Phylum of Alexandria

What if Coldhands is secretly...stay with me here... ....Hothands?

The Birchers were eventually put in check by the establishment. There has been one opportunity after another for the GOP establishment to do that, but they've dodged every possible off ramp they've been given. Yet it can happen. And if it were to happen, I don't think the results would be nearly as catastrophic as these cowards fear it would be. The extremists threaten and bully because they want to avoid consequences. Yet we've seen that once real consequences are observed, the radical behavior starts to wane. The only thing that stops the GOP establishment is their own weakness. Maybe the Never Trump types can eventually pull together a vision that can bring together a conservative coalition that can keep the crazy base in check. Emphasis on maybe and eventually, of course..

Fair enough. I said earlier that I think Haley could handily beat Biden, and that supports the general notion that bad faith pseudo-moderate branding is its own problem. In a way we've been lucky that the GOP has grown so absolutely batshit crazy, since it provides very little room for plausible deniability. If Haley were to win now, I fear that we would speedily move back to that very superficial bad faith squish posturing: ie., more Mike Pence and Kevin McCarthy. And what's scary is that the larger voting public would probably buy it. So, my "hope" (if you want to call it that) is that they continue to be obviously crazy and anti-democratic, and the nation keeps rejecting them, to the point where the GOP is completely tarred and feathered, both as political losers and as corrupt traitors. Unfortunately, this "best case" scenario likely includes more violence and insurrection-like acts to get the people truly repulsed.

What I hate most is any variant of the "So-and-so Protagonist is Evil" theory. Not to say that there can't be spirited critiques of the morality of any of our heroes, whether digging into a horrific deed or an ugly pattern of behavior. That's all fine. GRRM makes sure to complicate his heroes' narratives. But trying to make the heroes of the story into the villains, that's another thing entirely. It flatly goes against the spirit of the story. It's hard for me not to think of it as simple trolling, but the alternative is that the people pushing such theories simply do not understand the story GRRM has been telling. #sorrynotsorry

I can agree with that. If the voters go against Trump for someone like Haley, then that would be evidence of his waning power. But it ain't gonna happen. I think Haley could have tried (and still could try) to push harder against Trump and make the case that he's a loser who only cares about himself. I don't think that would go over well with GOP voters, but what she's doing now is not a case at all! Tim Miller recently made the observation that Haley's reward for not attacking Trump like Christie does is that the voters don't hate her like they do Christie. They don't like her, of course. Her reward for selling her soul is being regarded as a lukewarm "okay."

His charisma and his maniacal tenacity are two things that supercharge the movement. They will certainly try. I guess whether they succeed or not will depend on whether they can find someone as compelling and driven. Alex Jones?

There was some small moment when alt-right types were praising Taylor as some sort of Aryan queen. I guess their sexism eventually trumped their racism in this case.

I was not a fan of Dubya's policies, and Cheney's authoritarian qualities set the stage for Trump's even worse style of governance. Regardless, even Dick Cheney is horrified by Donald Trump. The GOP of 2012 was a lot worse than that of 2004, but even that GOP gave us Mitt Romney rather than Rick Santorum. There has been a long downward trend among expectations for GOP politicians, but with Trump, basically all pretense to moderation and shame went out the window. I agree that Haley is trying to bring that person back, but when you're promising to pardon a convicted felon and insurrectionist, and can't even chastise the very guy you're running against for fear of his base, then that path is not a viable one. I say deny the GOP all oxygen until they change tactics. Nothing's guaranteed, but they need the clearest message possible for any hope that they might learn any lesson.

That's probably true, but Trump would still be around, making it known that he's the alpha. He still has his Project 2025 agenda, and I imagine she would be pressured to adopt them for her own administration, and also take on MAGA-faithful in her cabinet. Sure, she might do it reluctantly, and might stymie an effort or two, but the MAGA machine beyond Trump has been energized and organized, and they're not going to let a squish like Haley get in the way of their vision.

At this point, I wonder if the sane thing really is to shut Trump down at the Republican primary level, at least given the candidates who remain. All of these candidates have demonstrated that they are cowards who are beholden to Trump and MAGA extremism. They don't have Trump's particular pathologies, but at this point the problem of MAGA is well beyond Trump himself. The GOP base is the biggest pathology of all, and that's why we have the so-called moderate candidates saying that the Civil War was about getting government out of your life, and that they would pardon Trump if he were convicted of defrauding voters. In order for there to be any chance of the MAGA fever to abate, the spirits of those voters need to be crushed over and over, to demonstrate to them and to their representatives that anti-democratic extremism is not a viable path forward. Given that Christie was really taking Haley to task for her abhorrent responses, I think he understands this too. If she somehow beats Trump, she has a good chance of defeating Biden. And then she simply becomes the MAGA figurehead if elected president.

She would be another Pence, to a T. I agree that someone who might do the right thing once in a while, given certain incentives, is better than someone who has no sense of fear or shame. Ramaswamy would clearly be worse in that respect. Even with Pence, though, it was basically a coin toss as to whether he would do the right thing, on that one day. We're lucky that he decided to fear the prospect of federal prosecutors more than he feared his boss, but it certainly wasn't a guarantee. But yeah, no one Trump might pick as VP will be in any way good. Unless it's by accident, like how he picked Jim Mattis as SecDef because he had the nickname "Mad Dog."

I've been pretty impressed with Democrats in Congress ever since Biden won (I mean, other than people like Manchin, but what do you expect from West Viriginia? It's deep Trump country). And for the most part in state and local levels of government. They need a lot more representatives in there, but that's up to voters.

You keep reading my mind!

Also, the reason why this was always absurd, and clearly made in bad faith, is that the argument would give license to Joe Biden to murder Trump right now, and anyone else who opposes him, and face no legal consequences. Edit: A point others here have made.

Heh, my parents were super-religious, but somehow made exceptions for ultra-violent movies when I was a kid. Don't worry, they covered my eyes for the boobs. Probably a lot of people don't pick up on the commentary, which I guess is part of the problem with satirical critiques of fascism--it feeds the beast almost as well as the real thing!

As a kid, I was haunted by that scene from Robocop where the guy gets doused by toxic waste and then is splattered into mush by a car. But picturing it happen to Rick Santorum makes it a little less disturbing.

Now, this doesn't sound problematic at all... https://www.salon.com/2024/01/09/attorney-tells-presidential-immunity-covers-assassinating-rivals-and-selling-pardons/?in_brief=true (How does our resident Richard III feel about this dictator shit? Would he really try to say that Biden is worse?)

Hey, given that my parents were arrested multiple times for blocking access to abortion clinics, my own activities as a youth could have been a lot worse!

And I worked for Rick Santorum. (Oh wait, I probably shouldn't admit that)

Poems are a fun way to bitch about things! Crossing the Stroad The stroad is long and wide. Hella wide. So, Why’d you think you'd just stroll around Blithely ambulating naked here Wherein metal is expected? Did you leave yours at home? To rust away, unloved, unused? Unseemly. Goodness me, what a sight. Blaring louder than LED brights. Ah, you must have thought there would be a cross-walk at this side of the stroad. Ha! So now, you look to us and plead As we glide by, effortless, inexorable. You’ll never have the right of way When you take the left-hand path. This stroad we ride is long and wide, And it’s paved us with the best intentions.

Counterpoint:

Why poetry? My meat is halfway past its sell-by date. Do I notice a funny smell? My daily life is filled with Responsibilities. Tasks. Chores. Worries. Amusements. Small talk. And all sorts of disposable commodities. To distract me. To cover up the smell. That’s why poetry. Now I will try to sit with my stink. Breathe it in. Exult in it. Offer it up as incense to heaven.

There's some percentage of it that's not media driven. I think people, consciously or not, conflate energetic presentation with strength in leaders. If this is true, Biden can easily seem weak, or at least too tired to be effective. But he certainly has good moments. His last speech was excellent, not just in content but in his passionate delivery.

Oden, one of the few winter comfort foods that's mostly pretty good for you.

And thank the Lord for the peace and quiet. #sorrynotsorry