With markets in turmoil, Britain back in recession and the foundations of Europe trembling, Britain’s Business Secretary declared that “the greatest threat to the world financial system comes from a couple of right-wing nutters in the American congress.” House Republicans were threatening to force the country into default, destroying the foundation of the global economy. The suffering would have been immense. And Paul Ryan was fine with it.
This took place in the summer of 2011, when Donald Trump merely lurked on the edges of politics. He had no hand in the callousness that led Republicans to threaten default, the hate that drove them to boo a gay soldier.Paul Ryan chose to author a budget that extracted two-thirds of its cuts from the poor. Mitt Romney championed the plan, and not because Trump endorsed him. Trump was tweeting about his IQ while Republicans tortured our system with shutdowns and tantrums.
Thus, the journey of the Republican Party was not only one of ideological radicalization, but of moral degeneration. And they picked that path without Trump. As the Obama years went on, the GOP embraced a hardhearted moral nihilism. Restraint was the first virtue to go, then empathy. The GOP sought the low ground of tribalism and the will to power.
It was into this environment that Donald Trump finally rode the escalator. The Party he was soon to conquer had already descended far toward a moral collapse. That he destroyed their party’s character is a self-serving and not true. The Party’s loss of decency was a choice Republicans from Mitch McConnell to Mitt Romney had already made.
It’s true that Trump has a reverse-Midas ability to debase what he contacts. But he only transforms the character of individuals. The trajectory of the Republican Party had already carried them to a place of supreme vulnerability. He didn’t remake the party in his own image. He reflected the ugly reality of what they had become.
Alexander Jones is an original contributor to PoliticsNC.
Did you just forget to mention Al Franken, John Conyers, Bill Clinton, Harvey Weinstein and a number of left-leaning reporters and pundits who have been suspended or fired for sexual harrassment, or are you just another partisan liberal in total denial?
Should have addressed the above post to Walt.
Tsk. Tsk. Disgusted: Consider that Ebrun will soon (November 2018) have to rationalize the failure of Trumpism and the collapse of the GOP congressional party in those 2018 state and national elections. We shall have to wait to see what the Republican spin doctors feed to Ebrun and then, he, in turn,.to his children and grandchildren. And, while we may find what he says amusing, posting his comments here will not come easy for Ebrun, and he should start on that now. Peace.
Walt, reforming the federal judiciary with conservatives judges, reining in the regulatory state, exposing the man-made climate change hoax, and emasculating Obamacare may well lead to a GOP defeat in 2018, just like what happened to the Democrats in 2010 and 2014 for that matter. That may be the price we have to pay, but, in this conservative’s opinion, it will be worth it.
You called it and have accurately predicted the 2018 election, Ebrun. Stacking the federal judiciary with right-wing lawyers, emasculating our federal government’s proper functions, denying climate change, trying to kill Obamacare may, as you predict, “lead to a GOP defeat in 2018.” Losing the tax increase for the middle class while promising the 1% more tax cuts, proposing to vastly increase the deficit, will also contribute to the Republican national and state defeats. A political party dedicated to the destruction of government has proven that no matter what, it cannot govern.
I am not as cautious as others–who got think they got burned in the 2016 presidential election–and are now a bit gun-shy about predicting massive GOP defeats in 2018. All of the evidence is upon us for a wave election.
I consider myself a conservative, too, Ebrun. Conserving natural and human resources and at the same time liberating Americans from voter suppression, unfair and restrictive health practices and costs, and getting us more freedom by opening government to all. Peace.
Could you possibly punch any more Fox News talking point buttons in one post?!?!?!
That’s funny, it really is. The PEOPLE don’t want tax reform shoved down their throats for the wealthy and corporations. The PEOPLE don’t want temporary tax cuts and permanent ones for those two aforementioned groups. The PEOPLE already know they are going to be holding the short end of the stick if this passes. Does that stop the Republican Party from pushing this or any other piece of legislation through, regardless of the damage it will do on the basis of getting a “win”?
The PEOPLE now understanding they could lose their healthcare have come to the realization that, “hey, maybe Obamacare/ACA/Affordable Healthcare isn’t so bad as we’ve been lead to believe. Does that stop the Republican leadership in Congress from trashing it anyway? And in the void of not being able to do so, destabilize the market and drive the prices up independent of any payout liabilities incurred by the carriers? Again, in the name of a ‘victory’?
If you answered “Not at all” to both of those, you’d be correct. The Republican party isn’t about doing what is right for the people they represent; not the majority of them since they couldn’t win by representing the majority. No, they have hoodwinked the voter into a false belief they do represent the ‘common man.’ Right up to the point the votes are cast in Congress and we truly see who it is they represent. It isn’t the everyday folks of this country.
Too bad the ’cause’ isn’t the cause of the people, or good government, or even responsible government. No, it’s the cause of the Republican Party, the wealthy elite, and anyone else that pays them homage.
And you know what escapes me here? How you, being all that you claim to be can support these jerks knowing full well what harm they are doing with your blessing and support; sitting in the same sinking boat with the rest of us. It’s like you getting on the Titanic knowing it’s going to hit an iceberg and sink and you get on anyway. It’s pathetic not being able to see the forest because of the trees.
Yeah, I’m sure you can conservo-search and find a dataset that loosely quantifies whatever it is you are going to try and spin in order to debase what I just pointed out; spare me. Despite what you have to say, all one has to do is look at the votes in Congress and how they are cast to clearly see what is transpiring. It has nothing to do with what we are being told by the Republican party. It as everything to do with how they vote and what they are attempting to accomplish.
It’s nothing beneficial for the majority of people.
Walt is probably right about the 2018 midterms. The penduleum is likely to swing back to the opposition just like it did in 2010 and 14. But it will be difficult for the left to reverse some of the reforms happening this year, especially the remaking of the judiciary. And with a near boom economy (latest GNP growth estimated to be 3.3%, the second consecutive quarter of 3% plus growth), the Democrats’ gains are likely to be temporary.
If the Republican tax cuts pass, the economy will likely respond with even greater vitality allowing the GOP to contrast the dynamic economy of the Trump years with the sluggish economy,stagnant wage growth and endemic pessimism of the Obama years.
More personal attacks aimed at those who do not share your ideology.D.g.? Every time you engage in that kind of invective, you expose your intolerance and lack of civility toward those with whom you differ.
Now there’s an intellectual response. Point Ebrun. Thanks for playing everyone.
Ty, it kinda fun to play D.g. He takes the bait just about every time, as evidenced in his latest rant in response to your post.
Right on, Alex Jones. The Republican Party began its descent to immorality in 1968 when Richard Nixon declared his “Southern Strategy” designed to appeal to southern whites who abhorred Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts of 1964 and 1965. (This was publicly acknowledged by the late Roger Ailes on numerous occasions.) It descended further when Ronald Reagan deliberately launched his 1980 campaign in Philadelphia, MS, unrepentant site of the racist murder of Michael Schwerner, Andy Goodman, and James Chaney. Lee Atwater’s analysis of racial wedge issues taught the party to rail against “welfare queens driving Cadillacs” rather than using the “N-word.” (This was acknowledge by Atwater himself in his “road-to-Damascus conversion” when he was dying of cancer in his early 40s and tried to express remorse for his racism.)
When Newt Gingrich and his minions made their alliance with the NRA in 1993 to try to destroy Bill Clinton’s presidency, they added the right-wing memes of anti-gay, anti-health insurance, anti-Social Security, and anti-women’s rights to their campaign program. By the time Gingrich and both his Republican successors as Speaker of the House had resigned in disgrace over sexual peccadillos and/or financial crimes–both of which they had falsely imputed to President Clinton–the pattern was set: accuse the Democrats of doing everything your own party does; never admit wrongdoing; never give up; don’t hesitate to cheat and lie and break not only laws but also the rules and the unstated norms of political behavior. (These facts are easily accessible by looking at any contemporaneous newspaper from the late 1990s.)
With Injustice Antonin Scalia’s decision to rule on a case before the Supreme Court in which HIS OWN SON was a lawyer for the plaintiffs, despite more than a century of agreement that the SCOTUS should avoid not only the reality, but even the appearance of a conflict of interest, the GOP plunged headlong into its drive to undermine and eliminate democracy in favor of an oligarchy whose only end was power, to be taken and used (and abused) ruthlessly at every level of governance. (Scalia’s decision was discussed at length and in depth by legal scholars at the time, to the extent that he made a “disclaimer” that the ending of the Florida recount, in order to assure that Bush would be installed as president, was “not to be considered a precedent for any future court.” In other words, it was a deliberate one-off designed to trash the rules in favor of his party, but deny future justices the right to do the same for the opposition.)
This is not hate-filled invective, but a simple recital of documented facts. When those who refuse to accept the reality of documented facts and prefer to live in and preach a world of alternative reality — as was specifically avowed by George W. Bush’s senior policy advisor, and reiterated by Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway — there is no possibility of civil political debate. Debate requires agreement on the terms and the rules as well as the topics under discussion; civility requires honest acceptance of facts and differing opinions, but cannot abide someone who offers a different set of facts.
So, to those who post here whining about liberals or “the far left” who provide those facts, there’s nothing to say beyond this: Please return to your own hate-filled websites like Breitbart, and let smart, honest people here discuss reality.
I guess it’s just not fair for anyone to challenge the far left’s ideology or their “facts” on a left wing blog, But it can sure be fun!
Wow! More shameful demagoguery from the far left. Your hate-filled invective is a symptom of the radical left’s inability to respect different opinions and to engage in civil political debate.
Ask the Bernie Bros who ballistic about my “Not the Right Fit for Party Leader” post whether I’m part of the “far left.” Also check my anti-Bernie tweets this morning.
Thanks.
*Went ballistic.
Could’ve fool me, but ok, I’ll take your word for it. But then why parrot the invective of the far left?
“Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.”
– Robert Heilein, “Time Enough for Love”.
Alex: You have unearthed (unrocked?), Ebrun, once again. He truly believes that his comments are balanced, civil, and rational. Yet, the only consistency between them is that they are entirely predictable and funny in a warped kind of way. So few right-wing radicals have a sense of humor, so we should be grateful we have Ebrun with us always.
Happy Thanksgiving.and peace.
Alexander: You have understated the case. The national GOP–and let’s not forget those North Carolina Republicans– gave Trump the nomination. Remember how many Republican officeholders in North Carolina did NOT want to go to the convention even though they said they were opposed or questioned Trump’s leadership of their party. They caved then and are still scared to death about opposing Trump today. Witness our NC congressional delegation and their subservience to the House “leadership.”
But that congressional hypocrisy now fades when matched with the GOP’s inability and unwillingness to tackle the sexual indiscretions and crimes attributed to Republicans in the White House, cabinet, and administration. Our state and national legislators should be paralyzed that some news investigators will poke around in their political and personal past lives because there will be much to unearth.
“Family values” be damned. What’s your take on these sexual episodes? I foresee this new round of political hypocrisy will generate some significant blowback and impact the 2018 election.
It’s amazing how that so many here seem to have a problem with Trump. Seems like only yesterday that everyone was pulling for Trump to win the Rep nomination. Everyone got what they wanted, right? 😉
Actually, I never cheered for him to win the Rep nom. Thought he was too uncouth to assume the highest office of the land, but then the Dems pretty much put up the same character-less candidate, thereby throwing the election to the candidate of the Party not currently holding the White House, all because people wanted change.