I am deeply saddened to see the GOP in such disarray. Truly. I don't like seeing it. I would much rather see the party burned to the ground and reduced to ashes for what they have done and continue to do to this country and its democracy. They are the enemy of our democracy and need to be perceived and treated as such.
What the hell is the mindset of the Beltway media? Are they so lacking in self-awareness that they are functionally unable to see the bullshit skew they are indulging in?
I don't know if the GOP is unwilling or simply incapable of breaking up with Trump. They're clearly along for the ride as the Trumpmobile goes careening down a mountain road sandwiched between a rockface and a fatal plunge. Both the Brooks un-endorsement and Trump's Florida lawsuit against everyone he doesn't like literally stink of the pissy resentment of a man afraid that someone somewhere might ignore him for one second.
The laughable thing about Trump's endorsements is that you know he has no clue who the people he is endorsing are, just that they are wearing knee-pads. One would think Trump was on the GOP ballot for the Senate in Ohio based on the TV ads, which are endless loops of the candidates wailing about "ILLEGAL immigration," Biden wrecking the economy, and professions of loyalty to Trump. One candidate's closing tag is "Pro God, Pro Gun, Pro Trump." Based on the campaigns, Ohio's candidates are sure Trump is still the chief of the Red tribe.
I don’t know how much of a toll it’s really going to take on the Republicans, though. If the party’s goal was for most people to vote for them it would be devastating, but that hasn’t been the goal for decades. There are plenty of parts of the country that hate America enough to would for Putin himself if the other candidate was a Democrat. Whether that’s enough for a majority is up to voter suppression and gerrymandering. That’s how they operate, not through having ideas to make your life better. Hence the press skepticism, which is justified; I just wish they’d point out that that’s what the GOP is doing.
After yesterday...Trump suing Hillary and anyone else who hurt his widdle fee fees, Ginny Thomas texts and Republican Senators playing Boys In The Hood with Judge Jackson...I'm just waiting for this afternoon's news dump...
Maybe one explanation for why the media sees disarray among Dems but not Repubs is that, at least in the Senate, the Republicans have lockstep discipline - 50 votes against every time McConnell says “nay.” The Dems, however, can’t reliably muster their 50. If Manchin doesn’t like Ketanji Brown Jackson’s first name, down goes Biden’s nomination. While it is a little facile to spin a narrative of party disarray across the board from Schumer’s inability to guarantee 50 on every measure, it certainly adds to a familiar feeling about the Dems.
We'll see how much juice Trump has left after the midterms. If his anointed ones lose either in primaries or the general, the few sane corners of the GQP might take the opportunity to dump him. I used to think that we would be rid of him because of criminal indictments, but with the craven actions by Alvin Bragg (bribed or threatened, which is it?) and the continued silence of Merrick Garland, I no longer have faith that his lifelong record as a criminal would finally do him in.
I'm not convinced of the republicans in disarray argument only because they do agree to support treason, mass murder, bigotry, and rape. The question is who leads them.
That said, a note on Biden: Harry Reid told him to ignore the critics and stay in the basement, so to speak.
Many mental health professionals such as Psychiatrist Justin Frank and others describe Trump as a psychopath with the same basic personality make-up as someone like Putin. In his 2017 book "Trump on the Couch", Dr Frank described Trump (at the time) as having an internal conflict between his view of himself as a "builder" and his compulsive need to be destructive. Recently, he changed his assessment to describe Trump as having completely given in to his destructive side.
Here's a quote from Dr Frank in a 2021 interview in Salon: "Trump is full of rage. Trump has destructive impulses. The problem with a destructive impulse is that it cannot be satisfied for long. Once a person (like Trump) starts breaking things, it is very hard to stop. Trump's drive to destroy is relentless."
Dr Frank also warns the public that, however comical and ridiculous we think Trump's behavior is at times, it is no laughing matter. He is and always will be a serious threat to the stability of this nation as long as he has any power. When asked what would happen to the country if Trump were to somehow get reelected, this was Dr Frank's reply: "There would be carnage in every city. The country would be in ruins. But it would happen gradually. The news would slowly stop, and the American people would not know what was really happening. The United States would become a totalitarian society."
I get what you’re saying and what everyone else is saying but for my part I rather enjoy thinking about the GQP imploding in the dark and the Democratic Party taking a majority in the Senate and holding the house. That vision suits me fine.
In other matters, the lack of criminal indictments against tRump leaves me feeling pretty hopeless
Press,like GOP can’t break up with Trump. For them TFG is ‘easy’/‘lazy’ journalism. So is GOP immolation. Biden and D’s are both boring and require too much work to cover. Unfortunate situation.
May I suggest “Rudderless Republicans” or perhaps “Revanchist Republicans"— both have the all-important alliteration that our Failed Political Press ™ requires?
Controversy gets clicks and views and makes money for the owners of the media, and that’s all that counts. And as unpopular as it is to say this, but it was people like me on the Left that were clicking on all those outrage-of-the-day articles during the Trump misadministration. We trained them to cover the Carnival Barker in Chief. We have not given them anything new to latch on to.
Trump lost in 2020 by 7 million votes. The GOP was a hot mess then, and it's a hot mess now, reduced to pandering to the lunatic fringe in hopes they'll stay relevant. They're the party of the perpetually pissed off subculture that hangs out in midwest diners (and Klan rallies). Trump attracted them because they have racism, misogyny and the belief that they've been cheated in life, traits that Trump shares. Inadequacy doesn't make a very strong platform for what's left of a political party. Trump might run unless he feels he cannot bear the humiliation of possibly losing during the primaries. And if he wins the nomination, he won't win. It will be more humiliating than 2020. Remember, Trump is still harping on the "stolen" election because he cannot bear to face the fact that he lost.
I am deeply saddened to see the GOP in such disarray. Truly. I don't like seeing it. I would much rather see the party burned to the ground and reduced to ashes for what they have done and continue to do to this country and its democracy. They are the enemy of our democracy and need to be perceived and treated as such.
What the hell is the mindset of the Beltway media? Are they so lacking in self-awareness that they are functionally unable to see the bullshit skew they are indulging in?
I don't know if the GOP is unwilling or simply incapable of breaking up with Trump. They're clearly along for the ride as the Trumpmobile goes careening down a mountain road sandwiched between a rockface and a fatal plunge. Both the Brooks un-endorsement and Trump's Florida lawsuit against everyone he doesn't like literally stink of the pissy resentment of a man afraid that someone somewhere might ignore him for one second.
The laughable thing about Trump's endorsements is that you know he has no clue who the people he is endorsing are, just that they are wearing knee-pads. One would think Trump was on the GOP ballot for the Senate in Ohio based on the TV ads, which are endless loops of the candidates wailing about "ILLEGAL immigration," Biden wrecking the economy, and professions of loyalty to Trump. One candidate's closing tag is "Pro God, Pro Gun, Pro Trump." Based on the campaigns, Ohio's candidates are sure Trump is still the chief of the Red tribe.
I don’t know how much of a toll it’s really going to take on the Republicans, though. If the party’s goal was for most people to vote for them it would be devastating, but that hasn’t been the goal for decades. There are plenty of parts of the country that hate America enough to would for Putin himself if the other candidate was a Democrat. Whether that’s enough for a majority is up to voter suppression and gerrymandering. That’s how they operate, not through having ideas to make your life better. Hence the press skepticism, which is justified; I just wish they’d point out that that’s what the GOP is doing.
After yesterday...Trump suing Hillary and anyone else who hurt his widdle fee fees, Ginny Thomas texts and Republican Senators playing Boys In The Hood with Judge Jackson...I'm just waiting for this afternoon's news dump...
Maybe one explanation for why the media sees disarray among Dems but not Repubs is that, at least in the Senate, the Republicans have lockstep discipline - 50 votes against every time McConnell says “nay.” The Dems, however, can’t reliably muster their 50. If Manchin doesn’t like Ketanji Brown Jackson’s first name, down goes Biden’s nomination. While it is a little facile to spin a narrative of party disarray across the board from Schumer’s inability to guarantee 50 on every measure, it certainly adds to a familiar feeling about the Dems.
We'll see how much juice Trump has left after the midterms. If his anointed ones lose either in primaries or the general, the few sane corners of the GQP might take the opportunity to dump him. I used to think that we would be rid of him because of criminal indictments, but with the craven actions by Alvin Bragg (bribed or threatened, which is it?) and the continued silence of Merrick Garland, I no longer have faith that his lifelong record as a criminal would finally do him in.
I'm not convinced of the republicans in disarray argument only because they do agree to support treason, mass murder, bigotry, and rape. The question is who leads them.
That said, a note on Biden: Harry Reid told him to ignore the critics and stay in the basement, so to speak.
Many mental health professionals such as Psychiatrist Justin Frank and others describe Trump as a psychopath with the same basic personality make-up as someone like Putin. In his 2017 book "Trump on the Couch", Dr Frank described Trump (at the time) as having an internal conflict between his view of himself as a "builder" and his compulsive need to be destructive. Recently, he changed his assessment to describe Trump as having completely given in to his destructive side.
Here's a quote from Dr Frank in a 2021 interview in Salon: "Trump is full of rage. Trump has destructive impulses. The problem with a destructive impulse is that it cannot be satisfied for long. Once a person (like Trump) starts breaking things, it is very hard to stop. Trump's drive to destroy is relentless."
Dr Frank also warns the public that, however comical and ridiculous we think Trump's behavior is at times, it is no laughing matter. He is and always will be a serious threat to the stability of this nation as long as he has any power. When asked what would happen to the country if Trump were to somehow get reelected, this was Dr Frank's reply: "There would be carnage in every city. The country would be in ruins. But it would happen gradually. The news would slowly stop, and the American people would not know what was really happening. The United States would become a totalitarian society."
I get what you’re saying and what everyone else is saying but for my part I rather enjoy thinking about the GQP imploding in the dark and the Democratic Party taking a majority in the Senate and holding the house. That vision suits me fine.
In other matters, the lack of criminal indictments against tRump leaves me feeling pretty hopeless
Press,like GOP can’t break up with Trump. For them TFG is ‘easy’/‘lazy’ journalism. So is GOP immolation. Biden and D’s are both boring and require too much work to cover. Unfortunate situation.
Gee I wonder why the press isn't asking why Super Chicken Clarence is hiding in the hospital?
May I suggest “Rudderless Republicans” or perhaps “Revanchist Republicans"— both have the all-important alliteration that our Failed Political Press ™ requires?
Controversy gets clicks and views and makes money for the owners of the media, and that’s all that counts. And as unpopular as it is to say this, but it was people like me on the Left that were clicking on all those outrage-of-the-day articles during the Trump misadministration. We trained them to cover the Carnival Barker in Chief. We have not given them anything new to latch on to.
Honestly, WHY would anyone vote GOP today?
On a positive media note, Chauncey DeVega at Salon has done a really good job of helping the Mental Health profession to keep their tremendous concerns about Trump's psychological dysfunction in the news. Here's one of his articles from last year, an interview with Psychiatrist and author Dr Justin Frank. https://www.salon.com/2021/07/06/dr-justin-frank-laughing-at-trump-is-unhealthy-and-it-wont-protect-us-from-reality/
Trump lost in 2020 by 7 million votes. The GOP was a hot mess then, and it's a hot mess now, reduced to pandering to the lunatic fringe in hopes they'll stay relevant. They're the party of the perpetually pissed off subculture that hangs out in midwest diners (and Klan rallies). Trump attracted them because they have racism, misogyny and the belief that they've been cheated in life, traits that Trump shares. Inadequacy doesn't make a very strong platform for what's left of a political party. Trump might run unless he feels he cannot bear the humiliation of possibly losing during the primaries. And if he wins the nomination, he won't win. It will be more humiliating than 2020. Remember, Trump is still harping on the "stolen" election because he cannot bear to face the fact that he lost.