You and me both, Dan. I've been pensive for the past few months and things like that poll last week don't make me more rosy. There are other things that contribute to this--an economy that, while decent on paper, still holds an unwieldy cost of living for ordinary folks; nearly a third of our populace who, still, can't be bothered to vote, and of course, President Biden's age (it's a lot harder to get away with being old when you're expected to say sane, responsible things).
And let it be said that, if Trump IS somehow legitimately elected next year... we have no one but ourselves to blame. Those of us who know and care about this need to do whatever it takes, legally and responsibly, to prevent this outcome. Money, time, activism, engagement. Whatever pain or inconvenience that might incur on us now will pale in comparison to what we'll inflict on ourselves if he's elected. What Dan outlined is just the wavetop--reality will be much worse.
Yup. But I think Trump hasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of getting elected legitimately. I worry about the the GOP’s voter intimidation and electoral systems attacks that might get him elected ILLEGITIMATELY 😱.
Somebody needs to convict TFG of a federal felony (preferably for insurrection) so the 14th Amendment applies and he can go to jail.
"Trump's only fundamental belief is that the United States is the birthright of straight, white, Christian men"
Sadly, the great majority of white Christian men agree with him. I haven't seen a breakdown, but Trump gets around 70 per cent of white Christians, and there's a 15 per cent gender gap among voters in general. So, at least 75 per cent of white Christian men are Trump voters. They would prefer a dictatorship to the loss of their birthright.
If someone were to ask in the next debate, "What do you think about the plans for government reform that the Heritage Foundation is cooking up for Trump if he's elected?" I can see two possible answers, and one virtually impossible answer. One possible is a vague response saying that they're not familiar enough with the plans to comment, but they do agree with Trump that the government, including Justice and the FBI, is out of control and bureaucrats too often impede execution of the President's wishes. (Today, this is GOP Gospel.) The other is along the lines of "It's a good template, and I'm happy to work with Heritage and other groups to refine the plans." The impossible answer is "That's authoritarian and un-American."
How many House members are going to object? With Romney out of the Senate, which Senator is going to say, on the record, that they object? Even if Trump is not elected, how likely is it that no one in Congress introduces a bill modeled on Heritage's plan? How likely is it that President DeSantis or Haley pushes back? The biggest obstacle will be the Supreme Court, but it may be a close run thing. (Not to mention, if any Republican is elected, Prez, the Court isn't likely to be 6-3 for very long.)
While some institutions pushed back against Trump's wildest excesses in his first term, not all did, and the definition of "wildest" certainly stretched past the previous understanding. I mean, how much credit does the Supreme Court deserve for not going along with canceling electoral votes? And there sure as heck won't be anyone in Justice to push back. (That's sort of, like, the plan.)
Experience teaches that Repubs will go along with Trump, some reluctantly - and most assuredly off the record - at first, but time and pressure from constituents has a way of making the objectionable seem acceptable. Remember that after four years of watching Trump trample and attempt to trample the Constitution, and then claiming, from three months before election day through two months after that the election was "rigged," we were assured by very reasonable people that he would accept his loss graciously and leave office without a fuss. And then, a week or so after the insurrection, most Repubs shifted from "that's awful" to "what insurrection?"
Trump is testing the limits of how far a narrowly targeted, base-only strategy that relies on the antidemocratic aspects of our federalist system can take him.
But to do this he relies on the capitulation and support (at the ballot box if nothing else) of non-base Republicans. I think this whole farce of a GOP primary campaign is intended to reinforce the message that Biden is the real enemy and shoring up that support.
The Republican party has become a cult. Like all cults the leader is totally in it for himself (I can't think of a female cult leader) and grows angry and vengeful towards those who have stood against him. And the followers rejoice in the bad qualities of the cult leader and cheer them on. It's horrifying to see a once nomal government that was even fit for intermittent government sink into such a moral and intellectual sewer.
Very scary. I hope the Democrats and any third party candidates are paying attention and will make this blatant authoritarian, nay dictatorial, plot a critical part of their campaigning.
Any 3rd party candidate is complicit the GOP’s assault on democracy and it’s christian nationalist dream of establishing a theocracy. These goons are now eerily quiet about the threat of sharia law these days.
“However critically you think of the team Trump assembled in his first administration, he could never convince them to conduct prosecutions of either his political opponents or officials who defied him.”
Really? What about the investigations of Comey and McCabe as well as he attempted indictment of McCabe. And then there were the failed prosecutions and bogus investigation by Durham?
Fair point, there were certainly real-world consequences even during the first term. But it's worth noting that none of those attempted prosecutions ever came to fruition -- in no small part because DOJ professionals resisted them.
You and me both, Dan. I've been pensive for the past few months and things like that poll last week don't make me more rosy. There are other things that contribute to this--an economy that, while decent on paper, still holds an unwieldy cost of living for ordinary folks; nearly a third of our populace who, still, can't be bothered to vote, and of course, President Biden's age (it's a lot harder to get away with being old when you're expected to say sane, responsible things).
And let it be said that, if Trump IS somehow legitimately elected next year... we have no one but ourselves to blame. Those of us who know and care about this need to do whatever it takes, legally and responsibly, to prevent this outcome. Money, time, activism, engagement. Whatever pain or inconvenience that might incur on us now will pale in comparison to what we'll inflict on ourselves if he's elected. What Dan outlined is just the wavetop--reality will be much worse.
Yup. But I think Trump hasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of getting elected legitimately. I worry about the the GOP’s voter intimidation and electoral systems attacks that might get him elected ILLEGITIMATELY 😱.
Somebody needs to convict TFG of a federal felony (preferably for insurrection) so the 14th Amendment applies and he can go to jail.
"Trump's only fundamental belief is that the United States is the birthright of straight, white, Christian men"
Sadly, the great majority of white Christian men agree with him. I haven't seen a breakdown, but Trump gets around 70 per cent of white Christians, and there's a 15 per cent gender gap among voters in general. So, at least 75 per cent of white Christian men are Trump voters. They would prefer a dictatorship to the loss of their birthright.
If someone were to ask in the next debate, "What do you think about the plans for government reform that the Heritage Foundation is cooking up for Trump if he's elected?" I can see two possible answers, and one virtually impossible answer. One possible is a vague response saying that they're not familiar enough with the plans to comment, but they do agree with Trump that the government, including Justice and the FBI, is out of control and bureaucrats too often impede execution of the President's wishes. (Today, this is GOP Gospel.) The other is along the lines of "It's a good template, and I'm happy to work with Heritage and other groups to refine the plans." The impossible answer is "That's authoritarian and un-American."
How many House members are going to object? With Romney out of the Senate, which Senator is going to say, on the record, that they object? Even if Trump is not elected, how likely is it that no one in Congress introduces a bill modeled on Heritage's plan? How likely is it that President DeSantis or Haley pushes back? The biggest obstacle will be the Supreme Court, but it may be a close run thing. (Not to mention, if any Republican is elected, Prez, the Court isn't likely to be 6-3 for very long.)
While some institutions pushed back against Trump's wildest excesses in his first term, not all did, and the definition of "wildest" certainly stretched past the previous understanding. I mean, how much credit does the Supreme Court deserve for not going along with canceling electoral votes? And there sure as heck won't be anyone in Justice to push back. (That's sort of, like, the plan.)
Experience teaches that Repubs will go along with Trump, some reluctantly - and most assuredly off the record - at first, but time and pressure from constituents has a way of making the objectionable seem acceptable. Remember that after four years of watching Trump trample and attempt to trample the Constitution, and then claiming, from three months before election day through two months after that the election was "rigged," we were assured by very reasonable people that he would accept his loss graciously and leave office without a fuss. And then, a week or so after the insurrection, most Repubs shifted from "that's awful" to "what insurrection?"
Sure seems like we've got a bumpy road ahead.
Trump is testing the limits of how far a narrowly targeted, base-only strategy that relies on the antidemocratic aspects of our federalist system can take him.
But to do this he relies on the capitulation and support (at the ballot box if nothing else) of non-base Republicans. I think this whole farce of a GOP primary campaign is intended to reinforce the message that Biden is the real enemy and shoring up that support.
The Republican party has become a cult. Like all cults the leader is totally in it for himself (I can't think of a female cult leader) and grows angry and vengeful towards those who have stood against him. And the followers rejoice in the bad qualities of the cult leader and cheer them on. It's horrifying to see a once nomal government that was even fit for intermittent government sink into such a moral and intellectual sewer.
Very scary. I hope the Democrats and any third party candidates are paying attention and will make this blatant authoritarian, nay dictatorial, plot a critical part of their campaigning.
Any 3rd party candidate is complicit the GOP’s assault on democracy and it’s christian nationalist dream of establishing a theocracy. These goons are now eerily quiet about the threat of sharia law these days.
“However critically you think of the team Trump assembled in his first administration, he could never convince them to conduct prosecutions of either his political opponents or officials who defied him.”
Really? What about the investigations of Comey and McCabe as well as he attempted indictment of McCabe. And then there were the failed prosecutions and bogus investigation by Durham?
Fair point, there were certainly real-world consequences even during the first term. But it's worth noting that none of those attempted prosecutions ever came to fruition -- in no small part because DOJ professionals resisted them.