US Politics: Catch the big crook under the “Big Cone”

[A Horse Named Stranger]

17 minutes ago, mormont said:

Trivial.

The cycle always seems to run this way. The Republicans vilify each other in the race for the nomination, Democrats get excited about how much damage they're doing, then one of them wins and all is forgotten, by R voters and candidates both.

Sadly.

On the other hand, maybe somebody gets a Q-nut to free the poor children from this pedophile ring operating from the cellars of Florida's Governor Mansion. 

Unnamed q-nut, I am not saying that the media will celebrate you as a hero, when you save those kiddos, but a hero isn't in it for the publicity, right? 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

16 minutes ago, mormont said:

Trivial.

The cycle always seems to run this way. The Republicans vilify each other in the race for the nomination, Democrats get excited about how much damage they're doing, then one of them wins and all is forgotten, by R voters and candidates both.

I have to disagree.  A Republican candidate accusing another of a crime for which I’m not sure there is a Statute of Limitations seems a bit… out of the norm.

[LongRider]

14 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Unnamed q-nut, I am not saying that the media will celebrate you as a hero, when you save those kiddos, but a hero isn't in it for the publicity, right? 

Q-nuts, named or not, are always in it for the publicity.  

[mormont]

9 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I have to disagree.  A Republican candidate accusing another of a crime for which I’m not sure there is a Statute of Limitations seems a bit… out of the norm.

Let me know when that happens. All that happened here is that somebody else made a comment about how it looks, and Trump reposted it and said 'No way?'

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, mormont said:

Trivial.

The cycle always seems to run this way. The Republicans vilify each other in the race for the nomination, Democrats get excited about how much damage they're doing, then one of them wins and all is forgotten, by R voters and candidates both.

Here's hoping Trump loses and burns the house down. 

[Jaxom 1974]

Kamala Harris looks like she's really not liking having to sit next to Kevin McCarthy...and who can blame her...?

[ThinkerX]

Meanwhile MTG somehow became the acting temporary Speaker of the House. Yet somehow, she managed to avoid making a major national spectacle of herself. Sedatives, maybe? Blackmail?

Marjorie Taylor Greene Presiding Over House Leaves Viewers 'Physically Ill' (newsweek.com)

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

SHS is giving one of the funniest responses I've ever seen. 

[horangi]

Granted I was only half paying attention, but did she really spend the last 10 minutes of the speech talking about some trip during the previous administration to a village in Iraq (I think it was Potemkin al Euphrates) where she was greeted with USA chants by all the villagers of all faiths and ethnicities and then a young soldier ripped off his badge and made her swoon?  Or maybe it was a flashback to one of those harlequin romances my Grandmother used to read.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

In case anyone was wondering:

 

[ants]

This is getting attention on my Oz message board that discusses US politics: 

 

On a side note, has the Republican party stepped back officially from their repeal the ACA stance? Because if so, wouldn't that repeal medicaid for millions, as they almost did under Trump. 

[ants]

Republicans were staying classy. 

 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Can we please explain to the Republican Party in Congress that Congress is not a Reality TV show?  That the business of Government should be boring nuanced and detail oriented?  

[DanteGabriel]

6 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Can we please explain to the Republican Party in Congress that Congress is not a Reality TV show?  That the business of Government should be boring nuanced and detail oriented?  

You'd have to explain it to the American public first, though I doubt it would stick with many. Bread and circuses has won.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

13 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

You'd have to explain it to the American public first, though I doubt it would stick with many. Bread and circuses has won.

Bread? We'd be lucky to have bread.

[DanteGabriel]

4 hours ago, ants said:

This is getting attention on my Oz message board that discusses US politics: 

 

On a side note, has the Republican party stepped back officially from their repeal the ACA stance? Because if so, wouldn't that repeal medicaid for millions, as they almost did under Trump. 

You know, I had my own doubts about Biden's mental competency, but that is not the performance of a senile man. He shows more mental acuity there than Trump or second-term Reagan.

[Jaxom 1974]

*Chef's Kiss*

 

[Gaston de Foix]

16 hours ago, mormont said:

Trivial.

The cycle always seems to run this way. The Republicans vilify each other in the race for the nomination, Democrats get excited about how much damage they're doing, then one of them wins and all is forgotten, by R voters and candidates both.

This is true, but a lot of the long-term, structural, centripetal factors that united the Republican party in the last 40-50 years after bitter primaries have now fallen away.  "But the Judges..." was a genuine reason for the party uniting behind Trump in 2016.  Roe v Wade has gone and we have a Republican dominated SC for the foreseeable future. 

The next chapter in the movement, a national abortion ban is likely to prove divisive rather than unifying.  (15 weeks v 6 weeks, nationalists v federalists, rape, incest, health of mother exceptions). 

Bush II united the Republican party around the flag, faith and hate-mongering against gay marriage.  But a majority of Republicans now oppose an interventionist foreign policy.  The anti-gay marriage rhetoric has been quietly ditched. 

We'll see if anti-wokeism/trans-hatred has the same staying power.  That's clearly the banner that DeSantis and Trump both intend to rally around, together with the Border, the Wall, and anti-China rhetoric.  But if DeSantis prevails (a big 'if') don't underestimate the damage that Trump as Achilles sulking in his tent can do to his party. 

And if Trump prevails, the small percentage of committed conservatives who don't want to overthrow the opposition may make a difference. 

Look, I don't deny that anti-Bidenism (amorphously understood and however intellectually inconsistent with Trump's supposed America First agenda) will guide the votes of the vast majority of the Republicans.  But as 2020 and 2022 proved, margins matter.  The first rule of politics is to unite your party and divide the opposition.  There are opportunities here for Dems in 2024. 

[Martell Spy]

Republicans Turn Themselves Into Props for Biden
In a polarized era, the president retains far more power to frame the debate.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/02/08/republicans-props-biden-state-of-the-union-00081774

Quote

Amid shouts of “liar!” Biden responded, “Anybody who doubts it contact my office and I will give you a copy of the proposal.” As audible protests continued, Biden returned the volley, in seemingly spontaneous fashion. “So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare off the books now, right? All right. We got unanimity.”

 

[Gaston de Foix]

The Republicans presumably scheduled the Hunter Biden/Twitter hearings to step on any SOTU bounce for Biden.  But (a) far fewer people are paying attention to it; (b) it has quickly devolved into farce. 

We tested the proposition in 2019-2020 to what extent Trump's impeachment would hurt his re-elect.  Surprisingly little.  No one outside DC pays attention to these teacup scandals.  No one cares about Hunter's dick pics or Jim Biden's influence peddling or Twitter policy.