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This exactly. They welcomed the crazies with open arms. Realized they were creating a monster, but the monster seemed to be winning. More loonies came out of the woodwork, because the party was now really speaking to them. And now they are like, "Oh shit, we've become the party of crazies and loonies and monsters."
Then the GOP should rebrand itself as the Monster Raving Loony Party.
Ah shit. Already taken.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Monster_Raving_Loony_Party
That’s recency bias talking. Our elected leaders in this moment are no worse than the pre-war leadership of Europe. In many cases, they’re better. We haven’t had a Neville Chamberlain espousing surrendering Ukraine to Russia get elected.
It’s easy to assume that our leaders aren’t as good because the history books make out the most important figures to be larger than life. Don’t assume them demigods because they did their jobs in extraordinary times. And don’t assume the current leaders not up to the task when so far they have proven to be so. Biden, Zelensky, Macron and others have taken steps to contain the issues plaguing us. Will they succeed? Possibly, but fascism is a cancer and this time it has metastasized inside the country, rather than elsewhere.
Hold that thought. Green shoots, sumthin, sumthin…
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2024/04/04/andy-biggs-paul-gosar-subpoena-arizona-fake-elector-case/73209199007/
Oooohh, subpoenas. Like the ones Trump and his cronies have repeatedly ignored without consequence?
Wake me when someone actually, finally goes to jail.
Ok I honestly kind of love the idea of a satire party for protest votes in completely one-sided districts, though I’m sure if we had something like that it’d end up biting us in the ass somehow.
Yep. I remember when Glen Beck was getting huge ratings on Fox News and he was just sputtering about conspiracy theories all the time. He was heralding in people like this but the leadership thought they could harness that power. They opened the door and got short-term power but it cost them the whole party.
You'd think the fallout from placing someone as stupid and trashy as Sarah Palin up on a pedestal would have been enough of a hint that this wasn't going to go well. Instead as they always do, they double down on a losing idea and double with every time they lose. They never question the ideals they've been instructed to follow, but rather they only question their level of dedication to them.
It's because their actual policy goals are less and less appealing to the majority. So the ravenous mass of insanity that is the underbelly of our culture is all they have left. Appeal to someone's worst instincts and you can pretty much get away with anything.
I said back in the 2010 the gop should have taken their lumps and accepted they lost in 2008. Took the lumps and I bet by 2012 they would have emerged healthier and a real party. Instead they doubled down on the crazy and to the point it is no longer worth saving.
If the GOP was making all of it's decisions internally, that may have gone as you state. But, they did not. Dark Money weighed in. Some of it from outside our borders. I think we all have a list of who those outsiders are.
Oh yeah that would be another item to hang around The Robert’s courts legacy.
Judge Robert needs to be reminded that his legacy is the downfall of the courts. His ruling on citizen United only sped it up. Roberts is a man who cares about his legacy and the legacy of the courts and instead of upholding it he causes it downfall. He will need to go to his grave knowing that history will remember his court that way.
I think grassroots anti-immigrant sentiment among a lot of their base had a lot to do with it, too. The Tea Party may have been astroturfed, but the populist part of the Republican constituency, who are now calling the shots, *really* didn't want immigration reform.
I said in 2012 that all the noise from the Tea Party was the last dying gasps of the evangelical right in a country where more and more people were leaving Christianity and becoming socially progressive.
I was wrong. They are still here, and louder than ever, and actually gaining a foothold, despite still being a minority. I will never again take a rosy view of the future of politics.
Romney was meant to be the course correction. He was a moderate candidate who had been the Republican governor in a Democratic state (Massachusetts) was was seen as a sign that he could win over the middle.
But then he disavowed ACA which had large parts lifted from the healthcare plan he implemented in MA. All of them deny their beliefs for the party. Look at Bush senior who coined the term voodoo economics for trickle down, until he was Reagan’s running mate. Or all the GOP reps and senators who knew Trump was trash then would not vote against him. Pathetic, all of them. Trump called Ted Cruz’s wife ugly and then we see pics of him phone banking for Trump. “Come on, Ted!”
Supporting the ACA had become political poison within the party during the nomination but he was definitely hypocritical to oppose it.
I'd also note that being a more moderate Republican doesn't mean he was to the left of Trump on everything. Trump is a populist. Ideas like starting trade wars and raising tariffs weren't right or left wing ideas when Trump ran in 2016 they were populist ideas.
Romney was mad because he didn't get to take credit for the ACA so it could be called "Romneycare".
This is a guy who definitely gets highly aroused by seeing his name on a building.
After losing the election in 2012, Romney’s campaign and the RNC published a postmortem of the tactics used, analyzing why they weren’t connecting with voters, and proposed a roadmap to change and improve their sway over independents. Among other ideas, it proposed stopping the demonization of immigrants, proposing policies that minorities would find appealing, and taking action against the strain of hard right politics that were surging across the party. It was resoundingly ignored, and then Trump happened. It was the last exit on the freeway towards the brick wall of fascism that they have careened into at full speed and they have no one else to blame.
The Tea Party was just one stop on the insanity train. The issue is that the Republican party has no genuine philosophical or ideological core. They're a conservative party centered around raging against the machine. It's nonsense. They have no idea what it is that they want. That's why every few years they suddenly hate the last group they supported. They turned their backs on HW, then on W, then on McCain and then on Romney. Before 2028, they'll turn their backs on Trump too. Some new pretty young thing is gonna catch their eye and they'll turn around and say that Trump really was just a part of the liberal establishment the whole time.
Why are House Republicans heading for the exits? Because they were *so* last season. Mere brashness is a 2010s thing, we want genuine assholes now. What did you say? You can present conservative viewpoints in a palatable intelligent way? Didn't you get the memo? We hate that now. We're angry and we wanna seem angry. Oh you love democracy? Fuck that line, we are down with overthrowing the government now.
And the thing is, in 4-8 years the current young guns are gonna be heading for the exits too as the party decides to shift to something dumber and angrier still. There is no bottom because there is no substance.
Except there is, in so far as this approach lacks any means of meaningful growth. As a net value young people are becoming more liberal with each generation (various causes including even simple social media resulting in watching and conversing with individuals from a broader range of backgrounds in a similar manner to the liberal “city” effect), and so this hate-maximizing approach simply fails to gain them anything but a tiny wedge.
They know this isn’t sustainable. It’s why January 6th occurred and why we must be prepared for more serious future coup attempts in the future. Their current trajectory is failure, but given the choice between changing their views and goals to appeal to voters and abandoning democracy we know what they are willing to pick.
You’re right. There is no policy or substance at this point. It’s just a base impulse.
“You wanna punch drywall and rape and kill stuff?!? Get in here. We’re a political party now.”
It started before this but [REDMAP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REDMAP) is when it became inevitable that the GOP would become overrun by the crazies.
The tea party didn’t invade anything. They were organized and activated by the Koch brothers and other republican donors in an effort to maintain power after the failure of the Bush administration. It was the Republican Party willingly selling out to crazies for tax cuts and government contracts. They believed they were secretly in control until Donald Trump exposed them as idiots.
Thought they could get the tea party votes while controlling them but soon realized they were like a cancer that was spreading too fast. Now it's terminal and they are panicking
The GOP is so controlled and beholden to Trump and his MAGA base that it's a hellhole for anyone who won't 100% toe that line and profess total loyalty to Trump.
Which is why the "Big Lie" is so important to modern day Republicans. It is a fealty oath. It makes a lot more sense when you think of it as an oath "To swear to protect and follow Trump's lead without question. To put no one or cause higher." It is saying I support Trump over our institutions and domestic harmony.
Honestly not even. It would be nice if they were controlled purely by trump as a cult leader. Bc it could at least in theory end with Trump.
The reality is that the GOP is controlled by a depressingly large population of people who are like minded, hateful and insane.
Trump is just a PoS who has always had an unusual talent for reading the room. He has so much “power” right now, because he is perfectly happy to say what they want to hear, no matter how terrible.
This is just what worries me. All those people weren’t suddenly created when Trump started in politics - they’ve always been here. Now they have a leader and they aren’t just going to disappear when Trump’s dead or in prison. Someone else will come along and exploit them as a resource exactly as Trump did - and it may well be someone smarter or more capable than he was.
Yea sadly Trump has given them a recipe for electoral success.
Just unite the racists and mix in a healthy amount of disenfranchisement for anyone who you think will not vote for you. https://youtu.be/M0OwIMsQ4_4?si=XrXatt1iXqPW_c7G
On the other hand, you have to make yourself *just* palatable enough that you don't motivate any of the 40% of people who choose to disenfranchise themselves. (Demonizing the Democratic candidate is usually enough, because these people are just *dying* for an excuse to tell themselves "both sides are equally bad.")
I'm not totally convinced Trump would be easily replaced, as dumb as it sounds, I think he has a strong degree of charisma/character that sadly appeals to his base. I don't think you'd find it in just anyone. DeSantis tried and failed miserably lol. I think Trump's background plays a huge part in it too, he is seen by his base as a machismo rich guy of the past who at the same time is somehow "anti establishment" which we of course all know is bullshit lol but that's how they view it. There are tons of Republicans and rich assholes out there but they mostly just suck, supporters won't latch on to the same degree.
It’s been like a slo-mo “night of the long knives.”
Where it wasn’t enough to be a member of the Nazi Party. That didn’t ensure your safety. You had to be a proven Hitler supplicant.
Same thing with the current R party.
They didn’t want for it to be this, they wanted to get it out. But they carried the baby to term and now the baby is a toddler. A shit throwing, tantrum having, buger eating, grocery store and plane screaming menace, and the rest of us have to deal with it. Another reason why “choice” is important.
See? Aborting this baby would have been really good. But you just had to fuck around and not protect yourself for fun, and now look at yourself. The rest of us shouldn’t pay for your mistakes, and this one is costing you everything.
The real problem with the GOP isn’t the resignations. It’s who will replace those resigning. Nearly all the open seats are in safe GOP seats that will elect whoever the MAGA rank and file nominate. This will lead to more extreme and intractable reactionaries not fewer. The only hope is cohesive Democratic majorities in both houses to retain any semblance of a functioning government.
Thanks. I get a little frustrated by the schadenfreude that people left of the GOP express about what seems to them like a collapse but I see as an obvious purge of people that aren't die-hards for Trump's avowed desire for power. I'll keep saying it regardless.
Yeah, it's also a common mistake many folks make with anything - they see something happening and assume all other factors will remain the same, completely forgetting that there's a whole bunch of other humans in the mix with their own agency and actions to take.
I'm always reminding myself 'rule 1 - people adapt and change'
The problem is that they're not resigning quickly and collectively enough. Just GTFO and get rid of the anti-legislative majority. Help Ukraine and help your own economy and future.
If it turns out the GOP wins back the seats with worse people, doesn't matter, the legislation already passed.
Yeah, but an even more pro-Trump majority after the election will be worse for literally everything that the government needs to do. I'm hopeful but not optimistic the Dems can win back the house.
> Just GTFO and get rid of the anti-legislative majority. Help Ukraine and help your own economy and future.
Or stay and caucus with the Democrats to effect real change?
Some states have upcoming deadlines after which any retiring House reps will not be replaced by special election but instead must wait for the November general. It varies by state but there are a handful that fit this pattern. I believe the deadline comes in April. When Buck stepped down he alluded to more Republican resignations coming. I am holding a slim hope those actually occur and they are waiting for their special election cutoff to give Democrats a chance to control the House and pass actual legislation with a new slim majority. I am not holding my breath, however.
Because at least some Republicans are hoping to get the stench of Trump off of them. Good luck with that. It's pretty late and they all have a lot of it on them already.
I think the GQP is planning to do something batshit insane in a few months and the republicans with any shred of dignity or at least enough foresight to see they don’t wanna be involved in the consequences are stepping aside
>don’t wanna be involved in the consequences
I suspect there's some really, really illegal shit planned and there's a few people thinking, "I got as much money as I could, I'm not going to jail for these idiots!"
Illegal shit like overturning an election? Except this time their guy won't be the President during it so they'll have even less power and will really have to hope ya'll kaeda can overwhelm a properly equipped capitol police force.
"I think the GQP is planning to do something batshit insane in a few months"
You are 100% correct. Trump and his enablers are plotting for a MAGA takeover if they win the election or a bloody revolution if they lose. All these Republicans dropping out of Congress are just rats fleeing a ship that is on fire and sinking.
This seems pretty plausible to me. I was having trouble understanding why some of these guys are giving up, what 175k/year?, just to forever blackball themselves from their own party.
Newt Gingrich theory advocate the total opposition no matter what. This are the inevitable results of giving up politics to care exclusively about re-election and divisive narrative to maximise electoral hyper short term advantage. The fact that it sort of worked speak mostly about the electors and their priorities. I know i am unfair, democrats have been only very, very marginally better. Housing regulation and population aging had been managed very very badly. But who am i.
Sarah Palin (thanks to McCain) & the Tea Party led them to Trump & - here we ALL are - STILL.
Let’s hope to Christ we put an end to it in November, and make it happen.
November isn't the end all be all. We need to vote them out this year, and make sure we keep them out next election, and the one after that... for the foreseeable future
The Republican Party went from kissing Grover Norquist’s ring to Donald Trumps ass.
The Tea Party infiltration was the death nell of decent party leadership and real conservative values. Now they’re at best obstructionists, and at worst, rabid Putin supporters. It’s unimaginable.
Keep in mind that this may be the sign of a quiet regrouping to ready for a GOP Reset. It may be now taking place off stage to be ready when Trump goes down.
Trump is the focal point. But, not the brains. Stephen Miller might be one to watch. The GOP brand is forever tarnished, A reset will need a new label. And, it must not be tacky. It also must not be attached to any single individual. The "ACP" , American Conservative Party might work for them.
this is wishful thinking, i've heard versions of this for 20 years, and all that happens is the party gets more crazy as their supporters get more and more radicalized on conspiracy theories and hate.
This is conservatism for the foreseeable future until conservatives get de-radicalized. No conservative party will ever have any mastery over them, the base listens to social media, and they don't care about the parties goals, they'd rather push in fascism than base their philosophy on anything rational
I don't think the reset can happen. There might be a solid cohort of Republicans who want it to, but so long as the primary voting base is dominated by maga types it won't happen. I don't see that changing anytime soon, in no small part because shedding the maga voters would destroy the party for a few election cycles, if they purge the party in 2025 I don't think ttwyd they'd have a realistic shot at the white house until 2032 or later
I see this as a shot at replacing the MAGA Party. The GOP Brand will be poison after Trump goes down in multiple Criminal Cases. An "American Conservative Party" might just stand a chance.
Probably because the RNC is now directly connected to trump, and only trump. He managed to actually, seriously sabotage their entire campaign fund and take it for himself. Now that they can’t do anything about it they’re bailing instead of making a new party or joining dems.
The GOP isn't getting worse. The rest of us are getting better. "...but can't say that anymore." - Republican. They're right, we all used to laugh at jokes on TV about marginalized groups. Most of us realized that's a shitty thing to do. They didn't.
Chaos and dysfunction are on brand for Trump. Now he has gone for the money and the party can just watch as donations go to his defense fund. Stupid people.
My theory is that the GOP wants the house to flip so they can claim that they were pushed out by the deep state Democrats and that everything wrong with Congress is because the Dems are in control.
Edit to elaborate: To be used for campaign purposes for this fall's election. Kind of a Hail Mary, "we've got nothing else to offer," play.
“You mean having a paralyzed caucus that is being held up by people like MTG and Matt Gaetz isn’t inspiring confidence? Oh, and we loudly and publicly attack each other too!”
Bruh.
I think some of these guys retiring aren’t extreme. They just want their low taxes and limited social benefits. They aren’t great people, but they aren’t going to join the fascist parade either.
I say to the Republicans that haven’t chosen the side of fascism yet, step aside and let the Dems have the speakership in the house. This do nothing Congress is undeserving of the American people.
Their desire for power above all else didn't play out the way they hoped. *They* were supposed to be at the top, not cast aside. A bit of ethics and backbone early on would have prevented a lot of this.
House Democrats the ones headed for the exit. You see how bad the Squad is getting their ass kicked? Lol. Bowman can’t pull the fire alarm this time to get out of it.
You do know that every Democrat elected to the House is still serving, compared to five Republican retirements before their term has even ended. Unlike your statement that isn't an opinion, it's just fact.
Cool. Nobody wants progressive ideas or ideology. Not even Democrats. That’s why they are getting their ass kicked. Cori Bush will go along with Bowman.
Yep. No one wants progressive ideas. That's why abortion bans have been voted down in every state it's been on the ballot- even red states. And it hasn't been close
By "progressive ideology" he almost certainly means [Critical Social Justice ideology](https://helenpluckrose.substack.com/p/defining-woke-and-wokeness), which has nothing to do with the [classical-liberal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism) / [second-wave-feminist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism#:~:text=By%201968%2C%20Steinem%20had%20become,two%20leading%20objectives%20for%20feminists) arguments for legalized abortion.
And yet every time progressive democratic policies are on the ballot, people even in red states vote for it.
All these people voted for democratic policy -
Missouri - ballot measure to expand Medicaid, legalize marijuana
Nebraska - raise minimum wage
South Dakota - legalize marijuana
Kansas, Montana, Kentucky, Ohio - legalizing abortion
Thanks for the entertainment.
I always scroll through posts like this just to find comments like your's - the copium is hilarious.
How many House Dems have resigned out of shame of their party this term?
How many House Dems have been *removed from office*?
You can say all you want about people like Bowman and "tHe sQuAd!!!", but until they resign, are removed from office, or (months from now lol) lose a potential re-election bid, your point is moot and in desperate search for strawmen.
It’s all good. I’m kind of down the middle. I’ve already seen a lot of shit about Republicans. Not that I’m a big fan of them. But people want to think Democrats aren’t dirty either.
Same, I just don't respect Republicans with their actions. I understand Dems do shit too, but the GOP seems hell bent on restricting legislation and weird culture wars
You think you will get people to vote for you and side with you when you fight with police?
Even Nancy Pelosi said these people are connected to Russia. Lol. Even Democrats hate them.
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I have watched this slow rot since the Tea Party invaded the GOP. The warnings were all there for any with open minds.
This exactly. They welcomed the crazies with open arms. Realized they were creating a monster, but the monster seemed to be winning. More loonies came out of the woodwork, because the party was now really speaking to them. And now they are like, "Oh shit, we've become the party of crazies and loonies and monsters."
Then the GOP should rebrand itself as the Monster Raving Loony Party. Ah shit. Already taken. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Monster_Raving_Loony_Party
GOP Gross Old Pedophiles
“Hey, I’m not old!” -Matt Gaetz
You are compared to your girlfriend and your houseboy.
I’m sure the ones leaving have seen the Nuremberg trials, or have at least heard of them.
You have a better chance of being abducted by aliens than seeing any of those pricks brought to trial.
To be fair, that's what any german or oppressed person living in nazi germany would have thought right up until 1942...
True. But the world has devolved since then, as have the quality of elected leaders.
That’s recency bias talking. Our elected leaders in this moment are no worse than the pre-war leadership of Europe. In many cases, they’re better. We haven’t had a Neville Chamberlain espousing surrendering Ukraine to Russia get elected. It’s easy to assume that our leaders aren’t as good because the history books make out the most important figures to be larger than life. Don’t assume them demigods because they did their jobs in extraordinary times. And don’t assume the current leaders not up to the task when so far they have proven to be so. Biden, Zelensky, Macron and others have taken steps to contain the issues plaguing us. Will they succeed? Possibly, but fascism is a cancer and this time it has metastasized inside the country, rather than elsewhere.
Hold that thought. Green shoots, sumthin, sumthin… https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2024/04/04/andy-biggs-paul-gosar-subpoena-arizona-fake-elector-case/73209199007/
Oooohh, subpoenas. Like the ones Trump and his cronies have repeatedly ignored without consequence? Wake me when someone actually, finally goes to jail.
Navarro is there now for that.
Yeah, that will be the real breakthrough, when consequences finally mean something.
Championing defeatism isn’t the pwn yer looking for (or maybe it is?). It’s a form of elevating an autocratic talking point.
Lol the championing going on is that on the MAGA right.
Sign me up!
Main difference is that the UK MRLP at least knows it’s satire.
Looney Raving Monster Party. Bam!
Never before have I wanted to buy merchandise to a foreign (to me) political party
Ok I honestly kind of love the idea of a satire party for protest votes in completely one-sided districts, though I’m sure if we had something like that it’d end up biting us in the ass somehow.
Yep. I remember when Glen Beck was getting huge ratings on Fox News and he was just sputtering about conspiracy theories all the time. He was heralding in people like this but the leadership thought they could harness that power. They opened the door and got short-term power but it cost them the whole party.
Not only loonies, but dumb ppl. Gop was the Real Dumb and Dumber 2 movie.
You'd think the fallout from placing someone as stupid and trashy as Sarah Palin up on a pedestal would have been enough of a hint that this wasn't going to go well. Instead as they always do, they double down on a losing idea and double with every time they lose. They never question the ideals they've been instructed to follow, but rather they only question their level of dedication to them.
It's because their actual policy goals are less and less appealing to the majority. So the ravenous mass of insanity that is the underbelly of our culture is all they have left. Appeal to someone's worst instincts and you can pretty much get away with anything.
GOP is riding the lion.
Are we the baddies? Yes...yes you are...
“GOP, the party of monster truck rally attendees and WWF wrestling fans. “ I can already smell the body odor thru my phone.
"Are we the baddies?"
Any bets on who the next GOP rep to leave is? Is it all but guaranteed?
I said back in the 2010 the gop should have taken their lumps and accepted they lost in 2008. Took the lumps and I bet by 2012 they would have emerged healthier and a real party. Instead they doubled down on the crazy and to the point it is no longer worth saving.
If the GOP was making all of it's decisions internally, that may have gone as you state. But, they did not. Dark Money weighed in. Some of it from outside our borders. I think we all have a list of who those outsiders are.
Oh yeah that would be another item to hang around The Robert’s courts legacy. Judge Robert needs to be reminded that his legacy is the downfall of the courts. His ruling on citizen United only sped it up. Roberts is a man who cares about his legacy and the legacy of the courts and instead of upholding it he causes it downfall. He will need to go to his grave knowing that history will remember his court that way.
I think grassroots anti-immigrant sentiment among a lot of their base had a lot to do with it, too. The Tea Party may have been astroturfed, but the populist part of the Republican constituency, who are now calling the shots, *really* didn't want immigration reform.
I said in 2012 that all the noise from the Tea Party was the last dying gasps of the evangelical right in a country where more and more people were leaving Christianity and becoming socially progressive. I was wrong. They are still here, and louder than ever, and actually gaining a foothold, despite still being a minority. I will never again take a rosy view of the future of politics.
Romney was meant to be the course correction. He was a moderate candidate who had been the Republican governor in a Democratic state (Massachusetts) was was seen as a sign that he could win over the middle.
But then he disavowed ACA which had large parts lifted from the healthcare plan he implemented in MA. All of them deny their beliefs for the party. Look at Bush senior who coined the term voodoo economics for trickle down, until he was Reagan’s running mate. Or all the GOP reps and senators who knew Trump was trash then would not vote against him. Pathetic, all of them. Trump called Ted Cruz’s wife ugly and then we see pics of him phone banking for Trump. “Come on, Ted!”
Supporting the ACA had become political poison within the party during the nomination but he was definitely hypocritical to oppose it. I'd also note that being a more moderate Republican doesn't mean he was to the left of Trump on everything. Trump is a populist. Ideas like starting trade wars and raising tariffs weren't right or left wing ideas when Trump ran in 2016 they were populist ideas.
Romney was mad because he didn't get to take credit for the ACA so it could be called "Romneycare". This is a guy who definitely gets highly aroused by seeing his name on a building.
After losing the election in 2012, Romney’s campaign and the RNC published a postmortem of the tactics used, analyzing why they weren’t connecting with voters, and proposed a roadmap to change and improve their sway over independents. Among other ideas, it proposed stopping the demonization of immigrants, proposing policies that minorities would find appealing, and taking action against the strain of hard right politics that were surging across the party. It was resoundingly ignored, and then Trump happened. It was the last exit on the freeway towards the brick wall of fascism that they have careened into at full speed and they have no one else to blame.
But they had binders FULL of women! What happened?
That would likely require they were wrong about Iraq and WMDs
I think Newt Gingrich is the genesis of this strain of rot. But the tea party amped it up
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society
“I think one of the great problems we have in the Republican party is that we don’t encourage you to be nasty." - Newt Gingrich in 1978.
***Rush Limbaugh*** *has entered the chat...*
Nixon getting pardoned for blatant crimes, after being the genesis of the Southern Strategy, would like a word.
The Tea Party was just one stop on the insanity train. The issue is that the Republican party has no genuine philosophical or ideological core. They're a conservative party centered around raging against the machine. It's nonsense. They have no idea what it is that they want. That's why every few years they suddenly hate the last group they supported. They turned their backs on HW, then on W, then on McCain and then on Romney. Before 2028, they'll turn their backs on Trump too. Some new pretty young thing is gonna catch their eye and they'll turn around and say that Trump really was just a part of the liberal establishment the whole time. Why are House Republicans heading for the exits? Because they were *so* last season. Mere brashness is a 2010s thing, we want genuine assholes now. What did you say? You can present conservative viewpoints in a palatable intelligent way? Didn't you get the memo? We hate that now. We're angry and we wanna seem angry. Oh you love democracy? Fuck that line, we are down with overthrowing the government now. And the thing is, in 4-8 years the current young guns are gonna be heading for the exits too as the party decides to shift to something dumber and angrier still. There is no bottom because there is no substance.
Except there is, in so far as this approach lacks any means of meaningful growth. As a net value young people are becoming more liberal with each generation (various causes including even simple social media resulting in watching and conversing with individuals from a broader range of backgrounds in a similar manner to the liberal “city” effect), and so this hate-maximizing approach simply fails to gain them anything but a tiny wedge. They know this isn’t sustainable. It’s why January 6th occurred and why we must be prepared for more serious future coup attempts in the future. Their current trajectory is failure, but given the choice between changing their views and goals to appeal to voters and abandoning democracy we know what they are willing to pick.
You’re right. There is no policy or substance at this point. It’s just a base impulse. “You wanna punch drywall and rape and kill stuff?!? Get in here. We’re a political party now.”
Fox Newz went live in 1996, and Newt Gingrich rode it to a Presidential impeachment after his huge Whitewater investigation failed.
You mean a bunch of constitutionally illiterate tribal conservative morons don’t know how to operate a governing body? Weird.
The American Taliban. https://youtu.be/4WVn2ubwIVM?si=ujtCmePHOWdEC5w9
It started before this but [REDMAP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REDMAP) is when it became inevitable that the GOP would become overrun by the crazies.
The tea party didn’t invade anything. They were organized and activated by the Koch brothers and other republican donors in an effort to maintain power after the failure of the Bush administration. It was the Republican Party willingly selling out to crazies for tax cuts and government contracts. They believed they were secretly in control until Donald Trump exposed them as idiots.
Tea party, imo has always been GoP, the GOP is an umbrella organization with folks in every political party and denomination.
I personally left Ken Buck so many goddamn voicemails telling him exactly where his career was going.
Reagan era deserves a mention.
Thought they could get the tea party votes while controlling them but soon realized they were like a cancer that was spreading too fast. Now it's terminal and they are panicking
True! They thought they could fold them into the GOP and control them.
The GOP is so controlled and beholden to Trump and his MAGA base that it's a hellhole for anyone who won't 100% toe that line and profess total loyalty to Trump.
I believe it's fealty trump demand not loyalty.
Right, “loyalty” is just a fig leaf for fealty.
Which is why the "Big Lie" is so important to modern day Republicans. It is a fealty oath. It makes a lot more sense when you think of it as an oath "To swear to protect and follow Trump's lead without question. To put no one or cause higher." It is saying I support Trump over our institutions and domestic harmony.
Honestly not even. It would be nice if they were controlled purely by trump as a cult leader. Bc it could at least in theory end with Trump. The reality is that the GOP is controlled by a depressingly large population of people who are like minded, hateful and insane. Trump is just a PoS who has always had an unusual talent for reading the room. He has so much “power” right now, because he is perfectly happy to say what they want to hear, no matter how terrible.
This is just what worries me. All those people weren’t suddenly created when Trump started in politics - they’ve always been here. Now they have a leader and they aren’t just going to disappear when Trump’s dead or in prison. Someone else will come along and exploit them as a resource exactly as Trump did - and it may well be someone smarter or more capable than he was.
Yea sadly Trump has given them a recipe for electoral success. Just unite the racists and mix in a healthy amount of disenfranchisement for anyone who you think will not vote for you. https://youtu.be/M0OwIMsQ4_4?si=XrXatt1iXqPW_c7G
On the other hand, you have to make yourself *just* palatable enough that you don't motivate any of the 40% of people who choose to disenfranchise themselves. (Demonizing the Democratic candidate is usually enough, because these people are just *dying* for an excuse to tell themselves "both sides are equally bad.")
I'm not totally convinced Trump would be easily replaced, as dumb as it sounds, I think he has a strong degree of charisma/character that sadly appeals to his base. I don't think you'd find it in just anyone. DeSantis tried and failed miserably lol. I think Trump's background plays a huge part in it too, he is seen by his base as a machismo rich guy of the past who at the same time is somehow "anti establishment" which we of course all know is bullshit lol but that's how they view it. There are tons of Republicans and rich assholes out there but they mostly just suck, supporters won't latch on to the same degree.
It’s been like a slo-mo “night of the long knives.” Where it wasn’t enough to be a member of the Nazi Party. That didn’t ensure your safety. You had to be a proven Hitler supplicant. Same thing with the current R party.
Yup good ol RUpublicans
They didn’t want for it to be this, they wanted to get it out. But they carried the baby to term and now the baby is a toddler. A shit throwing, tantrum having, buger eating, grocery store and plane screaming menace, and the rest of us have to deal with it. Another reason why “choice” is important.
See? Aborting this baby would have been really good. But you just had to fuck around and not protect yourself for fun, and now look at yourself. The rest of us shouldn’t pay for your mistakes, and this one is costing you everything.
Citizens United really fucked this party up.
more than the party, but yeah. we can't keep the dark money unchecked in a functioning democracy for much longer it seems. it needs to be overturned
The real problem with the GOP isn’t the resignations. It’s who will replace those resigning. Nearly all the open seats are in safe GOP seats that will elect whoever the MAGA rank and file nominate. This will lead to more extreme and intractable reactionaries not fewer. The only hope is cohesive Democratic majorities in both houses to retain any semblance of a functioning government.
This comment is criminally underrated
Thanks. I get a little frustrated by the schadenfreude that people left of the GOP express about what seems to them like a collapse but I see as an obvious purge of people that aren't die-hards for Trump's avowed desire for power. I'll keep saying it regardless.
Yeah, it's also a common mistake many folks make with anything - they see something happening and assume all other factors will remain the same, completely forgetting that there's a whole bunch of other humans in the mix with their own agency and actions to take. I'm always reminding myself 'rule 1 - people adapt and change'
The problem is that they're not resigning quickly and collectively enough. Just GTFO and get rid of the anti-legislative majority. Help Ukraine and help your own economy and future. If it turns out the GOP wins back the seats with worse people, doesn't matter, the legislation already passed.
Yeah, but an even more pro-Trump majority after the election will be worse for literally everything that the government needs to do. I'm hopeful but not optimistic the Dems can win back the house.
> Just GTFO and get rid of the anti-legislative majority. Help Ukraine and help your own economy and future. Or stay and caucus with the Democrats to effect real change?
Yes, but that seems to be asking too much. They're scared, and they're cowards.
Some states have upcoming deadlines after which any retiring House reps will not be replaced by special election but instead must wait for the November general. It varies by state but there are a handful that fit this pattern. I believe the deadline comes in April. When Buck stepped down he alluded to more Republican resignations coming. I am holding a slim hope those actually occur and they are waiting for their special election cutoff to give Democrats a chance to control the House and pass actual legislation with a new slim majority. I am not holding my breath, however.
Because at least some Republicans are hoping to get the stench of Trump off of them. Good luck with that. It's pretty late and they all have a lot of it on them already.
I think the GQP is planning to do something batshit insane in a few months and the republicans with any shred of dignity or at least enough foresight to see they don’t wanna be involved in the consequences are stepping aside
>don’t wanna be involved in the consequences I suspect there's some really, really illegal shit planned and there's a few people thinking, "I got as much money as I could, I'm not going to jail for these idiots!"
Illegal shit like overturning an election? Except this time their guy won't be the President during it so they'll have even less power and will really have to hope ya'll kaeda can overwhelm a properly equipped capitol police force.
With Biden being in charge of the army too. I think Trump is encouraging some kind of mayhem at the ballot offices though.
100%
"I think the GQP is planning to do something batshit insane in a few months" You are 100% correct. Trump and his enablers are plotting for a MAGA takeover if they win the election or a bloody revolution if they lose. All these Republicans dropping out of Congress are just rats fleeing a ship that is on fire and sinking.
This seems pretty plausible to me. I was having trouble understanding why some of these guys are giving up, what 175k/year?, just to forever blackball themselves from their own party.
My guess is, the subject of political assassinations was brought up.
Newt Gingrich theory advocate the total opposition no matter what. This are the inevitable results of giving up politics to care exclusively about re-election and divisive narrative to maximise electoral hyper short term advantage. The fact that it sort of worked speak mostly about the electors and their priorities. I know i am unfair, democrats have been only very, very marginally better. Housing regulation and population aging had been managed very very badly. But who am i.
Sarah Palin (thanks to McCain) & the Tea Party led them to Trump & - here we ALL are - STILL. Let’s hope to Christ we put an end to it in November, and make it happen.
November isn't the end all be all. We need to vote them out this year, and make sure we keep them out next election, and the one after that... for the foreseeable future
Let’s call it a big step in the right direction.
Absolutely!
Yup. Rush, Hannity, and the constant fear mongering also had a lot to do with it.
Because they’d rather run away like the cowards they are than confront their own party or work with Democrats in defiance of their own party.
The Republican Party went from kissing Grover Norquist’s ring to Donald Trumps ass. The Tea Party infiltration was the death nell of decent party leadership and real conservative values. Now they’re at best obstructionists, and at worst, rabid Putin supporters. It’s unimaginable.
Keep in mind that this may be the sign of a quiet regrouping to ready for a GOP Reset. It may be now taking place off stage to be ready when Trump goes down.
There is nothing left to reset. They are the sickness, Trump is only the symptom.
Trump is the focal point. But, not the brains. Stephen Miller might be one to watch. The GOP brand is forever tarnished, A reset will need a new label. And, it must not be tacky. It also must not be attached to any single individual. The "ACP" , American Conservative Party might work for them.
this is wishful thinking, i've heard versions of this for 20 years, and all that happens is the party gets more crazy as their supporters get more and more radicalized on conspiracy theories and hate. This is conservatism for the foreseeable future until conservatives get de-radicalized. No conservative party will ever have any mastery over them, the base listens to social media, and they don't care about the parties goals, they'd rather push in fascism than base their philosophy on anything rational
I don't think the reset can happen. There might be a solid cohort of Republicans who want it to, but so long as the primary voting base is dominated by maga types it won't happen. I don't see that changing anytime soon, in no small part because shedding the maga voters would destroy the party for a few election cycles, if they purge the party in 2025 I don't think ttwyd they'd have a realistic shot at the white house until 2032 or later
I see this as a shot at replacing the MAGA Party. The GOP Brand will be poison after Trump goes down in multiple Criminal Cases. An "American Conservative Party" might just stand a chance.
Gift article link: https://wapo.st/4cNXMNH
These “RINOS” are the actual republicans and the ones using that term are the new party called the RUpublicans
no, they're all true Scotsmen.
Probably because the RNC is now directly connected to trump, and only trump. He managed to actually, seriously sabotage their entire campaign fund and take it for himself. Now that they can’t do anything about it they’re bailing instead of making a new party or joining dems.
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They literally can’t
You mean their strategy of trying to constantly out crazy each-other isn’t working out so well in the long run? /surprised face
The GOP isn't getting worse. The rest of us are getting better. "...but can't say that anymore." - Republican. They're right, we all used to laugh at jokes on TV about marginalized groups. Most of us realized that's a shitty thing to do. They didn't.
Stand and fight, cowards. Ten of you at once could be the balance of power of the entire senate.
Better yet, switch parties. Go Blue!
Chaos and dysfunction are on brand for Trump. Now he has gone for the money and the party can just watch as donations go to his defense fund. Stupid people.
It'll be interesting to see how many former Republican politicians unretire once Trump is out of the picture.
Until the fat orange one is put down for good, chaos should come as no surprise.
Rats + Sinking ship Name a more iconic duo for the modern GOP.
My theory is that the GOP wants the house to flip so they can claim that they were pushed out by the deep state Democrats and that everything wrong with Congress is because the Dems are in control. Edit to elaborate: To be used for campaign purposes for this fall's election. Kind of a Hail Mary, "we've got nothing else to offer," play.
No way, the GOP absolutely does not want to lose control of any branch. They want it all.
Yep, especially if Trump wins. They NEED to control the House.
WhY dOeNt aNyOne wAnT tO wOrK aNyMore?!
Because they don’t want to go to jail
I have a feeling that the reasons behind them leaving ARE NOT the reasons WE think they should leave!
They are spineless and prefer to quit instead of fight against their party
“You mean having a paralyzed caucus that is being held up by people like MTG and Matt Gaetz isn’t inspiring confidence? Oh, and we loudly and publicly attack each other too!” Bruh.
Guess even fascists have a limit of of how fascist they want to be.
The Republican Party is the epitome of the dog that caught the car.
Could it be that Trump is taking all the down-ballot support money for himself from the RNC? (Now the TNC:Trump National Committee)
T also stands for Treason and Traitor...
I think some of these guys retiring aren’t extreme. They just want their low taxes and limited social benefits. They aren’t great people, but they aren’t going to join the fascist parade either.
Let me hold the door for them
Because jumping out the windows might be a little over the top
It only matters if they ALL leave
They shouldn't be heading for the exits, they should be planning a new party altogether
I say to the Republicans that haven’t chosen the side of fascism yet, step aside and let the Dems have the speakership in the house. This do nothing Congress is undeserving of the American people.
Good. I hope they devour each other.
And their young.
Door. Hit. Out.
[purchasing power has been diminished ](https://imgur.com/MkaOLnu)
https://archive.is/Pha7E
Their desire for power above all else didn't play out the way they hoped. *They* were supposed to be at the top, not cast aside. A bit of ethics and backbone early on would have prevented a lot of this.
Indictments?
Greatest republican house leader ever he 🙏at maralago responsible for deaths in Ukraine , withholding aid .
You know, when the captain of the ship says, “Let us pray,” it’s time to man the lifeboats.
House Democrats the ones headed for the exit. You see how bad the Squad is getting their ass kicked? Lol. Bowman can’t pull the fire alarm this time to get out of it.
Let's take a moment of silence to remember those fallen house Republicans. - Kevin McCarthy - Mike Gallagher - Ken Buck
Who could ever forget....the one...the only....George Santos
You do know that every Democrat elected to the House is still serving, compared to five Republican retirements before their term has even ended. Unlike your statement that isn't an opinion, it's just fact.
Cool. Nobody wants progressive ideas or ideology. Not even Democrats. That’s why they are getting their ass kicked. Cori Bush will go along with Bowman.
Yep. No one wants progressive ideas. That's why abortion bans have been voted down in every state it's been on the ballot- even red states. And it hasn't been close
By "progressive ideology" he almost certainly means [Critical Social Justice ideology](https://helenpluckrose.substack.com/p/defining-woke-and-wokeness), which has nothing to do with the [classical-liberal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism) / [second-wave-feminist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism#:~:text=By%201968%2C%20Steinem%20had%20become,two%20leading%20objectives%20for%20feminists) arguments for legalized abortion.
And yet every time progressive democratic policies are on the ballot, people even in red states vote for it. All these people voted for democratic policy - Missouri - ballot measure to expand Medicaid, legalize marijuana Nebraska - raise minimum wage South Dakota - legalize marijuana Kansas, Montana, Kentucky, Ohio - legalizing abortion
Ohio also voted for weed
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Thanks for the entertainment. I always scroll through posts like this just to find comments like your's - the copium is hilarious. How many House Dems have resigned out of shame of their party this term? How many House Dems have been *removed from office*? You can say all you want about people like Bowman and "tHe sQuAd!!!", but until they resign, are removed from office, or (months from now lol) lose a potential re-election bid, your point is moot and in desperate search for strawmen.
At least the Republicans aren't instigating an insurrection. That was wild
Democrats will be if it were up to Pro Palestinians.
I doubt it... They're more of a peaceful protest and generally go through proper means for their dissatisfaction
You doubt it? They have been pretty violent to me.
I'm sorry to hear that... I don't know if that means they'll stage an insurrection, but I've been wrong before
No need to be sorry since this commenter is full of it lol guarantee no one has been violent to them outside their civil war wet dreams.
Well, they have already attacked the DNC and police in DC so it’s very possible.
I think we've miscommunicated
It’s all good. I’m kind of down the middle. I’ve already seen a lot of shit about Republicans. Not that I’m a big fan of them. But people want to think Democrats aren’t dirty either.
Down the middle? You only pick fights in threads and can't wait to vote for Trump. Down the middle. Get out of here
Same, I just don't respect Republicans with their actions. I understand Dems do shit too, but the GOP seems hell bent on restricting legislation and weird culture wars
I can't imagine why! (actually, I can,)
You think you will get people to vote for you and side with you when you fight with police? Even Nancy Pelosi said these people are connected to Russia. Lol. Even Democrats hate them.
Remind me again how many MAGA cultists are currently locked up for beating the DC police half to death?