Trumpers I have respect for are those who have disavowed their Republican membership. David Jolly, Nicolle Wallace and Rick Wilson come to mind.
Sarah Longwell was on John Heilmann's podcast and whined about how mean people had been to her and other Never Trumpers. What she and her ilk won't acknowledge is that they were telling Dems what to do, and who to pick. That's like having an ininvited guest come in to your home and start telling you how to redecorate. Fuck 'em all.
George Conway really knows how to mess with Trump, which is great fun to watch. That said, he and his Federalist Society friends own the current state of the Judiciary, including the vastly corrupt Supreme Court. He comments on the insane judgements of the SC, but never acknowledges that he/his religious lawyer pals and their billionaire funder put most of those Justices in their places.
Oh yeah, when Johnson manhandled the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act through, that opened the door for the Dixiecrats to move wholesale to the R's column. And they've been milking that demographic ever since.
It really bothers me how much people like Longwell whine about their getting tagged. As you mention, they feel entitled to be the "adults in the room" and to bestow their infinite wisdom on the D's.
I do like the new Conway, but as you mention, he had a front row seat on the FedSoc effort to pack the courts with conservative political operatives, and they did too well. He has a little buyer's remorse, but he still has a lot of mea culpas to atone for.
LBJ understands the electoral map better than anyone else. He realized he was losing the South for a generation to pass Civil Rights - but he didn't foresee Fox News.
"their little political sex organs began getting aroused." 🤣🤣🤣 So good, Geoff. I'm so naive, though. These MAGA Republicans keep trying to sell shit the majority dont want. The money in politics has bred such corruption and they keep shoving the same BS down our throats. I agree that they are MAGA through and through.
(BTW, Theres a stack by Barry Kaufman that was too long, too depressing, and too opinionated called The Un-Democratic Party and Their Gaslighting of America... I'd love your take on it sometime)
Don’t you find it weird that Lindsey Graham was spot on in 2016? They certainly *do* deserve it. But to your point, he then decided to embrace the destruction in his capacity as coach. Nauseating.
I dropped my Bulwark subscription. They don't get a seat at the Democrat's table. Also, I despise Bill Kristol.
Ew! Walz would drop that like a ball of molten lead! 😂😂😂😂
It isn't a goat the kid is riding it is a sheep. Many at the Bulwark aren't with French neither is Steve Schmidt. Remember: "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."As a seventy year old socialist I find your call for doctrinal purity naive. At my age I take one election at a time. Vote blue. If you want doctrinal purity vote for the Green Party or Cornell West.
Would that be the same Steve Schmidt who decided to run Dean Phillips' challenge to Biden?
Yeah, no thanks.
Rick Wilson once admitted to being pro-life, back when he first jumped ship. There was a lot of pushback and he went quiet about it. I did notice and appreciate that he supported Walz after the choice and noted all the ways Walz drove MAGA crazy.
Its strange because Reagan was my first president. I swing far right in some ways. But Newt Gingrich revealed the Republican Party as poisonous to democracy even to a casual like me. As a high school educated woman, I will never EVER accept a government having authority for who is welcome inside my body. Not even a fully intelligent person who needed me to survive has the right to live inside me against my will. To say otherwise implies that anyone can take anything from anyone if they needed it to survive. I am even more cynical after discovering I have genetic issues that plague my offspring, so they will need someone's care their whole lives. Regardless of my other beliefs, I'm a one issue voter and abortion rights are my dealbreaker.
I recognized the numbers favored Shapiro, but was moved by arguments that Walz was better as a vibes choice, to neutralize Trump's dark charisma. I don't like progressives like Sanders and AOC at all. I think their patriotism is too close to that of Glenn Greenwald. Again, I am so rightwing sometimes, but why can I recognize the current situation is beyond the old electoral math? I watched the Bulwark episode you're speaking of: forty minutes of repetitive complaining. It. Was. Awful. Sometimes people get too full of themselves, I guess.
Absofuckinglutely not! Ever!😒
The term goat rodeo can never be used enough.
If Trump ever spends time in prison in an adult diaper, for the crimes he's committed and has been convicted of this year, there should be no shame in that for someone his age. Recognition of his guilt, however, should be part of his sentencing and parole regimen. This is my second try but who knows maybe he did commit some of his crimes in an adult diaper. No shame in that, except for the commission of crimes aspects.
They also enlarge and exaggerate differences between democrats to defeat progressive ideas and try to sideline some of our best candidates. Their mantra is only moderates can win. Only moderates should win. They think progressives will only reelect Trump. They want to scare us out of being ourselves. They didn't want Pramila Jayapal to be such a tough negotiator, or for AOC and Bernie Sanders to inspire millions of voters, or for Senator Warren to have better ideas than James Carville.
My thoughts exactly. Is this plagiarism? Great minds think alike. Actually you are much more coherent than me and pulled everything together in one place with interesting and unique arguments and research, but I may have arrived in the same place a few years earlier. It's actually refreshing to see a well written article with ideas I share. Thank you. But out in the wilderness, I saw how they threw in with Manchin and Sinema to block filibuster reform, codifying Roe vs. Wade, universal backgr byound checks, renewing the asault weapons ban, they prevented meaningful action to rein in climate change and hold coal and oil industry accountable for the harms they cause to the environment and to human health, and they hobbled President Biden's Build Back Better recovery plan, all as they made rejection of progressive aims the price for their "bipartisan" infrastructure deal which became Biden's signature achievement in his first two years. I may be the Rodney Dangerfield of this event in my own mind. I think they'll still try to steer any democratic victory to their aims. Can they love democracy more than they love the carried interest deduction? Trump's bid for extreme deregulation or the peaceful transfer of power? HIs tax giveaways may seem too sweet to surrender. Maybe Trump isn't the fascist and Putin dupe he seems to be. His racism is only rhetorical or something. There are good republicans who do love our country who will prevent some progressive aims, and never vote for Trump, and fully support our presidential ticket. Most recently in Arizona this week where a group of republicans came together to endorse vp Kamala Harris for president. Arizona republicans in the past three years already rejected Kari Lake for governor and stopped repeated efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, and also this week, the republican Mayor of Meza Arizona endorsed our candidates for President and Vice President, former US Senator and currently Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris and Gov Tim Walz former high school geography teacher and longtime officer in the US National Guard.
Thank you, Geoff. They'll further be more disappointed to know that a lot of the young/er voters already know/figured that out. I was impressed with bulwark and some of them but my son explained to me that they only oppose drumfp but still hold the same ideologies. I quickly unsubscribed and stopped reading similar newsletters. Always wonder how George Convay always criticized/s drumfp while his alternative facts/lier wife, Kelly CONway is in drumfp camp and worked in drumfp's misadministration.
I was a pro-life single issue Republican voter for 35 years. And then several things happened in quick succession that caused my blinders to fall off.
1. Donald Trump started the birtherism nonsense about Barack Obama, and Republicans lapped it up and spewed it out — never mind that his mother was born in the United States, or that Republican John McCain was born in Panama or that Republican Ted Cruz had dual Canadian and American citizenship at the time.
2. Mitch McConnell blocked President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, a full nine months before the 2016 elections, an unconstitutional move in hopes that the Republican nominee would win and have the opportunity to name a replacement to the open seat.
3. The Republican National Committee leadership allowed Donald Trump to continue to run in its 2016 primary, despite numerous despicable instances on the campaign trail that revealed Trump was not aligned with the stated values of the Republican Party.
When Trump won the nomination, I left the Republican Party despite the fact that I was a delegate to my county's Republican Nominating Convention. I'm embarrassed that it took me so long to see that Republican leaders talked the talk about the values I thought we shared — reverence for the Constitution, support for policies that are good for families, etc. — but they don't walk the talk. In fact, in practice, they do the exact opposite of what they say.
And once I realized how much they lied about their support for the Constitution and so-called family values, it didn't take me long to realize they hadn't been telling the truth about the necessity of abortion as health care.
I am now a proud pro-choice Democrat who still follows Jesus, has a clean conscious. and sleeps just fine at night.
And I will NEVER, EVER vote for another Republican for ANY office at ANY level of government EVER again as long as I live.
thanks for this, my late parents were lifelong Rs but after raygun for some reason switched to Libertarian and my mom wrote in my dad for president. even then they could see the change in decency and morals and rejected it. I couldn't imagine how disgusted they would be today
You know it, and more. Thanks for Sharing. 💙
Come to think of I am never going to knowingly voter for an election denier or a Roberts court defender, or someone in the pocket of big oil or big pharma, or a lobbyist from health insurance companies conglomerated either.
Thank you. I think you can be forgiven for voting for the wrong big R candidates. Maybe sometime they'll offer some people worth believing in or at least worth a second look. There are some people against the 2025 gutting of all federal regulatory agencies. We may need their expertise to beat Trump like a drum when early voting begins and to remove the tendrils of autocracy from the elements of project 2025 they have already or will already have enacted before our hopeful victories in the Whitehouse, in the Senate, and in the House of Representatives in November. I would take the risk of seeking the expertise of Gov Christine Whitman in making sure we do not hollow out the EPA. Same time I don't want to lose the Green New Deal from AOC and some great unnamed senators.
I just don't think any of them can be trusted to tell the truth at this point. Except the Liz Cheneys and Adam Kinzingers types, but they're not welcome in the Party any longer.
Had to look it up - ‘retromingent’ ways - that phrase wins the day! Thank you for the hearty laugh!
Came here to say the same thing… had to look it up… the answer was something I could never have guessed!
If Trump ever spends time in prison for the crimes he's committed in an adult diaper there should be no shame in that for someone his age. Recognition of his guilt should be part of his sentencing and parole regimen, however.
I have a draft post for my own Substack that is a rage against most Never Trumpers, but you've said it better than I ever could.
I would add the following:
The MAGA racist core was always a part of the GOP. Any insiders/operatives claiming to be shocked that there was Nazis in their midst is a fucking liar. Looking at you, Bulwark allies of Convenience.
The only Never Trumpers I have respect for are those who have disavowed their Republican membership. David Jolly, Nicolle Wallace and Rick Wilson come to mind.
Sarah Longwell was on John Heilmann's podcast and whined about how mean people had been to her and other Never Trumpers. What she and her ilk won't acknowledge is that they were telling Dems what to do, and who to pick. That's like having an ininvited guest come in to your home and start telling you how to redecorate. Fuck 'em all.
George Conway really knows how to mess with Trump, which is great fun to watch. That said, he and his Federalist Society friends own the current state of the Judiciary, including the vastly corrupt Supreme Court. He comments on the insane judgements of the SC, but never acknowledges that he/his religious lawyer pals and their billionaire funder put most of those Justices in their places.
Fuck Conway and the Federalist Society.
I think it is a relief to hear some of the people you mentioned and I'll bet you're right to exclude the others in the ways you mention.
Oh yeah, when Johnson manhandled the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act through, that opened the door for the Dixiecrats to move wholesale to the R's column. And they've been milking that demographic ever since.
It really bothers me how much people like Longwell whine about their getting tagged. As you mention, they feel entitled to be the "adults in the room" and to bestow their infinite wisdom on the D's.
I do like the new Conway, but as you mention, he had a front row seat on the FedSoc effort to pack the courts with conservative political operatives, and they did too well. He has a little buyer's remorse, but he still has a lot of mea culpas to atone for.
Johnson should have expelled the Dixiecrats n'est pas? Maybe they are the MAGA base even now.
Nope.
LBJ understands the electoral map better than anyone else. He realized he was losing the South for a generation to pass Civil Rights - but he didn't foresee Fox News.
I saw that Bulwark segment and thought the same thing and I disparaged it in their comments. What BS!
"their little political sex organs began getting aroused." 🤣🤣🤣 So good, Geoff. I'm so naive, though. These MAGA Republicans keep trying to sell shit the majority dont want. The money in politics has bred such corruption and they keep shoving the same BS down our throats. I agree that they are MAGA through and through.
(BTW, Theres a stack by Barry Kaufman that was too long, too depressing, and too opinionated called The Un-Democratic Party and Their Gaslighting of America... I'd love your take on it sometime)