The coming shutdown will be The Big One, I think. Biden can't afford to back down, and even if he wanted to, there is no deal he can offer that Johnson could accept without losing his job. On the other side, capitulation would be catastrophic for MAGA Republicans. The most likely resolution is the desertion of the required handful of moderate (or rather, moderately extreme) Republicans, but that will only happen after the catastrophic effects of the shutdown have already become reality.
Will it make any difference that the MAGA folk rely on the statements of Sidney Powell and others who have now declared that they were spouting lies? I would also like to revisit the down ballot election results which should be flipped if Trump’s vote is to be flipped. The beneficiaries of those votes before a re-evaluation won’t be happy.
Was Trump always so confused in his statements, or is this a new thing? His contests against Obama, or naming Orban President of Turkey are a little worrying, as are his statements about liking Hannibal Lecter.
The Gaetzes of the GOP aren't extreme rightwingers so much as they are nihilists who can live with anarchy if it brings them power. I see little evidence that they believe much of anything they say. Trump certainly doesn't. They and Trump only care about who they can stick it to, whose resentments they can stoke to keep themselves in the spotlight. They have no concern or respect for the institutions they inhabit. Nor do they care much about rules, law, and tradition except in figuring out how they can bend them to satisfy their desires. Matches at the ready, they're prepared to burn the whole country down.
Well written. Another good argument for why political rhetoric matters - someone might come after you and believe it. (If Democrats are evil commies trying to ruin the country then then why the hell are you, Republican congressman, agreeing to any deal with those monsters?)
I never saw an analysis of why the Democrats didn't add their support to Tom Emmer, who was obviously the best candidate they could realistically hope for. McCarthy asked for their support; would Emmer not have accepted it? More critically, having a bipartisan vote would have set a new precedent that, yes, would have likely resulted in some Republicans getting primaried, but would have been highly beneficial to the moderates who make up the significant majority of the Democratic Party and could have been a real first step toward fixing the political problems for the country as a whole. My feeling is that Democrats are (almost) as locked into blind partisanship as Republicans, which is incredibly frustrating, as I am one of those who genuinely believes democracy is at risk.
The GOP today is officially the party of power to reward friends and harm all others at whim; It has no other platform or philosophy.
If we believe the Senate, its most revered SCOTUS Justice has been practicing this politic for decades.
If we pay attention to State legislatures, wherever Republicans have a veto-proof majority they use it to enshrine the permanence of their minority rule to ignore voters and reward themselves and their donors.
Trump is America's Berlusconi, the GOP has become America's Forza Italia, but America's is not a parliamentary system and so it remains to be seen if their attempt to give themselves permanent governing/plundering status can be sustained.
> […] because if they don’t say it, Trump might turn on them and
> encourage a primary challenge from further to their right.
…and the very real fear that a lone Trump supporter, a group of them, will kill them or their family.
Government is _not_ a violence-monopoly: it is both a provider of violence and a legitimiser of violence, which can be beneficial (not punishing legitimate self-defence) or not (not punishing lynch-mobs). Seen in that light, Mr Trump _is_ to some and to some extent the government.
Yes. The Republican Party is officially post-democracy.
The coming shutdown will be The Big One, I think. Biden can't afford to back down, and even if he wanted to, there is no deal he can offer that Johnson could accept without losing his job. On the other side, capitulation would be catastrophic for MAGA Republicans. The most likely resolution is the desertion of the required handful of moderate (or rather, moderately extreme) Republicans, but that will only happen after the catastrophic effects of the shutdown have already become reality.
We deserve what we get in this shit hole country. Maybe a shut down will keep us from finding the rabid genocidal Israelis
Best single analysis of the situation we face that I have read so far.
Will it make any difference that the MAGA folk rely on the statements of Sidney Powell and others who have now declared that they were spouting lies? I would also like to revisit the down ballot election results which should be flipped if Trump’s vote is to be flipped. The beneficiaries of those votes before a re-evaluation won’t be happy.
Was Trump always so confused in his statements, or is this a new thing? His contests against Obama, or naming Orban President of Turkey are a little worrying, as are his statements about liking Hannibal Lecter.
The Gaetzes of the GOP aren't extreme rightwingers so much as they are nihilists who can live with anarchy if it brings them power. I see little evidence that they believe much of anything they say. Trump certainly doesn't. They and Trump only care about who they can stick it to, whose resentments they can stoke to keep themselves in the spotlight. They have no concern or respect for the institutions they inhabit. Nor do they care much about rules, law, and tradition except in figuring out how they can bend them to satisfy their desires. Matches at the ready, they're prepared to burn the whole country down.
Well written. Another good argument for why political rhetoric matters - someone might come after you and believe it. (If Democrats are evil commies trying to ruin the country then then why the hell are you, Republican congressman, agreeing to any deal with those monsters?)
Isn’t driving into ditches itself the agenda?
I never saw an analysis of why the Democrats didn't add their support to Tom Emmer, who was obviously the best candidate they could realistically hope for. McCarthy asked for their support; would Emmer not have accepted it? More critically, having a bipartisan vote would have set a new precedent that, yes, would have likely resulted in some Republicans getting primaried, but would have been highly beneficial to the moderates who make up the significant majority of the Democratic Party and could have been a real first step toward fixing the political problems for the country as a whole. My feeling is that Democrats are (almost) as locked into blind partisanship as Republicans, which is incredibly frustrating, as I am one of those who genuinely believes democracy is at risk.
The GOP today is officially the party of power to reward friends and harm all others at whim; It has no other platform or philosophy.
If we believe the Senate, its most revered SCOTUS Justice has been practicing this politic for decades.
If we pay attention to State legislatures, wherever Republicans have a veto-proof majority they use it to enshrine the permanence of their minority rule to ignore voters and reward themselves and their donors.
Trump is America's Berlusconi, the GOP has become America's Forza Italia, but America's is not a parliamentary system and so it remains to be seen if their attempt to give themselves permanent governing/plundering status can be sustained.
> […] because if they don’t say it, Trump might turn on them and
> encourage a primary challenge from further to their right.
…and the very real fear that a lone Trump supporter, a group of them, will kill them or their family.
Government is _not_ a violence-monopoly: it is both a provider of violence and a legitimiser of violence, which can be beneficial (not punishing legitimate self-defence) or not (not punishing lynch-mobs). Seen in that light, Mr Trump _is_ to some and to some extent the government.