[Skuj]

Whataboutism on an epic scale.

[Skuj]

I cannot help feeling that in any other time in USA history, the vast majority of the population would look at what Trump/GOP has done/tweeted/said over the last 4+ years, and shake their head in disgust.

But in 2020/1, the GOP thrives.

How did it come to this?

[Skuj]

(Dude, you linked to Fox for that headline. Everything is explained.)

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Skuj

How did it come to this?

the short version is that trump offered a false solution to the problem of economic dislocation caused by trade, and the discontents of globalization bought his scam.

the solution obviously is domestic policy, not trade policy, but the repukes will have none of that, and have been undermining the middle class since the 80s.

so there is more money to go around, but it mostly goes to billionaires, and instead of taxing the billionaires mexico gets the blame. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

one positive thing you can say about biden is he understands first-hand the pain of unemployment and economic dislocation so i expect he'll do something to address this. "buy american" isn't exactly the answer, but it has ok symbolism without demonizing other nations. still, economically, it's a bad move. what's needed is domestic policy: money from free trade redistributed to domestic programs, free education, affordable healthcare, income support without the huge bureaucracy, etc.

what's the point of being a rich country if your citizens are poor?

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

what's the point of being a rich country if your citizens are poor?

The point is being SUPER-ULTRA-MEGA-RICH! If you're in the top 1%, that is. On a smaller scale, it's the same here, where Reaganomics started even before Reagan was elected in the U.S. of A.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

The point is being SUPER-ULTRA-MEGA-RICH! If you're in the top 1%, that is. On a smaller scale, it's the same here, where Reaganomics started even before Reagan was elected in the U.S. of A.

yeah, you were the laboratory for the chicago boys.

and it worked, in a way, but in another, still doesn't

[The Soup Nazi]

Fact-checked and all:

Did Ted Cruz Fly to Cancun During Texas Energy Crisis?

Spoiler alert: YES HE DID THE FUCKIN' WEASEL.

More: https://news.google.com/stories/CAAq...S&ceid=US%3Aen

[choc e-Claire]

Where's the $2,000?

[_tunic_]

I wonder if he really intended it to be a one day holiday? Reminds me of this story from last October: Covid: Dutch king expresses regret over Greek holiday scandal

The difference is that our King only has ceremonial duties, Cruz is actually responsible!

[h8kurdt]

Originally Posted by _tunic_

I wonder if he really intended it to be a one day holiday? Reminds me of this story from last October: Covid: Dutch king expresses regret over Greek holiday scandal

The difference is that our King only has ceremonial duties, Cruz is actually responsible!

Seeing conservative knuckle draggers defending him is too funny. Boot lickers the lot of them. Cruz is also showing his strength of character by blaming his kids on the trip. First he allows Trump to shit on (not literally as far as I know) his wife, then he's blaming his kids for deciding to take a trip in the middle of a)a pandemic and b)a snowstorm that has left seemingly half the state crippled.

AND! people keep voting for him. Mental.

[The Soup Nazi]

Zakaria's latest Washington Post column:

GOP Probably Won’t Rein In Its Fringe

The central question in American politics right now — one with global implications — is whether the Republican Party can purge itself of its most extreme elements. Obviously this relates to former president Donald Trump, but it goes beyond him as well. The current Republican congressional delegation includes people who insist the 2020 election was stolen, have ties to violent extremist groups, traffic in antisemitism and have propagated QAnon ideologies in the past. At the state level, it often gets worse. Mainstream Republicans have tolerated these voices and views for years. Can the party finally find a way to control them?

The answer to this question could well determine the future of American democracy. In a brilliant scholarly work, “Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy,” Harvard’s Daniel Ziblatt revealed the key to why, in the early 20th century, Britain stayed a democracy and Germany veered into fascism: The conservative party in the United Kingdom was able to discipline its extremists. For years before World War I, British conservatives faced a threat from anti-democratic elements of their party, particularly radicals in Northern Ireland. The Tory Party, strong and hierarchical, was eventually able to tamp down these factions and stabilize British democracy.

In Germany, by contrast, the main conservative party, the DNVP, was weak and disorganized, dependent on outside groups for help. This provided an opening for the nationalist Alfred Hugenberg, an early incarnation of Rupert Murdoch, who used his media empire and business connections to seize control of the party and try to drive it to the right. The infighting sapped the strength of the party, and many of its voters began to flock to far-right alternatives such as the Nazi Party. Hugenberg allied with Hitler, thinking that this would be a way to decidedly take control of the conservative movement. The rest is history.

I am not making a comparison between extreme Republicans and the Nazis. I am making the argument that when parties lose the ability to police their extremists, bad things happen not just to the party but also to democracy. Already, much of today’s Republican Party has been permeated by extremism. According to a recent American Enterprise Institute survey, 56 percent of Republicans believe “the traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it.” Thirty-nine percent backed an even stronger statement: “If elected leaders will not protect America, the people must do it themselves even if it requires taking violent actions.” These are not views compatible with democracy.

The Republican Party has lost control of the forces it has long encouraged. An early moment of reckoning took place in the 1980s, according to David Frum’s prescient book “Dead Right.” As conservatives saw it, they had finally taken charge for the first time since FDR’s reign in the 1930s. Now they could repeal the New Deal and the Great Society. As they quickly realized, however, the public was utterly opposed to doing so. Ever since then, Republicans have gotten comfortable lying to their voters.

Over time, the party was taken over by the increasingly frustrated mob. Consider the difference between the government shutdowns of the mid-1990s and of 2013. The former were centrally planned and directed by the House Republican leader, Newt Gingrich (Ga.). The latter was demanded by the tea party, and though House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) acquiesced, he was eventually pushed out of office by those same radicals.

In 2016, the Republican Party could not come together to defeat and purge Trump. The party hierarchy had lost its clout. Besides, other presidential hopefuls such as Sens. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) wanted to court Trump’s base, not alienate it. A few leaders, such as Mitt Romney, condemned Trump, but it was all too little, too late.

U.S. political parties have become dangerously weak. Once, they picked the presidential candidates to present to the public. Now, primary voters — often more radical than party leaders — have usurped that key function. Once, the parties firmly controlled campaign funds. Today, thanks to various Supreme Court rulings, outside groups have much more cash and influence than they used to.

So the odds are against the Republican Party disciplining its most radical elements. Some hope that electoral losses might force those actions. But remember that while 2020 was a bad year for Trump, it wasn’t such a bad year for other Republicans. The party narrowly lost control of Congress, but it did well in state houses across the country, sometimes with the help of voter suppression and gerrymandering.

Europe’s parties have not been captured by radical forces because they have stronger internal structures, but they are also weakening. Everywhere, the media has splintered and been decentralized, making it harder to purge extreme voices. We are moving into a world where democracies have fewer and fewer gatekeepers. Without realizing it, we are embarked on a new and dangerous experiment in governance.

[Skuj]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

Seeing conservative knuckle draggers defending him is too funny. Boot lickers the lot of them. Cruz is also showing his strength of character by blaming his kids on the trip. First he allows Trump to shit on (not literally as far as I know) his wife, then he's blaming his kids for deciding to take a trip in the middle of a)a pandemic and b)a snowstorm that has left seemingly half the state crippled.

AND! people keep voting for him. Mental.

Is there a bigger clown in politics than Cruz? I hope this sticks. Plus, you know, that election rejection thing.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by Skuj

Is there a bigger clown in politics than Cruz? I hope this sticks. Plus, you know, that election rejection thing.

Asshole left the dog behind to freeze in his fucking mansion. That's even worse than supporting Trump.

[The Soup Nazi]

 

 

 

 

[Skuj]

This almost begs the question: WTF do Senators do?

[_tunic_]

Golf

[choc e-Claire]

Not give people $2,000.

[Skuj]

Oh please. Oh please.

https://thehill.com/homenews/politic...ump-party-poll

[tw2113]

So almost half of the current GOP voter base love to fellate Trump. It'll be interesting to see if anything actually comes from this, given how many other parties have tried to become relevant.

[Skuj]

It's good news for so many reasons:

Please, GOP, split up!!

But, only half? I thought The Orange Blob commanded epic loyalty. The Bytemes and Skunks of this world are actually thinking clearly now?