“If you don’t think that moving from Kevin McCarthy to MAGA Mike Johnson shows the ascendance of this movement and where the power in the Republican Party truly lies, then you’re not paying attention.”
Matt Gaetz
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Readers who are not on the GOP list of donors and rally attendees are missing an important factor in American politics. I am on the lists. Donald Trump thinks I am a supporter, and therefore a "Patriot" and a "Friend." Trump is relentless in enforcing loyalty within the GOP. He is communicating to me by e-mail, by TV, by rallies, by conservative media, and by social media. His supporters re-distribute and amplify his message. Matt Gaetz and a few of his Freedom Caucus allies also enforce loyalty within the GOP. They have policy goals: Cut spending including Social Security and Medicare, and shut down the government if necessary to get that outcome. Impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Find goods on Joe Biden and then impeach him, too. Gaetz pushing right on policies. Trump pushing orthodoxy on personal loyalty. To be a Republican in good standing one needs to have been loyal to Trump in supporting his effort to overturn the 2020 election. Trump's power to punish heretical Republicans doesn't "just happen." He is vigilant. He is relentless. Nuanced or qualified support isn't enough. I got 11 separate emails from Trump in the past 24 hours. The subject lines show the target is within the GOP.
Officeholders have reason to be afraid of opposing Trump. Everyone saw what happened to Senators Jeff Flake and Bob Corker and to U.S. Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. There are limits to Trump's power to advance a career. Trump was 100% in favor of Jim Jordan this week, but that didn't overcome the Appropriation Committee Members with an agenda to build projects. They knew Jordan was a destroyer, not a builder. Nor did Trump win over moderates who got elected in Democratic-leaning districts who knew Jordan would tank their re-elections. Trump's power to oppose is more evident. He stopped Tom Emmer's bid to be Speaker. Emmer had voted to confirm the electoral votes for Biden. Trump called him a "globalist RINO." Trump phoned Representatives. He posted on Truth Social. Trump bragged, "He's done. It's over. I killed him." And he had. With Trump blessing, and Gaetz's, yesterday the House GOP elected a Speaker, Mike Johnson, a friendly-looking and very conservative Louisiana representative. He is little-known but affable, and therefore had no entrenched enemies. Prior holdout votes from Republicans representing purple Districts like Oregon's 5th were in a hard spot. Either continue the immediate story of GOP dysfunction or be part of a GOP that will be undeniably far-right extreme. They chose to go along with Johnson and delay the pain.  Johnson helped organize the GOP House's effort to refuse certification of Biden's election -- the Trump litmus test. He is on board with the Gaetz agenda on government spending, plus he opposes aid to Ukraine and he supports a federal ban on abortion -- the new orthodoxy for the GOP. There was an alternative available the GOP. Eight moderate GOP members might have allied with the Democrats and then picked a moderate Republican "Problem Solver" to be the Speaker. There probably is a majority of "normal" Republicans, quietly hiding in the House. Their sentiments appear in the secret ballots on proposed Speakers Jordan and Scalise. Half the members said "no" in the secret ballot but then switched to "yes" in public. They are more afraid of being called a RINO than in suffering the criticism of a Party that advocates cutting Social Security and Medicare, or letting Russia swallow Ukraine. There is still a broad center in American politics. Under the leadership of Trump and Gaetz, the GOP has drifted far, far outside of it. They made their choice. |
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14 comments:
The idea that there's a "broad center in American politics" is laughably naive. Republicans have done a remarkable job purging their ranks of any heretics who would dare step outside the orthodoxy of worshipping Trump and wanting to destroy such quaint things like Medicare, Social Security, Civil Rights, personal freedoms, the ability to vote etc.
The number of Republicans who are "normal" you could probably say are members of the Problem Solvers Caucus who on paper want to solve problems in a bipartisan manner at least some of the time. 31 of 221 Republicans in the House are members of that group, in other words 14%. The rest are full-on bat**** crazy Trump acolytes (Gym Jordan and more), conmen (George Santos and morr), open racists (Scalise and more), or barely comprehensible lunatics (Marjorie Taylor Greene and more). Many if not most of them fall under several of those categories.
It is important to recognize that people on the side of rationality, decency, and a belief in democracy are no longer dealing with the *normal* Republican Party of old. The GOP had unfortunately evolved into a fascist movement and pretending that it's not is wishful thinking.
While some would argue the Democrats are just as crazy on their own side, it's actually more like the inverse of the Republicans. Around 14% are uber liberals like AOC and "The Squad" and much to the regret of an uber liberal like myself, they have unfortunately very minimal power in the party. The vast majority of Democrats are significantly more moderate than I'd like, but on the plus side they ARE capable of bipartisanship of the sort that got Kevin McCarthy removed by the wingnuts in his own party.
It's time to stop thinking there's any normalcy left in the Republican Party and recognize them for what they are: a clear and present danger to the continued existence of this country being governed by rules, laws and elections.
Well, they wanted to elect an ultra right wing ass hole, and they did. They want to reduce Social Security and Medicare. They might. Every person over 65 might see their reduced checks and think, why did I vote for them? Not next time. A Federal abolition ban? Young people might rebel.on that. They seem to want to lose elections just to prove their ideology.
Whenever there’s a new law, I ask myself who does it help and who does it hurt? The answer tells me if it’s good or not. When was the last time the Republicans passed a law that helped people?
Stuart Stevens used to run Republican campaigns, but then joined the Lincoln Project. His new book, “The Conspiracy To End America,” describes how Trump and his MAGA Republicans, who now own the Republican Party, are doing for the U.S. what Hitler and his Nazis did for the Weimar Republic.
Those who dismiss that as hyperbole haven’t been paying attention. As Stevens warns, “The collapse of American democracy is like the pandemic. Whatever you say at the beginning will sound alarmist but likely prove inadequate at the end.”
It’s official that there’s no such thing as a moderate Republican.
A person doesn't need to be on GQP MAGA lists to know what is going on. Anyone who follows politics and the news in general can see and hear it for herself or himself, such as the readers of this blog.
An ongoing and annoying theme of this blog is that you are extra special and know and understand much more than the rest of us uninformed little people. You also frequently write as if you speak on behalf of everyone (which you don't) and not just yourself.
I don't know the source of your uber inflated ego and narcissism. Maybe you learned that attitude at Hah-vahd from all of your extra-special country club legacy classmates. Or maybe you are overcompensating for something.
Please try to get over yourself. It is very unbecoming, especially for a "farm kid from Oregon."
Men in general tend to have huge and often delusional egos. Men in general also tend to be oblivious (clueless). Search on Google and you will find a lot of information on these topics.
Imo, this blog would be much more enjoyable to read without the condescending superiority of the author.
Correction: "air of superiority"
Anonymous comments would at least some credibility if there were a name attached. Hiding behind "Anonymous " is something I would normally attribute to Qanon types like the ones toting Nazi Flags while wearing Ski Masks to keep their identity I es unknown.
Dear Unknown,
Thanks for reading and engaging closely enough to know what I am doing wrong -- and for sharing your thoughts.
The concept of this blog (I hesitate to use the second meaning of the word "conceit" -- the elaborate metaphor meaning) is that I am observing some things myself, up close. So my rip to New Hampshire, which isn't anythign special except that almost nobody does it. And we see things on TV and I try to see them in person, where I see a bit behind the scenes. I see the political actor, but also the TV cameras and audience. So that is why I mention that I get emails from Trump, the RNC, Cruz, and others. There is nothing special about that, except for the nuisance I undergo of reading about 20 Repubican fundraising letters a day. It isn't special, but it is unusual, I think.
Anyhow, yeah, I write with a tone as if I know stuff. My effort is to appear journalistic, writing impersonally, and therefore "for everyone." I try not to write "I think. . . " and "Well, in my opinion. . . " I would like readers to think of this as opinion journalism, not personal diary. Except sometimes, when I talk about not knowing much about Taylor Swift or my distance from young people, and there it is personal.
I really do appreciate that you read me Your comment has the same message I get from you in earlier comments -- the idea that I don't understand women. Yes, true enough.
Write a Guest Post. Send it from an anonymous email address. I will probably publish it. I am trying to write shorter posts, so figure 500-600 words. Tell readers what women think. Or just dump on me for a while and call me elitist or wrongheaded or privileged or whatever. I have learned that readers like a little of that.
Peter Sage
Maybe this is one reason (no doubt there are many) why you don't "get" or appreciate President Biden. Despite being a U.S. Senator, Vice President and now President, the man is humble. He has humility. He has a lot of empathy and compassion. Perhaps these qualities stem from his upbringing, his faith and his multiple family tragedies.
It appears to me that Joe Biden hasn't forgotten where he comes from. His personal tragedies have greatly informed his life. Also, he graduated from the University of Delaware (BA) and Syracuse University (JD), no "elite" ivy league schools.
Joe Biden can relate to people and voters in 2020 responded. He won the popular vote by 7 million votes, as I recall.
Oh dear, personal opinions that lack "credibility."
Nazi flags and ski masks, seriously?
Picking the lock of current American politics will require understanding the underlying factors contributing to Trump‘s appeal, and figuring out a better, more positive way of appealing to the Trump base. This is necessary because the Trump base is too big to ignore, and the rest of the electorate is too split/polarized to come together against them.
My guess is it will be a more positive version of populism. It will take the political genius I am hoping for to figure out the exact way to do that.
So far, Ron DeSantis and Tim Scott seem to have failed that test. Nikki Haley is still in the running. But Iowa and New Hampshire have often surprised us, and may do so again in 2024. Or maybe not, in which case it will be Trump versus Biden again, and we will be faced with what one political wit described as “the evil of two lessers.“
It's a GREAT DAY in America when the House of Representatives finally has a true conservative as its leader. John Boehner, Paul Ryan, and Kevin McCarthy were all RINOs. Now, we finally get a real conservative to clean-up the mess in D.C. Hallelujah!
I'm not seeing the “inflated ego and narcissism” that Anonymous refers to. Unable to comment on the issues, she instead disparages men in general and Peter in particular. Since this is a political blog, I disagree with Peter that it would be interesting to see more of that. Please spare us her guest post.
Providing feedback and constructive criticism ("a review") to a writer/blogger is nothing new.
Whining about anonymous posts is ridiculous. First, you are barking up the wrong tree. You should complain to the blogger if you don't like anonymous posts, because he decides what to publish. Second, you have the choice whether or not to read anonymous posts that the blogger decides to publish.
If you only read the signed comments (do only first and fake names count?) you can instantly eliminate a frightening Nazi-like threat from your world. So that is what you should do. Sleep well
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